How to make an Easy Macrame Plant Hanger

Easy way to make a simple Macrame Hanger for your houseplants

Do you love plants and flowers as much as I do? Do you have a house full of houseplants like I do? They sort of multiply around here. So, I’ve been busy making some these super simple and easy macrame plant hangers to get the plants off the floor.

Table of Contents

• What is Macrame?
• Macrame Plant Hanger Supplies
• Measure and Cut the Rope
• Tie the First Row of Square Knots
• Tie the Second Row of Square Knots
• Tie the Third Row of Square Knots
• Finish the Macrame Plant Hanger

First off, don’t let the word ‘macrame’ scare you. These are not the complicated macrame plant hangers from the ’70s. Do you remember those? They were way too involved with too many different knots and spirals!

No, these plant hangers are much more minimalistic and sleek with clean lines that don’t take away from the beauty of your plants. Plus, they are a super easy, quick (and cheap) way to make your own DIY Plant Hangers. Furthermore, this is also a fun DIY Gift Idea for your favorite gardener.

What is Macrame?

Basically, Macrame is a textile art form which uses cording and various knots or hitches to create decorative articles. Popular items made using macrame techniques are of course, plant hangers but also wallhangings, purses and tote bags, rugs and baskets.

If you love making your own home decor, you may also be interested in my DIY Switchplates painted with Alcohol Ink. And speaking of gardeners, go see how to make a DIY Glass Garden Totem out of thrift store finds.

Remember the hemp friendship bracelet craze from about 10 years ago? That was macrame so if you made friendship bracelets, this macrame plant hanger will be super easy for you. The only knot you need to know how to make is the ‘square knot’.

Macrame Plant Hanger Instructions:

Making this plant hanger is very easy although the initial instructions may at first appear confusing. Just follow this tutorial step by step and you will get the hang of it.

Measure and Cut the Rope

First, you need to cut 8 pieces of the rope, each 6 ft. long. This should leave you 2″ if you bought a 50 ft. rope. Mine was about 6″ short lol. Don’t worry, if the pieces are a few inches short, this plant hanger will still turn out fine.

Next, you want to match up the ends of all 8 sections of your rope and then tie a simple, overhand knot, leaving a few inches of rope at the end. This is the bottom of your plant hanger ‘basket’. Also, it doesn’t matter if the ends of the rope match up perfectly. You can always trim them later.

Tie the First Row of Square Knots

Now, you want to separate the 8 strands of rope into 4 pairs of 2 pieces. Using your ruler, measure appr. 4″ down from the knot and tie each set of two strands into a square knot.

How to tie a Square Knot: Begin by tying the two strands as you would tie your shoes. Then, tie the second knot the same, except you will reverse the order. If you began the know with the rope in your right hand, you will now begin with the left hand. (see the second photo below).

This makes a flat knot which locks the strands and keeps them from untying. If the knot tries to twist and won’t lie flat, it’s backwards.

It’s confusing, I know! WikiHow explains it like this:
1. Cross the right rope over the left rope.
2. Wrap the right rope under the left rope.
3. Bring the right rope back over the left rope.
4. Bring the original right rope over the other rope.
5. Pull the original right rope under the other rope.
6. Pull on both ends to tighten the knot.

To continue, repeat tying a square knot with the other pairs of strands until you have 4 square knots, each appr. 4″ away from the center.

Tie the Second Row of Square Knots

Now, for the second row, take one strand from a pair and tie it into a square knot with one strand from a neighboring pair. ( I just noticed that two of my knots are backwards lol. Can you spot them?)

Again, repeat tying square knots all around the rope until you have a second row of 4 additional square knots. This forms the basket of your macrame plant hanger which will hold your flower pot.

Tie the Third Row of Square Knots

Now, you simply repeat the same square knots for the third row. Tie one strand together with one neighboring strand. Each new knot will be tied between two knots from the second row and in line with a knot on the first row.

When you lay it down on the table, your rows of knots in the plant hanger will roughly be square. You should now have 3 rows of square knots (12 knots total), each row about 4″ apart.

Finish the Macrame Plant Hanger

Finally, gather up the 8 strands of rope. Set your flower pot into the center of the macrame basket and lift the hanger. Now, just tie the top of the ropes together into a simple overhand knot. That’s all there’s to it.

Hang your new macrame plant hanger onto a hook in the ceiling or on a bracket. If you want to get fancy, you can also add big, colorful wood beads between the square knots.

That’s it! You just learned how to make an easy Macrame Plant Hanger. If you have any questions or if any of these instructions are unclear, please let me know in the comments below.
Enjoy!
Annette
FiberArtsy

How to Make an Easy Macrame Plant Hanger