Modern Macrame

The ultimate guide to creating and styling modern macramé projects in the home from top creative tastemaker and sought-after macramé artist Emily Katz. Macramé--the fine art of knotting--is an age-old craft that's undergoing a contemporary renaissance. At the heart of this resurgence is Emily Katz, a lifestyle icon and artist who teaches sold out macramé workshops around the world and creates swoon-worthy aspirational interiors with her custom hand-knotted pieces. Modern Macramé is a stylish, contemporary guide to the traditional art and craft of macramé, including 33 projects, from driftwood wall art and bohemian light fixtures to macramé rugs and headboards. The projects are showcased in easy to follow and photogenic project layouts, guiding both the novice and the more experienced crafter in a highly achievable way. Included with every project are thoughtful lifestyle tips showing how macramé can provide the perfect finishing touch for the modern, well-designed home--whether it's a hundred-year-old farmhouse, a sophisticated loft, or a cozy but stylish rental.

ldquo;Macramé is back-ramé, and this book is the Bible!”
–Jonathan Adler, potter, designer, and author
 
"Emily Katz is one of the most exciting and talented artists and makers out there today. This book is not only beautiful, but also a practical and hardworking guide that is sure to inspire newbies and experts alike. It’s hard to find a craft book that can also serve as a design book, but Emily has made it happen."
–Justina Blakeney, designer, author, and founder of Jungalow
 
“Drawing on the traditional craft of knotting, Emily Katz elevates macramé to the realm of art, bringing a fresh aesthetic to skills that have been handed down for hundreds of years. Her tutorials are easy to follow and perfect for beginners and advanced crafters. This is a great gift for yourself or others!”
–Maryanne Moodie, author of On the Loom: A Modern Weaver’s Guide

Praise for Emily Katz:

"Emily Katz is basically the interior designer we wish was our BFF.... Not only is she a macramé wiz (a hobby we're all about to take up, like, right now), but she also puts together super dreamy rooms and takes insanely rad pics of them when she's done, so you can totally live out the dream over Insta."
–Nylon

"Do you know Emily? She's a macramé wizard. Plant holders, hammocks, nap benches: She can do it all and she does it well."
–Buzzfeed

Auteur

Emily Katz

Texte du rabat

The ultimate guide to creating and styling modern macramé projects in the home from top creative tastemaker and sought-after macramé artist Emily Katz.

Macramé--the fine art of knotting--is an age-old craft that's undergoing a contemporary renaissance. At the heart of this resurgence is Emily Katz, a lifestyle icon and artist who teaches sold out macramé workshops around the world and creates swoon-worthy aspirational interiors with her custom hand-knotted pieces. Modern Macramé is a stylish, contemporary guide to the traditional art and craft of macramé, including 33 projects, from driftwood wall art and bohemian light fixtures to macramé rugs and headboards. The projects are showcased in easy to follow and photogenic project layouts, guiding both the novice and the more experienced crafter in a highly achievable way. Included with every project are thoughtful lifestyle tips showing how macramé can provide the perfect finishing touch for the modern, well-designed home--whether it's a hundred-year-old farmhouse, a sophisticated loft, or a cozy but stylish rental.

Échantillon de lecture
INTRODUCTION
I learned macramé from my mom.

At sixteen, my mom made macramé plant hangers by hand-knotting cords of brown jute. She sold her creations at a hair salon, frequented by her mother, so that she could buy her first Martin guitar. The fashion trend then was all about hand-knotted beaded belts and ponchos—anything that swung when you wore it. While sifting through photo albums, I discovered that her childhood home was full of macramé. Plants hung in the windows suspended from beaded macramé plant hangers, and knotted owls watched over the family from the wood-paneled walls of the den. 

My parents split up when I was nine years old,and my mom moved across the country. We didn’t have much of a relationship while I was growing up; but after turning thirty, I felt like it was time to reconnect. So in 2013, when my boyfriend suggested we visit her while ona trip to the East Coast, I agreed with some trepidation. I didn’t know what I would sayto her. Would we get along? We barely knew each other. But I did know the story about my mom making macramé.

My home in Portland has plants on nearly every surface—more than a hundred of them. Before the trip to see my mom, I had collected a few vintage macramé plant hangers to display my plants in, but I wanted to learn how to make my own. If my mom could teach me how to macramé, my hope was that we could connect over a common interest.

Before settling into my mother’s cozy Connecticut home, we gathered the materials we needed for our afternoon project: cotton cord, a metal ring, and some old beads scavenged from her craft drawer. We stood in her kitchen making plant hangers while my half-sisters baked vegan cookies and my boyfriend sat on the floor serenading us with my mom’s Martin guitar—the same one that she’d bought so many years ago with her earnings from making macramé.

It was a sweet and beautiful moment, one that is forever etched into my memory. After the trip, my boyfriend and I hung the plant hangers in our guest bathroom, and I mostly forgot about macramé. I made a few pieces as gifts for friends, but besides that, I was busy doing other things. During that period, I was working as an art director for a local company and didn’t make a lot of time for crafting.

That fall, a Japanese magazine called Liniere was in Portland doing a feature on DIY interiors and design. They had discovered our home through my Instagram account and wanted to feature us. Their team wandered around our house, snapping photos and asking through a translator about special details wehad created in our space. How did you make the countertops? What inspired the hand-screen-printed toe kicks for the stairs? Why do you have a mirror over your stove? One woman, Kanae Ishii, renowned for her Love Customizer craft and DIY books in Japan, asked me where the macramé plant hangers that hung in our bathroom came from.

I began to tell her the story of reconnecting with my mom and how meaningful it was. She listened to the translator and then asked,“But where do we get them?”

At this time, macramé had only recently resurfaced and wasn’t as readily available as it is now. I didn’t know where to send them to find it, so I suggested they check out the flea market or local thrift shops in hopes of finding some fun vintage pieces. After they left, I thought, “What if I taught them myself?” and called to see if they had anytime to come back and learn how to make a macramé plant hanger. Early the next day they arrived back at my home, and I taught my very first macramé workshop to Japanese magazine editors in my living room.

Since then, I’ve gone on to macramé area rugs, ceiling installations, daybeds, headboards, tents, and wedding backdrops. I even fashioned a skeleton costume for Halloween out of macramé. I have taught macramé workshops in Los Angeles, NewYork, London, Copenhagen, and throughout Japan. I’ve gr…