Macramé, the art of making textiles with knots, was huge back in the 1970’s. They were a staple of hippy fashion and it was seen everywhere from purses to plant hangers. For a while, the trend laid dormant but it resurged in the spring 2011 runway collections of Dior, Gucci and Roberto Cavalli. Fast forward to Summer 2012 and crochet and macramé pieces are now a boho staple for fashionable summer festival goers.
Today we’ll be showing you how easy it is to transform any old tank top into a real show-stealer. If you’ve recently taken your old embroidery threads out for the DIY friendship bracelet trend, you’ll be a pro at making macramé knots in this easy no-sew project!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
- an oversized tank
- fabric scissors
TUTORIAL:
[ TRIM ] – Trim off the entire hem of the tank top so that you have a raw bottom hem.
[ MEASURE ] – Measure the length that you want the fringe to go up to. This should be just below the bra line if you want a top that’s easy to wear with a normal bra. You can draw a chalk line across the shirt at this measurement to make sure that all cuts end at the same point.
[ MEASURE ] – Measure across and determine how wide you want to cut your strips. I made them approximately 1/4 inch wide. I also made sure that there was an even number of strips so that each one would have a partner to be knotted with :)
[ CUT ] – Cut your strips carefully and right up to the line that you drew.
[ TIE KNOTS ] – You can get a really neat knot by following the illustration above. Hold the right strand taut and take the left strand and loop it through itself. Do the same thing twice and you get a neat little knot.
[ KNOT ALL STRANDS ] – Do the same with every single strand by pairing them up with the neighbouring strand.
[ CROSS & KNOT ] – Get creative and criss-cross the strands in different repeated patterns and continue knotting more and more rows. When you’ve almost reach the end, you can just trim off any excess strands, as the knotting will have made some into uneven lengths.
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Thanks for reading! Are you gonna try this DIY? Tweet us a photo @everybodyisugly
by Sylvia of lipglossandblack
Images by Syl and Sam
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