Sneha Ananthakrishnan is a software engineer by the day and a macramé artist by the night. Sneha made the best use of the lockdown to start macramé as a hobby and later sold her art and made money too. Let us hear from Sneha how she accomplished all this in a span of a year or so.
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| Sneha with her Macrame Wall Hangings |
1. Why did you choose macramé as a hobby during the lockdown?
I liked doing crafts since my school days. In
2017, I made a few dreamcatchers. In March 2020, during the lockdown, I saw an
Instagram page @thehippievibes and they had combined dreamcatchers with
macramé. I had some leftover wool from the dreamcatchers I had made. Using that
wool yarn, I made my first macramé. Moreover, macrame is the easiest to learn
when compared to crochet or weaving.
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| First Macrame made with Wool Yarn |
2. Can you tell us something more about macramé?
Macrame is the art of creating decorative items
or textiles by knotting. It is a Bohemian art form. My Instagram handle is
@theknottingale. As I work with knots, my friend suggested the name
Knottingale.
3. What
are the different things you have made in macramé?
I have made keychains, plant holders, bookmarks,
wall hangings, macramé candle holder jars, coasters, rainbow car charms, and
basket cases. I also make other customized products based on the designs
suggested by the customer.
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| Macrame Coasters |
4. What are the different tools you need to do
macramé?
You don’t need any tool to do macramé. You can
use cotton ropes or cords. And combine different knots like square knots,
double-hitch knots, berry knots, tassels, and fringes to create a design. You
can use a wooden dowel or ring to hang your macramé.
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| Macrame Candle Holder Jar |
5. What is the process that goes into making a
wall hanging?
First, we have to get the colour combinations
needed from the customer. Then we have to ask for the size they want and the
budget they have in mind. Then you can ask for the style they need. Some people
like tassels. Some people like the wall hanging to be flat and plain. After
finalizing the design, you have to calculate how much rope is needed and
proceed with the design.
For a wall hanging, you can use driftwood for
the holder. But, the wood has to be bleached and polished.
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| Macrame Wall Hanging |
6. Which is the difficult part of macramé? Which is the easy part of macramé?
Calculation of rope lengths is difficult.
Sometimes, there is too much rope or there is a shortage. Then, if you don’t
like how a design has come out, you have to unknot the design. Unknotting is
more difficult than knotting.
Apart from this, the trimming of the fringes and
tassels takes a lot of time, sometimes even hours. The pricing is also
confusing and tricky. I have to calculate the number of hours and raw materials
used and arrive at a price. But, sometimes I feel the customer may think the
price is too high. Certain pricing of my products looks like a low amount for
me.
Making the actual macramé design is the easy part.
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| Macrame Plant Holder |
7. What places do you recommend for purchasing
macramé material? Do you recommend any YouTube channels for learning macramé
and weaving?
Some of the Instagram handles to buy macramé
cords are atinytwisted, stringsattachedbysama, dkcrafttouch, and knotttyaffair.
YouTube channels to explore macramé art are
LotsofKnotsCanada and Soulful Notions. For weaving, you can check
SpruceandLinen channel.
Like for any other art form, you need to
research about the art, the history, the materials and the scope for fiber arts
as well.
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| Macrame Rainbow Car Charms |
8. You also do weaving apart from macrame.
When you do macramé, some rope will be left out.
I did not want to waste the ropes. So, I used the ropes for tapestry weaving.
In weaving, you can use varying lengths of rope and can reuse ropes. In
macramé, it is not easy to reuse.
Weaving is also therapeutic and forms part of my
‘me time’. For weaving, you need a weaving frame, tapestry needles and weaving
combs / forks.
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| Sneha with her Weaving |
9. What time of the day do you usually work on macramé or weaving?
I work at nights after 10 pm. On weekends, I do
both macramé and weaving for 8 to 10 hours. Approximately, it takes 1 to 2
hours to make a macramé coaster and half an hour to make a macramé keychain.
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| Macrame Basket Case |
10. Can you tell us more about your macramé sales on Instagram.
When I started, I tried to post one design every
Saturday on my Instagram private page. My friends and relatives started to
purchase my works. The sales grew organically. I created a dedicated Instagram
page in April 2021.
Some of my wall hangings have sold for Rs.2500.
Plant hangers were sold at Rs.450. People are willing to pay the price you
demand if you make good designs.
Now, I
have the added responsibility of making interesting Instagram reels and making
them trend. I have to consistently post content on macramé or weaving. It is
sometimes difficult to balance all this with the day job. But, I’m taking it
one day at a time! I continue to squish some yarn, tie some knots, and weave a
row…
Please visit my Instagram page @theknottingale
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| Macrame Key Chains |
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