Craft with Angel: How-to Make a Macramé Chair

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Craft with Angel: How-to Make a Macramé Chair

What You'll Need:

300- 350 metres of 6mm macramé cord (rough rule is 4 times the length of the chair)
Tape measure
Sharp scissors and pencil
Large sheet of paper
Hula hoop
Gold spray paint
Plywood for seat
Varnish and wood stain if you want to change the colour of the wood
Drill for making holes with 6mm and 8mm drill bit
Piece of wood for the brace (as wide as the widest part of the chair)
Small piece of wire

“The chair can be made with your choice of macramé knots but to keep it simple you can use just two – a lark’s head knot and a square knot - so if you are new to macramé it’s worth taking time to master those. The trick is consistency of shape, size and tension.” – Angel

Preparing the hula hoop base

Step 1.

Make a mark on a hula hoop and then another 35cm away in both directions. So your outer marks are 70cm apart.

Step 2.

Place the hula hoop on a piece of paper and draw between these two marks following the curve of the hoop. Remove the hoop and draw a straight line between the two points. Use this D shape as the template for your plywood seat.

Step 3.

Cut wood to size and stain and varnish if desired. Drill a ring of 8mm holes starting 5cm from the from the front edge and 3cm from the outer edge equally spaced.

Step 4.

Use the 6mm drill bit and put a hole 3cm from the front edge on each side and two at the back to take the hanging cords.

Step 5.

Cut a piece of wood for the top brace – this needs to be as wide as the widest part of the chair. Using the 6mm bit, drill two holes either end, one at 3cm and one at 8cm.

Step 6.

Spray hula hoop colour of your choice. Once dry, hang the hula hoop so you can comfortably work on it.

Attaching your knotted cord to the base

Step 1.

Cut macramé cord into 2.1 metre lengths. Attach cord – between the two marks on the hoop - with Lark’s Head Knots.

Step 2.

Secure each pair of Lark’s Head knots in place with a Square Knot. Create a mesh by repeating rows of square knots - or knots of your choice.

Step 3.

Keep your rows of knots straight and check often using a take measure. Continue to desired length.

Step 4.

Thread cord ends through base of chair (wrap wire around the ends to enable easy threading through hole) and secure with tight knot on the underside of the seat. Cut equal length tassels if required. If your final cords aren’t long enough or tassels, add some ‘false’ ones.

Step 5.

Ideally start in the middle at the back, then do each sides first knot – remembering to leave the 8mm holes empty for the hanging the chair.

To hang the chair cut two cords – length will be determined by your room setting.

Fold cords in half and do a wrap knot over all four cords to form a hanging loop.

Step 6.

Pass the ends of the 4 cords through the drilled holes at each end of the brace and knot underneath. Make sure the brace hangs level. The inner cords go to the back of the chair and the outer to the front. Knot over the hula hoop and down into the 4 remaining 8mm holes in the seat and secure with a knot under the seat.

Step 1.

This is the knot you use to attach the string to the hula hoop.

Cut your macramé cord into 2.1 metre lengths. Fold each cord in half

Step 2.

Hold the loop and pass away from you under the hula hoop so you can see your loop above the hoop.

Step 3.

Pass the two ends of the cord through this loop and pull to tighten.

Step 4.

Repeat as many times to fill the space between the two marks on your hoop with a 1.5 cm gap between each knot. (or more if you want a more open mesh)

Step 1.

Take two Lark’s Head knots side by side so you have four cords hanging down. Working from left to right – take cord #1 over cord #2 and #3 – then put under cord #4.

Step 2.

Take cord #4 put it under the two middle cord and out over cord #1.

Step 3.

Pull on both working cord – cord #1 and #4 to tighten while holding the middle cord steady.

Step 4.

Cord #1 and #4 have now changed places – thread cord #1 to the left, passing it over the middle cord and under working cord #4.

Step 5.

Move cord #4 to the left, under the middle cord and over cord #1 on the right.

Step 6.

Tighten by pulling on cord # 1 and #4, while holding the middle cord steady. You have now created a square knot.

The macramé term for this is an alternating square knot pattern

To Create a Mesh

1. Complete one row of square knots.

2. Make a second row of square knots below the first by using the two right-hand cord of square knot #1 and the two left-hand cord of the square knot #2.

3. Continue until you reach the end when you can then start the next row. Repeat as many times as required.