Batik painting
Welcome to our batik painting page to accompany our Birds of Paradise batik kit from Batik Ying! You'll find our video demonstration, tips and inspriation. Enjoy!
What is batik?
Macrame uses knotting techniques to create functional and decorative items. Put simply, you are tying knots in cord to make beautiful things!
Macrame was a huge trend in the 70s and has come back around over the last decade. There are so many things you can make with it, from plant hangers to wall hangings, and coasters to bags!
You can buy specialist macrame cord for your projects (my favourite is Bobbiny), which comes in different thicknesses and twists (single ply, 3 ply and braided). In my opinion, the 3 ply is best for beginners as it doesn't unravel like the single ply, but do try them all as they make the finished project look different (and single ply is easier to brush out to make a fringe). In the same way, the different thicknesses mean that your knots (and therefore your project) come out bigger or smaller. 5mm is a standard size to start with, and then have a play with the different sizes!
My experience with this kit
Our macrame bunting kit is fun, colourful and a relatively quick make. I think the colours are so pretty, and the project is something that you can hang in your home and be proud of - or it would also make a lovely gift.
I think that this is such a great kit for beginners because the cords are pre-cut for you (so no risk of cutting them too long and running out of cord!). They are also a lot shorter than many macrame projects, so you don't get so tangled up.
The project itself is relatively simple, and each flag doesn't take long to make once you get the hang of it. I love that it teaches you most of the fundamental macrame knots, giving you a great base to move on to other macrame projects. And did you know that the spiral knot (which you can just see at the top of the plant hanger photo above) is just half a square knot, repeated over and over again?!
The knot that I struggle with most is the half hitch knot. It just doesn't feel like a knot to me! But once I got the hang of wrapping the working cord backwards around the standing cord, it just clicked. If you pull the standing cord straight then it helps the the 'wrap' to stay at a right angle to it which keeps the knot neat. And once you've done two for each working cord they seem to lock into place.
I hope you enjoy this kit as much as I did. I look forward to seeing your photos!
I've created a video tutorial so you can see this kit in action! Click below to watch. I hope it helps you to see more clearly how to form the knots.
Next steps
I hope you have enjoyed your macrame bunting kit! If you'd like to continue learning macrame and trying new projects, I have some suggestions for you.
Isabella Strambio is one of the UK's most well known macrame tutors. She has written a number of beautiful macrame books, which are available in her online shop. She also has some free tutorials on her website, plus a range of paid online macrame courses.
Gathered is always a good source of craft projects, and macrame is no exception. They have over 40 free projects to choose from!
Marching North has a wide variety of macrame projects to try, many of which have video tutorials.
And finally Miss Knottie Macrame's YouTube channel has some really lovely looking projects, many of which I really want to make myself!
If that's not enough inspiration for you, I've also created a Pinterest board of tutorials, tips and inspiration! Click the picture below to see what I've pinned for you :)
