Things have been pretty busy for me lately, between many hours of writing, and illustrating book covers, I haven’t had much time to create anything crafty for a while. So I thought I would stretch my fingers for a bit and make something fun.
A few months ago, I moved to a (tiny) cottage in a village by the sea. Doing it up is a work in progress, but it’s starting to feel more like home. We have a small wall by the window that needed a little something, so I thought I’d make a macrame feather and show you how I did it.
How to Make a Macrame Feather
So here is a little tutorial on how to make feathers (or leaves) out of macrame cord. You can follow the written instructions below or make one along with me in the video.
It’s my first try at making a video, you can hear the seagulls and the occasional car passing through, but the video was fun to make, and so I hope to make some better ones in the future.
Notes:
So heads up, macrame feathers do tend to flop a little. You kinda need to handle them as little as possible once you’re happy with your shape. You can use stiffening spray on the back. I didn’t use any on mine. But now it’s on the wall, I leave it where it is. If it needs dusting, I will just comb it back into shape.
My scissors are a little blunt, they have seen one craft too many, so I need some new ones. Make sure you get yourself some sharp scissors.
And lastly, I used single-cord macrame rope which is ideal for fringing, the color I used was called raw denim.
Materials You Need to Make Your Macrame Feather
Here is a list of the materials you will need:
- 3m single cord, macrame cord (I used Bobbiny 3mm Cord from Etsy).
- A pair of scissors.
- A tape measure.
- A comb.
- Approx 7″ length of twig, dowl, or piece of driftwood.
- A 4″ x 8″ piece of card.
If you’ve watched the video, I hope I have inspired you to make some feathers of your own and I hope you found the video helpful.
If you are new to macrame and would like to try making something else, take a look at some of the macrame kits available on Etsy that we have featured here at Comfy Zen.
Below are the written instructions for the project.
Instructions
Gather your materials.
Measure and cut 22, 10″ lengths of cord. And 1, 25″ inch length.
Fold the longer length in half and make a larks head knot. This will form the stem of the feather.
Take 2 shorter lengths of cord folded in half. Place one loop from the left under the stem and one from the right over the top top of the stem – in the opposite direction. Pass the loose ends through each loop on the opposite side.
Reverse and repeat the process by placing a looped cord under the stem the from right, and over from the left, to make the knot. Repeat with loops from alternate sides until you have used up all 22 lengths of cord. You should have 11 knots.
Comb the cords to separate the strands.
Your feather should now look like this.
Make a template out of the card. You will only need to make half a feather or leaf shape – you can just reverse it when you trim the other half of your feather.
Placing the template underneath your feather, comb the feather’s fringe to neaten. Trim around the edges.
The trick to getting a nice even edge is to take your time. Comb it a few times and keep checking to see how it’s taking shape.
Finally, shape it with your fingers…
And it’s ready to hang.
If you make a feather, please send me some photos and I will post them here :).
