Macrame goes millennial
Thanks to new materials and creative artists, macrame is back in a big way.
DISCO. Mullet hairstyles. Tight shiny shirts.
Some things have stayed in the 1970 s, and deserved ly so. But macrame is back in a big way, thanks to new materials, boho-loving millennials and creative artists who think way beyond brown jute owls and plant hangers. And the trend that’s been growing from Portland to Sydney is finally hitting Washington’ s South Sound .
“People like the boho look, with lots of plants and things,” says Mandy Morrison .“I think that’s why it’s popular right now.”
Morrison’s Gig Harbor home isn’t exactly a New York loft, but there’s one thing that stand s out against the white-and -grey colour scheme, baskets and snake plants: macrame.
A weaver and macrame artist, Morrison’ s living and dining room walls are almost threedimensional with textured rope and string, knotted together on artsy driftwood like fine ly sculpted sand dunes.
“My mum d id macrame back in the 70s,” says Morrison, who has young children of her own .“I was weaving for about three years and using Instagram a lot for business. I found a lot of other fiber artists using knots and macrame.”
So, a year ago, Morrison tried her hand at the knot-based fiber art that many folks over 40 remember from school craft days. She learned some knots from her mother and studied books and You Tube for there st, finding online sources for materials and exploring what was possible.
The result hangs on the walls in her home and in the Tacoma, Washington home war es shop Evolve. Hangings measuring 92cm d rape with layer over layer of loose knots and vertical strings. Tiny hangings of tight square knots that clip to purses. A hanging from two deer antlers that Morrison found at a thrift shop, with four layers scooping downward like V-necks, combed out at the end s like a beard and combining into an abstract “face.”
And offset perfectly on a deep teal wall, a hanging that’s as much art as macrame: a patterned “Bud d hist mesh” of square knots, d raping loops of tight clove hitches outlining texture field s of mesh, verticals or loose weave, and occasional outbursts of fringe, like some kind of exotic shaggy pet.
A portable clothes rack hold s Morrison’s work-in-progress.
“I used to d raw it all out at first, but I change my mind so much now that I just kind of go,” says Morrison, about how she comes up with the designs.
In case you were still picturing those thick, prickly macrame hanging s from the 1970s, millennial macrame is a very different animal.
First, the materials: forget that brown jute that’s rough on your hands and sheds thousands of tiny fibers.
Morrison uses packing twine for smaller, delicate hanging sand three-ply rope for bigger ones. Either way, it’s 100% cotton, in a calm, creamy ecru that fits with trendy minimalist decor and with the 21st-century passion for the natural, textural and organic.
Then there are the horizontal supports. Morrison sources smooth, straight drift wood from the beach, but is also exploring wood s like cholla from a recent visit to Joshua Tree, California, and out-of-the-box ideas like the antlers. Others weave or attach feathers, beads and more driftwood, using coloured twine or even dip-dyeing hanging sin in di- go or tan.
Finally, there are the designs. Macrame can be as small as two strand s of string or as big as a room. Modern Macrame, an online Portland company, recently completed an installation for Ralph Lauren that transforms a ceiling into an upside-down forest of textured strands. Other artists such as Miriam Ragan of Newcastle, Australia, use thick rope for chunky, sculptural strand s across an entire wall.
In Tacoma, Evolve pairs Morrison’s hangings with a grey wall and a plant-filled interior. Proctor shop Compass Rose recently showcased elaborate macrame lanterns, with a window display of twine diagonal s from floor to ceiling interwoven with branches for a wintry look. Satori and Urban Exchange, both on Pacific Avenue, stock and display weaving sand macrame, including vintage 70 sh an gin gs.
“The boho-70s trend is making a huge comeback,” says Evolve store manager Cindy Hickly, who first noticed Morrison’s work on Instagram last fall.
One thing that hasn’t changed since the 1970s is the basic knots.
“The technique is exactly the same,” says Morrison. “All the how-to books are from the 70s.”
Basic macrame starts by cutting strand s of string, looping them in half, then looping them over the horizontal support in a “larks’ head ” knot (pull the free end s under and through the looped end to the front.)
After you’ve d one a few of these, you can start tying them together in square knots. More strand scan be looped onto existing strand sin the same way to use up scraps.
Learn a couple of extra knots (clove hitch, half-hitch) and you’re on your way. W hen you’re read y, tie off the strand s, unwind the string or rope, and comb out the end s with a basic hair comb.
Morrison stand s to work, watching Netflix as she does the hours and hours of looping and knotting.
“Macrame is very meditative for me,” explains Morrison.
“I not only love the look of the finished work, but the process itself is calming. On a bigger scale, I’ve met so many amazing artists because of macrame, and they are very inspiring.” – The News Tribune/Tribune News Service