Montreal: the Reader’s Digest Association Canada
Macramé is a form of textile produced using knotting (rather than weaving or knitting) techniques. The Cavandoli style is done mainly in a single knot, the double half-hitch knot. Cavandoli macramé is one variety that is used to form geometric and free-form patterns like weaving. The primary knots of macramé are the square (or reef knot) and forms of “hitching”: various combinations of half hitches. It was long crafted by sailors, especially in elaborate or ornamental knotting forms, to cover anything from knife handles to bottles to parts of ships. Reverse half hitches are sometimes used to maintain balance when working left and right halves of a balanced piece.
Queen Mary taught it to her ladies-in-waiting. It adorned most homes in items such as tablecloths, bedspreads and curtains. Macramé was most popular in the Victorian era. It was a specialty in Genoa, and was popular in the 19th century. Sailors made macramé objects while not busy at sea, and sold or bartered them when they landed. Nineteenth-century British and American sailors made hammocks, bell fringes, and belts from macramé.
They called the process “square knotting” after the knot they used most often. Macramé’s popularity faded, but resurged in the 1970s for making wall hangings, clothing accessories, small jean shorts, bedspreads, tablecloths, draperies, plant hangers and other furnishings. Using mainly square knots and granny knots, this jewelry often features handmade glass beads and natural elements such as bone and shell. Macramé jewelry became popular in America. Sailors also called macramé “McNamara’s lace”.
The word macramé is derived from the Arabic macramia (مكرمية), believed to mean “striped towel”, “ornamental fringe” or “embroidered veil”. The decorative fringes also helped to keep flies off camels and horses in northern Africa. The Moorish conquest took the craft to Spain, then Italy, especially in the region of Liguria, then it spread through Europe. In England, it was introduced at the court of Mary II in the late 17th century. Another school of thought indicates that it comes from Turkish makrama, “napkin” or “towel”.
Leather or fabric belts are another accessory often created via macramé techniques. Fringe-like plaiting and braiding adorned the costumes of the time and were captured in their stone statuary. Vendors at theme parks, malls, seasonal fairs and other public places may sell macramé jewelry or decoration as well. Most friendship bracelets exchanged among schoolchildren and teens are created using this method. One of the earliest recorded uses of macramé-style knots as decoration appeared in the carvings of the Babylonians and Assyrians.
Necklaces, anklets and bracelets have become popular forms of macramé jewelry. Cords are identified by construction, such as a 3-ply cord, made of three lengths of fibre twisted together. Materials used in macramé include cords made of cotton twine, linen, hemp, jute, leather or yarn. Sometimes ‘found’ focal points are used for necklaces, such as rings or gemstones, either wire-wrapped to allow for securing or captured in a net-like array of intertwining overhand knots. Jewelry is often made in combination of both the knots and various beads (of glass, wood, and so on), pendants or shells.
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