This is a DIY tutorial on how to make Macrame Plant Hangers. It’s a fun craft that requires few supplies and is suitable to large groups. There’s lots of room for creative differences and twists once you get the basics down.
I grew up making macrame hemp anklets at surf camp so it comes naturally to me but I’ll try my best to describe the method over step by step photos. Then I can show you how to translate that for making pretty macrame plant hangers to hang in your home or give as gifts.
DIY Macrame Plant Hanger
What you’ll need:
- A large spool of butcher’s twine, hemp twine, or whichever sturdy string or twine you like the look of. Try not to get anything too thick or else it will be difficult to knot
- A metal ring for the hanger to hang from
- Wooden or glass beads (optional)
- A potted plant (small to medium)
1. Like I said, familiarize yourself with the basic knots of macrame. Basically you have strings in the middle and you use the outer strings to tie around them and you can either alternate for a straight stitch, or keep knotting the same sides and it will twist. You can employ both these methods in making your plant hanger. If you need a visual aid it might help to look it up on youtube.
2. Cut 8 eight-foot pieces of string or twine. It sounds like a lot but this is probably the most labor intensive part of the whole thing if you’re doing a basic design like I did.
3. Line up all of your pieces of string together. For the photo above I was making a chunky one and used sixteen, so just pretend it’s eight. For starters, it’s best to begin with the simpler version.
4. Take the two (or four if you’re using sixteen) strings on either side and separate them from the strings in the middle.
5. Tie the right side over and in front of the middle strings, and loop the left side behind and through as in the picture above.
6. For the second knot, do the same as step 5 but alternate the side that you pull over and in front to the left side and loop the right side through. Pull tightly together and you will have your first knot.
7. Continue steps 5 and 6, alternating so that the side with the knot (on the left in the picture above) is the side that you cross over the middle strings. To get a spiral stitch, do the exact same knots, just don’t alternate the sides you cross over.
8. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until you have about four or five inches of knotted rope.
9. Now pull your metal ring through to the center of the rope. In this case all I had was an S ring but that works too.
10. Bend the rope exactly in half so that the strings meet each other and break the strings into three groups again, with 1/4 of the strings on the left (4 if you originally had 8 strings or 8 if you originally had 16 strings), 1/2 of the strings in the middle (8 or 16) and 1/4 of the strings on the right (4 or 8). The reason why the strings doubled is because you doubled it over on itself.
11. Now you’ll want to macrame another 3 or 4 knots to that you form a loop as in the picture above.
12. Next, divide all of the strings into four equal parts and macrame each of them a few times.
13. Then, you’ll want to leave a good distance of length, depending on the length of hang and the size of planter you want to use. I recommend for your first one before experimenting with different shapes and sizes to leave about a foot of slack, If you started with 8 strings, you’re just going to use the same 4 strings you used to the top four knots and macrame them together again 1 foot down from their previous knots. If you’re using 16 strings, you’ll want to break the clumps of 8 strings into 4 strings.
14. Next, you’ll want to join four strings from adjoining clusters and macrame them together, using two from one cluster and two from another like in the picture to the left. So adjoin the four strings, two from each of the four macrame ropes you created above, so that they are joined in a circular way. The more distance you leave between the knots, the bigger planter you’ll be able to fit in it.
As you can see from the above picture, you can make the distance between them shorter, it will just leave less room for a planter.
15. Continue joining the adjacent strings together until the circle is complete- if you’re using 16 strings it will look like the picture above. If using 8 strings it will be half the size.
16. Next, place the bowl or planter inside of the ropes and distribute them evenly around the planter. I used a clear glass bowl in the picture above so you can get a clear sense of how it should look. Bunch the ropes together at the bottom where you want your knot to be. If you leave more of less slack it will look different, just make sure to keep it taut enough to be secure.
17. Remove the bowl or planter, keeping track of where the knot should be, and tie a huge knot at the bottom.
18. Replace the planter or bowl and there you have it!
You can also plan for the specific planter by measuring the diameter of it, dividing it by 8 and using that number to determine how much space to leave between the first tier knots and the second tier knots. See above for how that would fit. Then once you have the first and second tier of knots, you can create whatever other design you want.
Let me know if you have any questions, I basically taught myself this method based on how I wanted mine to look and looking at others so it’s a bit different from the other tutorials I’ve found on the web. It feels easier and more straightforward to me at least, but if you’re unclear on anything, please leave a comment below!