Learn how to make a macrame feather wall hanging!

1. Intro: Hi, I'm Megan and I'm self-taught macrame artist. I'm also the owner and creator of my own little business Luna Crafts Online In this class, I'm gonna be showing you how to make this really pretty macrame feather wall hanging. So you can use any mixture of colours that you would like and you can make it as big or as wide as you'd like as well. This is just going to teach you the basics to making a macrame feather, and how to make your own. Pretty wall hanging. I created my small business, Luna Crafts Online back in December 2018. Since then I've fallen more and more in love with macrame and fibre arts and the process of creating bespoke wall hangings. I find creating something with my hands very therapeutic and relaxing, but I'd love to now be able to teach other people about this craft and hopefully inspire others to be creative. My hope is that my lessons, we'll teach you some basic knots and patterns so that you'll be able to create your own wall hanging. Plant hangers and even macrame bags. Not only for yourself but for friends and family as they make really amazing gifts. Some of my other hobbies include yoga, running, baking, and houseplants I have probably about 60 houseplants I have a lot of different plant hanger tutorials to share with you. I really hope you learn some techniques for me so you're able to create your own unique, beautiful hangings. 2. Supplies & materials : Okay, so for this project you're going to need some macrame cord So this is some three mm single twist macrame cord See if you untwist it like this, you can see it splits into lots and lots of different fibres. Whereas here I'm just grabbing one of my three ply cords. So you can see if I unravel this, it will split into three groups of cords like this. So that's just the difference. But today I'm going to be using a single twist. I think it creates a much nicer feather. So I've got this white colour, this light brown colour, and this darker brown colour. And I'm going to be using a mixture of all three of these. So you're going to need a 30 centimeter wooden dowel or a branch and you'll need a tape measure. Now have all the measurements for the cords and various feather lengths written in the class project section for you to make it nice and easy. You need a wire brush and a comb, I tend to use a mix of both. I found that the wire brush is really great for splitting all the fibres of the cords of apart and creating a really fluffy look and the comb is really great for getting closer to the knot. We need some scissors. And now let's just go over the measurements for the different feathers. For the first one, you need one lot of 55 cm and 32, lots of 15 cm. For the second smaller white feather, you'll need one lot of 42 cm and 16 lots of 12 cm. And for my larger light brown one, you will need one 150 cm and 26, lots of 15 cm. For the shorter light brown one, you will need one lot of 36 cm and 16, lots of 12 cm. And then for my large dark brown feathers, you will need one lot of 60 cm, 36 lots of 15 cm. And for the shorter dark brown one, you need one lot of 36 cm and 14 lots of 15 cm. And you'll also need one lot of 60 cm cord for the hanging cord so I'm just using some of my white cord. So in this group I have three of each colour of big feathers and then three groups for smaller feathers. So obviously you can mix and match depending on what colours you would like. So I'm just gonna go ahead and start with my largest white feathers. 3. Larks head knots & making the feathers: So I'm just grabbing the cords for my large white feather and I'm going to be grabbing my wooden dowel as well. And we're going to attach the long cord using a larks head knot. So I'm just taking my long cord and I'm going to split it in half. And then I'm gonna take this midway point, over the dowel like this. And then it's going to come behind. And then we're just going to pass these two cords through the loop there And then you can just pull that to the top of the dowel and tighten it. And that is a larks head knot, so it's super, super easy. And now it's time to create the feathers using the shorter cords. So I'm gonna go ahead and grab two, because you use two cords for each section of the feather. So I'm just grabbing one cord and I'm going to split it in half again. And I'm going to take the cord underneath these two cords just like this. And then I'm going to grab my other cord from that group, split it in half again, and then we're going to face this the other way. So the loop will be on the left rather than the right. And these two cords are going to come through this loop just like this. And then the two cords on the right are going to go through this loop. So you're just passing the two cords through each loop that's there. And then you can just tighten that and you'll see it will form a knot. And then you can just go ahead and slide that to the top. So that is how we're going to attach all the shorter cords to create the feathers. So I'm just gonna go ahead and show you one more time. So I'm just grabbing two cords, split it in half. And then for this one, we're going to do the opposite to the first one. So for the first one, the loop was on the right. So for this one, we want to make the loop on the left. So it's just going to flip it around like that. And then just pass the two cords through the loop and pass these two cords through the loop at the back. Just like that. And then you can pull that tight and slide it up to the first knot. So for every other knot, we're going to want to make sure we do it the opposite way to the knot that we just done. So it goes the bump will be on the right, and then it will go to the left and then the next one will make it on the right, just like we've done with the first section. So this is just going to create a really uniform look to your feathers and make sure everything is nice and even. So it's really easy once you get the hang of it, you just have to remember to do the opposite to the last section that you done. Just like this. You can see it goes from the right to the left and then to the right again. So I'm just going to carry on doing all of this until I've used up all of my cords. So I've used up all of my cords now and you can see bumps keeps swapping sides. So now I'm going to go ahead