How to Make a Bohemian Macrame Clutch in 6 Easy Steps

You have seen one - at the mall, the beach or maybe your friend has one.

A macrame bag!

It elevates every outfit yet it looks so simple and elegant.

In this Instructable I will be showing you how you can make this beautiful macrame clutch in 6 easy steps.

If macrame intimidates you - don't worry! You only need to learn three easy knots to create this unique piece of accessory.

Let's get started!

You will need:

• Macrame cord- there are thousands of colors,pick the one you like the most
  
• Somewhere to put your macrame while you knot - a clothing rack or in my case a hook I put over my door
  
• A comb
  
• Scissors
• Patience
• Time
  

Please note that every step of this project has a video tutorial I have included.

Take your cord and cut a strand about two meters long.

Keep in mind that in macrame it's better to have more cord that you can easily get rid of at the end of your project by cutting it,than less because you truly cannot add in more.So the longer the cord,the better!

Cut 24 strands of cord about four meters long each.

Take your two meters long cord and tie it to the base of your choice.Do this on both sides as I have demonstrated in the videos above.From this point on,I will be refering to this cord as the '''base cord''.I used my over the door hook and it worked perfectly fine.If you have a clothing rack you could use that as well.

Next up you are going to learn your first knot - a Lark's head knot.

Begin by taking the first of your 24 strands of cord and fold it in half.Place the loop you have created under the base cord.Reach under the loop and over the base cord and grab the two loose strands.Bring them down through the loop and pull and tighten the knot.

Congrats! You learned your first knot!

Repeat this step with the remaining 23 four meter strands of cord.

The next step is learning the square knot.It's caled a square knot because when you look at it it kind of resembles a square.

You will need 4 strands of cord to make this knot and you will be working with the outer two cords while the two middle cords stay fixed.Take the outer left cord and create a small loop placing it over the two middle cords,creating a shape resembling the number 4.Then take the outer right cord and place it over the left cord.Start to create your knot by taking the right cord under the middle cords.Then take the right cord through the loop formed by the left blue cord.Pull the cords to tighten and you have the first half of the square knot.

To make up the second half of the square knot you will repeat the steps working in the opposite direction.

Start with the outer right cord and create a small loop placing it over the two middle cords,again creating a shape of a mirror number 4.Now take your outer left cord and place it over the right cord. Create your knot by taking the left cord and going under the middle cords and through the loop formed by the right cord. Pull to tighten.

Feel free to refer to the videos above for easier application.

You have now completed creating your first square knot.

Repeat this knot on the first and second row.When you begin making your second row,leave the first two strands of cord and start with the next 4,as I have demonstrated in the video.

Continiue making this knot until you reach the desired width of your clutch,multiplied by two because we will be folding it later on.

Think of your clutch as a rectangle.The width in my case was about 20 cm,so I kept making square knots until i got to 40 cm.

At this point you will be sick of making the same knot,but fear knot (pun intended) - this is the step where you can use your imagination to create any design to show on the front of your clutch!

I decided to go with a simple design.

To create the two triangle shapes,divide the cords in half and work with each half seperately.I used 24 strands of cord,so I worked with 12 cords at a time.

The process of creating the front is very simple - keep making square knots.The only difference is that you will have to include less and less cord while making your square knots.While you make the first row of your triangle dismiss the first two strands,on the second row dismiss four strands of cord and so on.

Repeat the same for the second triangle.

Now you will learn the last knot - a double half hitch knot.

Use the first strand of cord as a holding cord,place it diagonally over all other strands which I will refer to as your working cords.From left to right, tie a half hitch with the second cord - pass the second cord over and then under the holding cord, followed by over itself to form a loop. Pull the knot tightly and push it up to where you want the start to be.Tie another half hitch knot to make it a double half hitch.

Continue making double half hitch knots with the remaining working cords.

Create a row of double half hitch knots on both sides of the triangles and in the middle as well.

Check out how to create this knot in the videos above.

Now all you have left to do is make the giant square knot in the middle of the clutch and some double half hitch knots.You already know how to make them.

It's the same technique,only this time you will be using multiple cords for your square knot.

After you create the giant square knot,finish your macrame clutch by making a couple more double half hitch knots to enclose the middle and you are done.

I made another row of double half hitch knots but that step is completely optional.

Now for some finishing touches - cut your cord and make some fringe.Use a comb to make the fringe fluffier.My advice to you is to cut the cord a little longer than you would like your fringe to be and after combing it nicely you can shorten it to the desired length. It's always easier to take away but you can't add in more once you have cut it!

Remember our base cord? Well now is its time to shine!

Take your bag off of your base and lay it flat on the ground.

Fold it in half and start assembling it by taking your base cord and looping it through the little ears you have created on the sides.This step would be a lot easier if you have a large needle but if you don't it's not a big deal.Repeat this for both sides.

Finish by folding the front design over and closing your clutch.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read through or look through this Instructable! If you ever deside to recreate this project feel free to share it here with us!

PS: I have just launched my Etsy shop! If you would like to support me you can do so through this link :

https://www.etsy.com/shop/FigureAndTwine