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Writer's pictureGemma Gilbert

Make Your Own Macrame Coaster


I shared a picture of these gorgeous macrame coasters I made on a group on Facebook and immediately had requests for a pattern.

I’ve never made my own tutorial before but seeing as this is a fairly simple project I thought it would be a good one to start with.

For this project I used a beautiful variegated rainbow colour cord. It‘s 3mm and a single twist cord. I love the effect this variegated cord give, and it means every single coaster is completely unique!

But of course you can use any colour you desire. You can use different thickness cords as well but you find it will make your coaster different sizes to this one. I prefer to use a single twist cord as well and I feel it looks better, but if you find you prefer using a braided cord, or 3 ply, then that will work perfectly as well.

That‘s one of the best things about Macrame, it’s so versatile.

Enough chatter; let’s get onto the tutorial!

Equipment Needed:


* A pair of sharp scissors

* A pet brush or comb

* At least 15 meters of cord of your choice. * Some pins or masking tape

* A small cork board, or macrame mat


Instructions:


You will need to cut your cord into the following lengths;


* 1 x 2 metres

* 5 x 90 cm

* 3 x 70cm

* 4 x 55cm

* the last measurement is 45cm and you’ll need somewhere between 9-10 lengths but I cut these as I need them to save wasted cord.

1. Take your 2m cord and lay is where you’re working in a circle shape as shown. You’ll need roughly 50 cm one side and 150 cm the other.


2. Next you need to attach your five 90cm strings. To do this, we use a reverse larks head knot. Fold the string you are attaching in half and place underneath the circle as show below;

Bring the loop part inside the circle up and over its bottom two strings;


Next, pick up the two bottom strings and feed them through the loop;

Now pull the two bottom strings tighter, and there you have your reversed larks head knot!

Repeat with the other four 90 cm strings.


IMPORTANT: One of these reversed larks head knots must be placed at the point where your circle overlaps, so it joins the 2m string circle together, as shown above.

You’ll be left with a small circle, with five strings attached, one is over the overlapping strings. You also have one shorter piece, and one longer piece from the 2m string.


Next, pull the longer side of the 2m string so it closes the circle up and makes it tight;


Now it’s time for the fun part!

The longer string left is now your guide string and we’ll be using that to make the circular shape. If it makes your life easier, you can bundle the long string up in a loose knot and unwind it as you go.



Make sure you have something to keep your coaster in place, I’ve used a macrame board I bought on Amazon and some pins, but a bit of masking tape on a table will do the job.

You will be using a knot called the double half hitch knot. To complete this knot, lay the guide string over the working strings. Taking one string at a time, bring it up and over, and through the loop you’ve created, then do it once more and your knot is complete! See the pictures below for a visual of this knot stage by stage.




TOP TIP; Tie a little loose knot in the last string so you know when you’ve completed one round!


3. Continue going round the coaster making double half hitch knots, on each round you will need to add string to fill in gaps and make the coaster larger. I’ve personally found there’s no exact science to this, as it fully depends on the string you use and how tight you knot.

You will add strings, using the reverse larks head knot we used earlier.


As a rule of thumb, I tend to add three new strings on every round.

You can tell when you need to add one, as there will be a bigger gap as shown below.

Here is a picture of a place that doesn’t need a new string for reference.

TOP TIP; Try not to add a string underneath another newly added string on the previous round, this will create gaps.

4. Now you just continue round until you’re happy with how big it is, or you run out of string. I usually get 10 rounds.

5. Now it’s time for trimming! Cut the strings a little longer than you actually want them. Then use a pet brush or comb to brush the string until they are soft and fluffy. If you used braided string, it will be a little trickier to brush out. If it’s 3ply, making sure you unwind it first. Brush from the bottom up to avoid tangles.


6. Once your fringe is beautiful and fluffy, you can get to trimming and make your fringe the length you want.



7. And you are done!!

I hope you found this tutorial easy to follow. I would absolutely love to see you finished coaster so please share with me on my Instagram @gemmacrame_


I would also love your feedback regarding my first tutorial, did you find it easy to follow. Was it clear enough, were there enough photos, or not enough?

Speak soon!

Gemma


❤️

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