In the last post, I showed you two ways to make a macrame feather. This post is about this macrame feather, which is a real eye-catcher, but also involves a few more steps than the “normal” feathers.
This feather is a small wall hanging in itself, but you can also use it to decorate other wall hangings and give free rein to your creativity. You can also easily replace the square knots in the centre (steps 14 to 16, 24 and 29) with wooden beads by threading the middle two strands through the bead.
But enough preamble – now it’s time to knot!
Macrame Feather
Materials
- cord 3mm
- branch/stick
- scissors
- comb/fork
Instruction
The macrame feather will end up being approximatly 20cm long and 15cm wide. You will need 4x 150cm cords and 22x 15cm cords. You don’t need to cut the small ones to size yet, but can use the excess cords from the 150cm long cords once the basic structure is in place.
Only three knots are used for this feather: the Double Half Hitch knot, the square knot and the Lark’s Head Knot at the beginning and end. I would recommend that you open the knotting techniques page at the same time so that you can look up how the knot works if you need to. There I explain the individual knots step by step.
2
Take the fifth cord from the left and place it over the front four. We will now make a Double Half Hitch knot around the fifth cord with all four strands. You can find a detailed explanation of the Double Half Hitch knot here.
3
So you place the fourth cord from the left over the diagonal one. It is then threaded from behind between the diagonal one and itself.
4
Tighten the knot and do exactly the same again with the fourth cord.
5
Tighten this knot again. The first Double Half Hitch knot is finished.
6
Now take the third cord from the left. Repeat steps 3 to 5 with this one.
Be careful not to pull the cord so tight that it slides all the way up. The aim is for the Double Half Hitch Knots to form a diagonal line.
7
Now the second cord from the left. Repeat steps 3 to 5 with this one.
Now you can see the diagonal line better. It should look like this for you too. If not, undo the last knot and try again.
8
When this is done, you can place the fifth cord from the left over the three behind.
9
We now make the Double Half Hitch knot again with the last three cords. So take the sixth cord and place it over the diagonal one. Then thread it through from behind between the diagonal cord and itself.
10
Tighten the knot and do exactly the same again with the same cord.
11
Tighten the knot and the first Double Half Hitch knot on this side is finished.
12
Repeat steps 9 to 11 with the second last cord.
Again, make sure that the row is diagonal and preferably as symmetrical as possible to the other row.
13
Repeat steps 9 to 11 with the last cord.
The basic framework should now look like this.
14
15
Tighten the knot and then place the right cord over the middle two and then behind the left cord. Then take the left cord, place it behind the two middle ones and pass it over the right cord from the back to the front.
16
Tighten this knot too. If this was too quick for you, you will find detailed step-by-step instructions for the square knot in the knotting techniques.
17
Now come the Double Half Hitch knots again. Place the first cord over the next three. The Double Half Hitch knots are now tied around the first one.
18
Start with the second cord from the left. You now knot this cord in exactly the same way as the sixth cord in steps 9 to 11.
19
Then do exactly the same with the third cord from the left. Again, tie the Double Half Hitch knot around the diagonal strand. Again, make sure that the row is diagonal.
20
21
Now place the rightmost cord diagonally over all the other cords. Now tie the Double Half Hitch knot around the diagonal one with all seven remaining strands.
22
The diagonal line is also important here.
If you click on the pictures, you can also enlarge them.
23
You already know everything that comes next, because the pattern is only repeated.
Place the fifth cord from the left over the last three cords. This corresponds to step 8.
24
25
Now it’s time to tie the square knot again. You will need the four middle cords for this.
This corresponds to steps 14 to 16.
26
Place the first cord over the next three. Use each of these to tie the Double Half Hitch knot around the diagonal one as in steps 18 and 19.
27
Then take the last cord and place it diagonally over all the others. Again, make a Double Half Hitch knot with each one around the diagonal one.
28
Lay the fifth cord diagonally over the last three.
29
Tie with the last three a Double Half Hitch knot around the diagonal cord.
30
Make another square knot with the middle four cords.
31
Then place the leftmost cord diagonally over the following three cords.
32
When this is done, place the rightmost cord over the four neighboring cords (from the left, these are cords 4 to 7).
33
Congratulations, the basic framework is complete!
34
Now you need the short cords. You can shorten the cords of the basic framework to approx. 6 cm and then cut the remnants to size.
Take a short cord, double it and make a Lark’s Head Knot around the outer cord (see picture).
35
If there is more or less space, leave out a cord or add one.
36
Comb the ends of the cords with a comb or fork so that they unravel.
37
Cut the feather so that it creates a nice overall look. Done!
I hope you were able to follow the instructions well and had fun tying them. If you tie several feathers like this, you will find it easier each time. The Double Half Hitch knot in particular requires a bit of practice. If you have any questions or comments, please write in the comments, I look forward to hearing from you!
0 Comments