1) To begin with this DIY macrame bag, cut 40 cords that are 15 feet long.
2) Take the bag strap (we used pieces of fabric that we have sewed together, but you can use whatever handle material you like and what is comfortable for you.
3) Fold 20 cords in half and attach them to the bag handle with lark’s head knot - place the folded cord under the handle to form a loop. Reach under the loop and over the bag handle and grasp the two loose strands, bringing them down through the loop. Pull and tighten the knot. Repeat with all the remaining cords so you will have 20 cords on one handle.
4) We are going to tie square knots right below the lark’s head knots to secure them in place.
5) Start with taking the groupings of four. Take the far-right rope and cross it over the two ropes in the middle to form a loop. The rope on the left will go over the right rope, behind the two in the middle, and through the loop. Give it a nice gentle tug to tighten it. To finish the knot, take the left cord and cross it over the middle two to form the loop. The rope on the right will go over the left one, behind the two in the middle, and through the loop. Pull it tight again.
6) Move on to the next four ropes and repeat the entire process until you reach the end – you will have a total of 10 square knots in a row.
7) Now we will proceed by tying simple overhand knots. Start with the groupings of two on the far left – put the cord over itself to form a loop, and then twist the cord around to go through the loop. Leave a little bit of a gap from the square knot. This is where you need to customize depending on how much net you want in your design – you can make it tight or loose. We left about 1” to 1.5”.
8) Move on to the next two ropes and repeat the process. Try to get this knot lined with the previous one, so it lies right next to it (it does not have to be perfect, though).
9) Repeat the overhand knot all the way across the pattern for a total of 20 knots.
10) Now we are going to make another row of overhand knots in an alternating pattern – we will leave off the one on the far left and take the next two ropes. Basically, we are taking one rope from each previous overhand knot and forming a new knot.
11) Take those ropes and tie another row of knots below the first one, leaving a space between them as you like.
12) Repeat the same technique in the next row, this time using the rope on the far left together with the one next to it.
13) You need to repeat this technique with the second bag handle.
14) Once you have all your rows done on each handle, we will connect those pieces together.
15) Find each end from each side and tie an overhand knot.
16) Tie knots to form one full row, including the one where it connects.
17) Once you have the fourth row completed, you will notice the two ropes on both ends that are not tied in a knot.
18) Take a net pattern, fold it one over another, and spread your ropes out so they fall where they should.
19) Find the two untied ends again – this is the point where we will connect the other side of the bag by tying another overhand knot. The fourth row is now completed.
20) Continue the pattern in the same fashion and move on to the fifth row. Find two ropes next to each other and start tying overhand knots. When you reach the end, flip the bag to the other side and finish the row.
21) Repeat the process until you reach the desired length (we did 10 rows of knots, but you can do as much as you like, depending on how big you want your bag to be).
22) Once you have finished all the rows, we are going to form a bottom of the bag with jumbo-sized overhand knots using 8 groups of 5 or 5 groups of 8 for even sections.
23) Take the cords and tie one giant knot the same way you did all the previous ones
24) You can leave the ends like that, or you can trim them to make them more even like we did.