Rebecca Trewin
What you'll need
Macramé looks far more complicated than it is, and a plant hanger is one of the kindest first projects you can choose. It is essentially a net made of knots, and if it ends up slightly wonky, nobody will notice once a trailing pothos or spider plant is tumbling out of it. Best of all, it uses no sewing, no glue and no power tools — just cord, a ring and your hands.
- 24 metres of thick cotton cord, cut into 8 lengths of 3 metres each. Look for 4–5mm twisted cotton rope sold as macramé cord or 3-ply cotton. Anything thinner than 3mm will look spindly once it is holding a pot of damp compost.
- One wooden ring, 40–50mm across. A craft ring, a curtain ring or a cheap wooden hoop all work.
- An indoor pot no wider than about 14cm at the rim, with a waterproof liner or saucer inside it.
- Sharp scissors and a tape measure.
- Something to hang the ring from while you work — a door handle, a coat hook or the back of a dining chair. Working at eye level saves a great deal of neck ache.
The four knots you actually need
That really is the whole vocabulary. Learn these and you can make hangers, keyrings and wall hangings.
- Lark's head — fold a cord in half, push the folded loop up behind the ring, then feed the two loose ends down through that loop and pull tight.
- Square knot — with four strands in front of you, the two middle strands form a straight core. Bend the outer left strand over the core, then take the outer right strand over the tail of the left, under the core, and up through the loop. Pull snug. That is a half knot. Now mirror it: bend the outer right strand over the core, take the outer left over its tail, under the core and up through. Pull firmly and the knot sits neat and square.
- Wrapping knot — used to gather strands. Lay a spare length of cord along the bundle in a long loop, then wrap the working end tightly round the bundle and the loop about six times, working downwards. Pass the end through the loop, pull the top tail so the loop disappears under the wraps, and trim.
- Overhand knot — the one you already know. Loop, thread, pull.
Mounting the cords and setting the top
Fold each 3 metre length in half and mount all eight onto the wooden ring with a lark's head. Slide them around the ring as you go so they sit evenly spaced, like the spokes of a wheel. You now have 16 strands hanging down.
Let the strands fall and measure roughly 7cm down from the ring. Gather all 16 together and tie a wrapping knot to hold the bundle firm. This little collar is what stops the hanger splaying open at the top, and it is worth doing tidily — take your time and keep the wraps sitting side by side rather than crossing over one another.
Building the basket
Number your strands 1 to 16 from left to right. About 5cm below the wrapping knot, tie a square knot using strands 1–4. Then repeat with 5–8, 9–12 and 13–16, so you have a row of four evenly spaced knots.
Measure roughly 6cm further down and tie three more square knots, this time using strands 3–6, 7–10 and 11–14. Because these sit in the gaps of the row above, the flat band of knots suddenly becomes a net — that staggered second row is the trick that makes the whole thing work.
Now slide your pot into the hanger to check the fit. The rim should rest just above the first row of knots, with the staggered row cupping the pot at its widest point. Adjust either row up or down as needed; a square knot pulls loose easily, so nothing is permanent until you are happy.
Closing the base and finishing the tail
Once the pot is sitting well, gather all 16 strands underneath it and tie a second wrapping knot, pulled up snug against the base of the pot. This is the knot doing the real work, so wrap it tightly and pull the finishing tail down hard before trimming.
For the tail below, you have two pleasing options. Either tie an overhand knot in each individual strand at staggered lengths — say 20cm, 24cm and 28cm — for a layered, slightly bohemian look. Or trim everything level at about 25cm and gently unravel the ends with a dog comb or your fingers. Cotton frays beautifully into a soft tassel, and it costs nothing.
Finally, check the top collar once more and tighten any square knots that have worked slightly loose during handling.
Hanging it and a few practical notes
A 14cm pot of damp compost weighs two to three kilograms, so fix your hook into a ceiling joist or a timber batten rather than trusting plasterboard alone. Take the pot down to water it: carry it to the sink, water thoroughly, let it drain properly, then hang it back. Hanging a dripping pot over a carpet is a mistake most of us only make once.
Cotton cord relaxes a little in the first few weeks as it takes the weight, so expect the hanger to drop a centimetre or two. If it begins to look saggy, slide the pot out and re-tighten the bottom wrapping knot. Keep the finished hanger out of direct, blazing sun if you can, as strong UV will eventually weaken the fibres.
Once you have made one, the variations come easily: dye the cord first with a fabric dye, swap the square knots for spirals by repeating the same half knot over and over, or double the cord lengths for a longer, more dramatic drop. Anywhere indoors that gets bright, indirect light will keep a pothos, philodendron or fern perfectly happy in one of these.
