DIY Macramé Feather Tutorial

Hello there!

Are you as obsessed with everything macramé as I am? It’s a new interest for me - I think it’s just really started to show up on my Pinterest feed, and once you click on one thing, they send you a million more, so please excuse me if I’m late to this party ;)

Anywho, I like all things macramé, ok? But I’m also really intimidated by it. From what I’ve read, there are really only a few basic knots that get expanded on to make all of these gorgeous wall-hangings and key chains and earrings and countless other things.

So to test the waters, I decided to try a simple DIY macramé feather tutorial to get me started on all things macramé. I followed this great tutorial from Marching North, and I’m going to show you how I made my own version using yarn (I’m a little nervous to take the plunge and buy macramé cord until I get the knots down a little better).

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Supplies you’ll need:

• Yarn (I got mine at the Dollar Tree)

• Scissors

• Fine-tooth comb (the finer, the better)

Step 1: Cut your middle string.

To make your macrame feather, you’ll need one long string down the middle of the feather that you attach your other pieces to.

If you’ve been with me for any length of time, you know that I hate measuring things. So I used a comb as a guide of about how long I wanted my finished feather to be.

For this middle piece, lay a piece of string next to your guide and then go back down the length of your guide and cut your string. You’ve created a loop at the top that you’ll keep for your finished feather.

Step 2: Measure and cut your side pieces.

Next you’re going to measure and cut your side pieces.

To be completely honest here, I was initially planning on using the comb to wrap my yarn, but the yarn kept slipping off and I got frustrated, so I used my phone case instead, haha.

Anyway, I needed 40 pieces of yarn to create 20 knots down the length of my feather, so I wrapped the yarn around my phone case 20 times and cut along the top and the bottom of the loops.

Your pieces don’t need to be exactly the same length because you’ll end up trimming them later, and this method is so much faster than measuring out each piece individually. So find something to wrap your yarn around and thank me later ;)

Step 3: Attach your side pieces.

Now you’re going to add your side pieces of the feather down the length of your center string.

Leaving a loop at the top of your center string, attach two side pieces by making a square knot.

Fold one piece in half and lay it under the center string with the loop facing to the right. Next, fold a second piece and place it on top of the center string with the loop facing to the left.

Pull the two strings from the bottom piece through the loop on the top piece and push the two strings from the top piece through the loop on the bottom piece.

Pull the side strings at the same time so they tighten around your center string. Push the knot up to your desire location, leaving your top loop your desired size.

Continue down the length of your center string, alternating the direction of the under string. Since we started with our loop facing right on the under string, our next knot will have the under piece with the loop facing left. Continue alternating knots until you run out of side pieces, pushing the knots tight together as you work your way down. Pull everything tight before moving on to the next step.

Step 4: Brush the yarn.

After everything is tight and you’ve reached your desired length, you are going to brush out the yarn to make your feather look full and fluffy.

For this type of yarn, I recommend using a very fine-tooth comb, otherwise it doesn’t brush out all that well.

Use one hand to hold onto the knots along the middle, and brush out the yarn starting at the ends and working your way back to the middle.

Brush out both sides, then flip the feather over and brush everything again. Make sure to brush the hanging middle string pieces as well.

Once you’re satisfied, move onto the next step. Keep in mind, you’ll likely need to brush a little more after cutting, so don’t worry about getting everything brushed out perfectly just yet.

Step 5: Cut to shape.

Your feather likely looks pretty scraggly at this point and not exactly like a beautiful fluffy feather.

To rectify this, use scissors to cut your pieces into the shape of a feather.

I just cut a general feather shape, but if you’re more comfortable using a template, check the Marching North tutorial for a free template download.

After cutting to the general shape, brush some more and trim your feather as needed.

That’s it, you’re done!

Using this DIY Macramé Feather tutorial, I love how my cute, fluffy feather turned out! It was an easy start to learning macramé, and I’m excited to move onto something a little more complicated next time!

If you make your own DIY Macramé Feather, I’d love to see a picture! Please share in the comments.

Happy crafting! I hope you enjoyed this DIY Macramé Feather Tutorial!