Macrame Satchel | DIY

With festival season upon us, I love seeing all the new do-it-yourself projects and outfits surface that are inspired by the music festival season. I'm going to my first music fest this coming May (ahh!) and I can't help but dream up what I'm going to wear and how much fun it will be. I've come up with a few satchel ideas for carrying around necessities without having a huge weight on your shoulder, so first I made this macrame satchel with a leather strap.

This was my first time trying out macrame, it can be tricky...but the great part is there are no rules and even if you just start knotting the chord here and there it turns out pretty cool!

Materials: Cotton piping (about 25 yds, I found it for 19 cents/yd), scissors, tape, sewing machine, fabric of your choice, leather strap and round studs.

Steps:  Cut a 10 inch piece of piping and ten 32 inch pieces of piping. Tape down the 10 inch piece horizontally on your table. Fold the 32 inch pieces in half and slip under the horizontal piece and knot into place. Repeat this for all ten strips of piping. Starting on the far right, take the last strip of piping and knot it around the piece to it's left. The left piece will be the "holding piece" meaning the piping on the right is the one wrapping itself around the piece that is held in place. Repeat this across to the middle inching your way down in a diagonal line. Repeat this once you get to the middle by making the diagonal line go up the opposite direction.

Take the three pieces next to your middle section and make a "P" shape with the far right piping and the middle. Cross over the left piece on top of the P and swing it through (refer to pictures 1-3).Tighten this knot and repeat it. Do this sequence of knots across the piping using up all the chord, one of the knots there will need to be two strips of piping in the middle instead of one. When you finish the first row, do this again an inch further down without using the two end piping pieces to offset the knots. 

 Repeat the beginning diagonal lines that make a "V" that you made in the beginning. Now, cut a piece of fabric that is a little bigger than the macrame. Carefully sew your macrame around the edges to the piece of fabric. Start at the top and work your way down the sides, pull the piping tight as you sew, but do not go across the bottom yet. Cut another piece of fabric the same size as your first and place on top of the macrame. Sew across the sides and bottom, this will secure the macrame in place and make the shape of your bag! Cut off the excess piping and fabric. Make a lining by cutting two rectangles of contrasting fabric and sewing around the edges. Put it in your bag and sew around the opening to secure the lining in place. Finally, add your leather strap by using an exacto knife to mark where the prongs of your studs can go through. Fold down in place and you are finished!