HOW TO ESTIMATE THE LENGTH OF THE CORD FOR MY MACRAME

HOW TO ESTIMATE THE TOTAL LENGTH OF THE CORD FOR YOUR MACRAME PROJECT?

Answer to this question is not obvious as the total length of your rope is dependent on the size of the macrame, but also it strongly depends on type of knot that you are going to use... Anyway I will try to help you to come at least closer to possible answer.
If you are working with ready instructions or tutorials for macrame most probably you exactly know what should be the length of your ropes and what is the total length of the rope that you have to buy.
Of course you can go wild and start working without clear idea about your project, but this might create issues – luck of symmetry, too short ends, … in order to avoid this kind of situation I would suggest to start with proper project.
Before starting to braid you should answer yourself a few basic questions related to the structure of your macrame:
1) What will be the size of your macrame?
2) What kind of macrame would you like to do? What kind of cord will fulfill your requirements? What will be the thickness of your rope?
3) Will the pattern be easy or complicated, dense or loose?
4) Do you need any extra materials beside of the cord (wooden beads, wooden or metal circles, …)?
5) Do you want to add extra elements to your macramé (tassels, stripes, feathers, leafs)

A simple sketch will let you understand in which direction are you heading. I rarely finish the project exactly according to the initial assumptions, but they allow me to start working in organized. While the project is ongoing... the knots slightly change, the length is slightly modified, the macrame is living its own life...

HOW TO ESTIMATE THE LENGTH OF THE ROPE?

The most classical equation, which can let you calculate the length of the ropes for your macrame is multiplication by 4 of the macrame length and after multiplication by 2 (x2 because the rope is folded in two) :

Total Length of the rope = desired length of macramé x4 x2

For example if you would like to make a middle size macramé 40 cm (width) x 100 cm (high) with braided cotton cord of 5 mm you should cut the ropes at 8 meters, what after folding will give you 4 m length of cord ready for braiding. This is standard approach suggested in literature, but in reality everything depends on the tightness and kind of knots that you are going to use…

If you know the size of your macrame – in particular the width of the project – and you have chosen the type and the thickness of the cord that you are going to use you are ready to calculate the number of the cords that you need.

As I have already mentioned in the post related to the tools, it is better measure carefully needed length of the first cut rope and use it as a model to cut following once. It can help you to avoid mistakes leading to big differences in the length of the ropes.

In your first projects it is always better to cut a bit more of the rope than suggested in classical equation cited above. In this way you will be free to change or add extra elements in your macramé and finish your project in an esthetic, pretty way.

HOW TO ESTIMATE NUMBER OF CORDS FOR MAKING MACRAME?

You already know the size of your macramé and you know the length of the subsequent ropes. Now you have to decide what will be the distance between them. The best would be to cut a few ropes and distribute them on the wooden support in a way that suits you the best. Only in this way you will be able to calculate how many more of them do you need to cut.

EXAMPLE: Let's assume that you would like to make a middle size macramé 40 cm (width) x 100 cm (high) with braided cotton cord of 5 mm. If you will assume that 4 folded cords cover 5 cm of your wooden support you can use simple proportion to understand how many ropes do you need:

40 cm = x number of folded ropes

5 cm = 4 folded ropes

x=40x4/5=160/5 = 32

Which means that you will need 32 folded ropes to cover 40 cm of your wooden support in a way that you have planned at the beginning of the example.

Concerning the width of your macramé… the number of hanging folded ropes has to be multiplied by 4 (like 32, 36, 40, …). It is related to the construction of the basic knot.

So if according to your calculations you will get e.g. 17 folded ropes you should either loosen your pattern and use 16 ropes or tighten it and use 20 ropes.

In general I tent to describe all my projects, keep information about the length of the rope and the time of work. It allows me to estimate better the amount of the material that I will need for future project and the time that I will need to spend in order to finish them. I guess that it would be useful also for you.

Of course the total length will be a sum of the length of all ropes.

WHAT TO DO IF THE ROPE IS TOO SHORT

If your rope is too short you can still try to save your macrame and tie a second piece of rope to the ending of the string with a simple knot, tighten tightly and cut off the ends at the knot itself. By continuing to tangle macrame try to hide the node behind.

Macrame are just knots and I guarantee you that someone who does not deal with macrame on a daily basis will not see extra one. But remember that there can't be too many of them, because then you can already see them.

Remember that large macrame are the same as a small one, the only difference is the size. They need more string, more time and more patience when pulling longer strings... If you succeeded with a small macrame you will manage very well with the large ones.

Good luck!