DIY Macrame Curtain Tie Backs Tutorial

Before we dive in to the DIY Macrame curtain tie backs tutorial, I need to take a second to rave about my most favourite craft supply purchase. It’s probably not what you’re thinking though, no fancy expensive gadget! It’s just a simple roll of twine.

It cost only a couple of pounds for an enormous roll and I have used it on so many projects. This garland, tied round a jar, tied round a napkin! I can’t get enough of it. If you love that rustic, vintage vibe you need to get yourself a roll, trust me.

Right, now I’ve finished raving about a roll of twine (I’m not crazy, I promise) let’s move on to the tutorial. If you’ve never tried macrame before, don’t panic. I hadn’t either before making this! I only used one type of knot to create the whole pattern, so it’s not difficult at all. To create both tie backs, it shouldn’t take more than 2-3 hours and it gets quicker as you get the hang of the knot.

DIY Macrame Curtain Tie Backs Tutorial

You will need:

• Twine
• Curtain ring (I sprayed mine gold)
• Scissors
• Clipboard

1# Cut four pieces of twine 3 meters long. Fold them in half and attach all of them to the curtain ring using a larks head knot: pass the fold through the curtain ring and the thread both ends through the loop.

2# Clip the ring on to the clipboard (as I spray painted mine I used a post it note to protect it) so that you are able to pull the string taut. You will mostly be working with the four strings on the right and left separately. You can also use the clip to keep the unused strings out of the way.

3# The knot you’ll be using for the entire pattern is a diagonal double half hitch knot. So lets look at the knot in detail first, once you master this the rest is easy!

Diagonal double half-hitch knot

• Take your filler string (aka the one you’ll be using to tie the knots on) and hold it diagonally across the other strings. For a left facing knot, hold the string diagonally to the left and a right facing knot hold diagonally to the right.
• Take the string next to it, pass it over the top of it filler string and pull through to secure the knot (but not too tight).
• Repeat the process – over the top and pull through gently but firmly.

Just remember to pull the knot taut, but not too tight – then you can always go back and correct it if you need to.

Got it? Great – let’s get get going!

Starting with first the string on the left as your filler, pull it diagonally to the right. Take the string next to it and complete your first right-facing diagonal double half hitch (let’s call it an RFHK otherwise I will be typing until my fingers bleed).

Take the next string along and complete another RFHK. Finally take the 4th string and complete a RFHK. Your first row is done!

Now take the string on the far left and do another row of RFHK exactly the same. Repeat until you have completed 4 rows of RFHK.

4# OK, it’s time do it all again in reverse. Take the string on the far right and use it as the filler. This time pull the string diagonally to the left.

Now you’re going to do three left facing diagonal double half hitch knots or LFHK as we’ll call them from now on. Complete four rows.

5# This time you need to continue the row of LFHK all the way over to the far left.

Keep the two strings on the far left slightly slack, to create the curved shape.

Then take the fourth string from the left and begin another row of LFHK working from the centre towards the left hand side. Repeat twice more, completing four rows of LFHK in total.

6# You guessed it, now it’s time to repeat the process on the right hand side. Grab the string 4th from right and complete a row of RFHK working towards the outside, creating a cross shape. Don’t forget to leave a little slack on the two outer strings to make that curved shape. Try to make it as symmetrical as possible. Then a further three rows of RFHK starting from the 4th string in from the right each time.

7# Pull the string on the far right diagonally left and complete a row of three LFHK. Again leave them a little slack for the curved shape inside.

Repeat this with the far left string and RFHK, but do one extra RFHK to secure the centre strings.

8# Now the pattern repeats. Simply go back to the beginning and repeat all the steps and continue until you have reached your desired length.

9# Tie a knot at the end of the pattern and then trim your twine to the desired length.

Liked this DIY macrame tutorial? Why not check out some more cool DIY projects over here! 

I’m so pleased with how this project turned out, especially given that they cost me absolutely nothing. Even if you do need to buy the supplies it won’t cost you more than a few bucks.

The other reason I like them is that you can adjust them to different widths, so they are perfect for my extremely thin and floaty Ikea office curtains.

Have you ever tried DIY macrame? What should I make next? Let me know in the comments!

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