Spider Web Macrame

Hey ghouls and creeps! It’s the first project for 2022, and I’m super excited for all the project ideas I have in store for you this upcoming year! With it being the start of a new year, I love taking the time to evaluate my living space and make changes/upgrades to areas that need improvement. Whether that be a good purge, organization, making aesthetic tweaks, or a combination of the three, I have some ideas of what I would like to improve. One of these projects is creating inspirational, whimsical but spooky wall decor for around my sewing desk. Ultimately I’d like to include a larger canvas/board with a motivational quote, a clock, and this macrame spider web that we’ll be making in this week’s tutorial(I’ll post photos on my Instagram account of the final result)!

Macrame has been a medium that I’ve wanted to experiment with for a while but was intimidated by the time investment. So I chose to tackle this smaller project just to get my feet wet. After making this project though, I found that I really enjoyed macrame and already have plans for another wall hanging for the bedroom! Let’s get started!

I rated the Spider Web Macrame project as easy. This project is great for a beginner to macrame and even includes some other skills like ombre dying, painting, hot gluing, and super minor weaving.

Step 1: Hoop Prep: Begin by cutting forty-seven 31″ lengths of your 1mm cotton cord.

Fold the cord lengths in half, then using the lark’s head knot tie the cords to your metal ring.

After all your cords are tied to your metal ring, lay your ring down on a table surface. Swivel all the cord ends so that they extend from the bottom of the ring, rather than crossing through the center. Count your knots starting from the right, and swivel all your even number knots 4-20 to the inside of the ring.

Step 2: Macrame: Step 1: Hoop Prep: From the cord ends pointing away from the hoop, take the tails of two lark’s head knots(this is four cord tails). Tie these tails using the square knot technique, alternating back and forth between right-half and left-half square knots. In total, I did three knots per grouping. Continue to square knot all your cords across the bottom of your hoop.

Once the first row of square knots is complete, begin the second row from the center. I left approximately 1/4″ of loose cord to provide breathing space between my knot rows. You can accomplish this look by purposefully not pulling the top of your square knot taut to the bottom of the previous row! Continue making square knots until all but two strands are tied on either end of the row.

Using the same technique tie the knots for your third through ninth rows. For every row, I started in the center and did my best to make my point appear center. Because some of the cords were rotated to the inside, your knots will be more sparse on the right, so do your best! I recommend as you’re tieing knots use rulers or straight lines to visually locate where your point should be!

Here are my knot totals for each row: third row: 12, fourth row: 8, fifth row: 5, sixth row: 4, seventh row: 3, eighth row: 2, ninth row: 1.

Once finished with my square knot “point” I took a rotary cutter and mat and cut my cords to a 1″ fringe. I then untwisted the fringe cords and used a brush to remove any remaining twists.

Now it’s time to address the cords on the inside of your hoop! Rotate your hoop so that your macrame point is at the top of the ring. Then taking the cord furthest to the right and wrap the cord end around the hoop, using hot glue to keep the cord taut and wrapped.

Continue taking cords starting on the right and moving left, repeating the steps above. I found that I didn’t have enough space on the hoop to not group six sets of cords together. This was so I had voids on either side of the web. Pro-tip: use hot glue to seal cord ends on the back of the hoop so that they don’t stick out and become frayed!

Once all your spider web strands are glued in place, take an extra piece of cord and wrap the remaining section of the hoop.

After cutting six 12″ lengths of cord, hand-weave them through the strands stretched across the hoop. After getting these cords where I would like them, I then carefully applied a tiny amount of hot glue to glue the cord ends to the sides of my spider web.

Step 3: Dying: Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to make your dyebath. Then get the cord at the bottom of your wall hanging wet so that the dye more easily absorbs. Gradually dip the bottom of your project into your dyebath evenly, leaving the bottom submerged longer than the top. After you’ve dyed your piece to your satisfaction, rinse the excess dye out until the water runs clear. Allow the piece to dry completely.

Step 4: Spider: While waiting for your piece to dry, take the time to paint your spider white with some acrylic paint!

After everything is dried use hot glue to attach your spider to the bottom right of your piece. By gluing the spider here, I felt this gave the piece more balance since there aren’t as many knots in this spot!

Yay! You did it! Congratulations on completing your spider web macrame project! If you find that your fringe needs some fluffing, don’t be afraid to do some touch up trimming and brushing!

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Ready for your next project? Here are some tutorials on the blog I think you’ll like! Frame Flip tutorial: https://britnijade.com/frame-flip/, Macrame Wall Hanging: https://britnijade.com/macrame-wall-hanging-w-bones/, or the Spider Web Macrame: https://britnijade.com/spider-web-macrame/. Enjoy!