Love the beach? Suspend an ombre-dyed macramé wall hanging from driftwood to suggest sand, surf, and sky.
What You’ll Need
- Driftwood stick
- Measuring tape
- White macramé cord
- Rit Dye Blue
- Bucket & stir stick
- Water
STEP 1
Cut 22 cords 80” long. (Makes about a 40” tall piece wall hanging; you can vary this length if you have a larger wall to work with!
STEP 2
Take two strands and loop them around the driftwood (or a wooden rod if you don’t have driftwood) and knot, so that the strands hang down 40”. Secure the knot snug up to the underside of the driftwood.
STEP 3
The Square knot: Start on one side of the driftwood. Grab a bundle of one set of strands, which will naturally part left and right with two middle strands. Take the strand on the far left, and pull it OVER the center two strands to create a sort of number “4” shape (see steps here). Thread it under the center two strings, and over the far right-side fourth string. Then take the fourth strand on the right and thread it DOWN through the “4” shaped hole created on the left-hand side. Tighten that to about 2” below the first top knot that secured it to the driftwood.
STEP 4
Next, take the left hand strand again, but this time, lay it over the center two strands, and the right strand comes up UNDER the hole. Do this with all nine of the strand bundles.
STEP 5
Now, do the same thing to the second row, starting down about three inches. The only difference is that you’re using the OUTER strands from the first row of square knots to create the center strands on the second row of your wall hanging. Doing this creates the flower-shaped web of pattern. We did five rows of square knots, and then finished off with four repetitions of the spiral knot.
STEP 6
Spiral Knot: To create this knot, use the same technique as the square knot, only you don’t have to alternate the under and over part. It will want to twist naturally.
STEP 7
You should have about 18- 20” of long fringe remaining. Leave the ends slightly uneven. Mix the Rit Dye according to package instructions. Dip the ends about a third of the way in (5”) and leave for five minutes to let the dye take hold. TIP: We used a large and wide plastic bucket for the dye so that you can dye all the ends at once.
Dip the ends again a bit further in (another 5” or so) for about ten seconds. Carefully rinse out excess without splattering the upper portion. This creates an ombre fade on the ends of the wall hanging. Attach to wall using metal wire and nails.
Photography by Jay Wilde
Produced by Katie Leporte
© Caruth Studio