Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Arts and Crafts/Macrame
Macrame | ||
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Arts and Crafts General Conference |
Skill Level 1 | |
Year of Introduction: 1975 |
The Macrame Honor is a component of the Artisan Master Award . |
1. Give a brief history of the art of decorative knotting.
[edit | edit source]Macramé, the modern art of decorating with knots, is believed to have originated with 13th-century Arab weavers. These artisans knotted the excess thread and yarn along the edges of hand-loomed fabrics into decorative fringes on bath towels, shawls, and veils. The word macramé is derived from the Arabic migramah (مقرمة), believed to mean "striped towel", "ornamental fringe" or "embroidered veil." After the Moorish conquest, the art was taken to Spain, and then spread through Europe. It was first introduced into England by Kathleen Koons at the court of Queen Mary, the wife of William of Orange, in the late 17th century.
Sailors made macramé objects at sea, and sold and bartered them when they landed, thus spreading the art to places like China and the New World. Macramé remained a popular pastime with 19th- century British and American seamen, who called it square knotting after the knot they most preferred in making hammocks, bell fringes, and belts.
Macramé reached its zenith in the Victorian era. Sylvia's Book of Macramé Lace, a favorite at that time, urged its readers "to work rich trimmings for black and coloured costumes, both for home wear, garden parties, seaside ramblings, and balls- fairylike adornments for household and underlinens ..." Few Victorian homes went unadorned.
While the craze for macramé waned in later years, it is now popular again, for making wall hangings, articles of clothing, bedspreads, small jean shorts, tablecloths, draperies, plant hangers and other furnishings.
2. What is a good macramé cord?
[edit | edit source]Cotton seine twine is recommended for the beginner because with this material, the patterns are easier to see and the knots are easy to tighten.
3. Know three kinds of cords that are good and why they are good.
[edit | edit source]Common materials used in macramé include cotton twine, hemp, leather or yarn.
- Cotton twine
- Soft, flexible, easy to obtain, cheap
- Hemp
- Very strong, easily acquired, natural look
- Leather
- Strong, stiff, doesn't fray
- Yarn
- Various colors, cheap, flexible
4. Know the basic knots used in macramé. Know two variations of each of these knots.
[edit | edit source]Overhand Knots
[edit | edit source]Square Knots
[edit | edit source]Half Hitches
[edit | edit source]Clove Hitches
[edit | edit source]Lark's Heads
[edit | edit source]Single Hitches
[edit | edit source]Macramé Knots
[edit | edit source]Josephine Knots
[edit | edit source]5. How is the overhand knot useful in macramé?
[edit | edit source]Overhand knots can be used to tie two cords together at the bottom of a piece, to fasten a cord to a bead or pearl, or to serve as a decorative knot in the pattern.
6. How much cord is needed to reach the desired length of the finished product?
[edit | edit source]The length of cord needed for a finished product is directly dependent on the types of knots used. It also depends on how much knotting is done on a given cord. Anchor cords will have fewer (if any) knots compared to working cords. A general rule of thumb is to allow yourself five times more cord than the length of the product. A better guideline is to experiment. Tie a short section (at least a couple of inches (10 cm) long). Measure it, and then untie it and measure the amount of cord used. If 2 inches of your sample required 12 inches of cord, you will need six times as much cord.
7. Make a sampler wall hanging using the essential knots and using at least two variations, such as the horizontal half-hitch, vertical half-hitch, or the half knot.
[edit | edit source]8. Make two other items of your choice using the square knot, the double half-hitch, and two variations of either or both items.
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- Book:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Artisan Master Award
- Book:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Honors
- Book:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book
- Book:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Skill Level 1
- Book:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Honors Introduced in 1975
- Book:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Arts and Crafts
- Book:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/General Conference