and grab another set of my longer feathers. So for this one I'm going to use the dark brown one next. I'm just deciding which side I want to put it on, I went with the left in the end. And we're going to attach it in the exact same way, in that larks head knot method. So taking the midway point over the dowel and then passing the two cords through the loop there. Just like that. And then just like the first feather, we're going to go ahead and take two cords at time and attach them in the exact same way. Making sure that with every section we do it the opposite way to the last section. So you can see here, I've accidentally done it the wrong way. So there facing the same way, so what you can do is just slide that knot down, leave a little gap, and then you can just add in the section going the right direction so you don't need to undo or anything. it's not the end of the world. You can just do what I done there and continue on. And I'm just sliding them along a bit so I can fit on my next long feather, which will be my light brown colour. And it's the exact same process for this as it is for all of the feathers. So it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it, you could just watch some TV or something. The time will go past really quickly. So now it's time to attach my shorter feathers. So I'm gonna go ahead and grab my light brown shorter feather. I'm just flipping the long feathers out of the way for now so you can see a bit clearer then to decide where to put it. So I'm just putting it right here. And then you know, the drill by now it's the exact same way. So we attach it in the larks head knot and then we attach two cords at a time using that loop method, making sure we alternate them just like this. So I'm gonna go ahead and attach my two other feathers now So it really is just a case of figuring out where you want each colour to lay and where you want the shorter feathers to poke through and then just attaching them all. And then we can move on to the next lesson, which will be combing it all out and trimming all the feathers. 4. Combing & trimming the feathers: Okay, so now that all about feathers are attached, it's time to go through and comb each one out individually. So I'm just grabbing my wire brush and comb And I'm just going to be working on one feather at time. So I'm just sort of flipping it around so you can see the one that I'm working on. And then I'm just going to grab my comb and hold down the side that you're not going to be combing so it doesn't come undone. And then just start brushing it all out so it gets nice and fluffy and smooth. And I'm grabbing my comb just to get to the bit closer to the knot to make it a bit easier. Otherwise, the wire brush tends to pull on them and snag them. So I'm just doing the two cords at the bottom. And then I'm going to flip it around and do the other side of the feather. Just like this, so now that it's all combed out nice and fluffy. We're gonna go ahead and trim it. So I'm going to go for the sort of standard feather shape where it starts off slightly smaller at the top, then it gets wider and then it comes to a point at the bottom. But the feather shape is entirely up to you. And it doesn't really matter if it's not perfect because it's handmade in the end and each feather is unique. So I'm just gonna go ahead and trim mine just like this. And then after each trim, I like to brush out just to make sure that there's no cord's stuck underneath or anything that are much longer than the other ones that I just trimmed. And I'm going to flip it around and do the other side just to try and make them match. Again, like I say, it doesn't matter if they don't match entirely because most feathers aren't symmetrical. Just like that, my first feather is done. So now I'm going to go ahead and flip that one out of the way and work my next one, which is this long dark brown one. I'm doing it in the exact same way. Brushing it out first and then trimming it all. So as you can see with the longer feathers. I just like to take my time and make sure I'm combing out after each trim. You can see there's few longer cords there that didn't get trimmed the first time. So combing it out after trim really makes the difference. And then I'm just going to work my way across the dowel doing one feather at a time until they're all nice and fluffy and trimmed. And we can just go ahead and attach the hanging cord and hang it up and go over the class project. 5. Finishing touches & class project: Hey, so now that our feathers all nice and brushed out and trimmed is time to add our hanging cord. So I'm just gonna do one final trim, just make sure it looks nice and neat and then figure out which feathers I want to be at the front and which feathers I want to tuck behind some other ones. So I just taking my time with this and making sure I'm happy with the layout and happy with how each feather would hang. So I'm happy with this now, we can go ahead and attach the hanging cord. So go ahead and grab your hanging cord. And I'm just going to attach it on one side using a standard double knot. Nothing fancy as it's not a heavy wall hanging so you don't need to add any glue or anything just a double knot will do. Then I'm going to try and figure out how long I would want it to hang. This seems good to me and then I'm just going to attach it on the other side using a double knot as well. Just like that. And then you can go ahead and just trim off the excess cord from the knots just to make it look a bit neater. And now it's time to hang it up and enjoy it and then go over the class project. So I really hope you love this macrame feather wall hanging as much as I do. I think I'm going to give this one to my parents as a house warming gift. I think they would really like it in that new house. And I can't wait to see what colours you use and whether you make this on a branch or dowel. So feel free to switch it up and use any colours you want or driftwood or something. And if you could share your class project and pictures in the class project section, I'd really love to follow along your journey and see your final product. And feel free to check out any of my other macrame classes. I have quite a few available now, and I'm definitely planning on uploading a lot more in the upcoming future. So thank you for your support.