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Macrame TipsI began my jewelry making adventure by making beaded jewelry, wire wrapped pendants, and polymer clay jewelry. The rising prices of gold and silver wire, metal components, and chain made wire wrapping a little expensive. That's when I discovered the wonderful world of knotting. I still make beaded, wire wrapped, and polymer clay jewelry but am adding more and more knotted creations to my inventory every day. I have listed below some helpful macrame tips. 1. Use hemp, or yarn, when first starting out. It is easy to tie and untie. If you make a mistake that can’t be undone it doesn’t cost much if you end up throwing it away. 2. A firm pillow or piece of foam board makes a nice work area. 3. Coat the ends of your twine with clear nail polish or with Fray Check (a product used on sewing projects to prevent fraying and is washable). 4. To add a simple toggle clasp, try adding a button or extra large flat bead on one end and an over-hand knot on the other end of your project. 5. Use twist ties or rubber bands to wind up and secure extra long cords. Unroll them as needed. This helps to keep them from getting tangled. 6. Save left over scraps to practice new knots with. 7. When learning a new knot, use different colors. 8. Use a clip board as a work surface when working on small items like earrings or bracelets. 9. If you can’t find T-pins, use corsage pins(with balls on one end) for securing work. If you don’t want to puncture cord such as leather you can place the T-pins on each side of the cord diagonally crossing over the top of the cord like an “X”. 10. Though regular yarn is okay to practice with. It is not recommend to use when creating a finished piece because it has a tendency to stretch. 11. If you are folding your twine over to make to 2 separate ones you can determine your cord length by multiplying the size of your finished piece by 8. So, if you want to make a 7-inch bracelet, you’ll need about 56 inches. If your project is complicated and has a lot of knots you may want to multiply by 10 just to make sure you have enough cord. If you are using single cords, not doubled, multiply by 4 or 5. 12. When doing knots such as square and half knots, the center cords don’t need to be as long as the outer cords. Make the center cords the length of your finished project plus 3 or 4 more inches and the outside cords 4 times the length of finished project. 13. For a more satiny look, try using ribbon, rattail, or mouse-tail as cording. 14. Before starting a project that uses beads, double check that the cords (often 2 cords at a time) fit through the bead holes and verify you have enough beads to complete your project. |
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