macrame 3-pot planter tutorial

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com
planter

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

Why a macrame 3-pot planter tutorial? Here’s why: I have a friend who is, without a doubt, the best stepmom in the world. She keeps her children involved in wholesome activities all summer and lovingly encourages them to enter their accomplishments in local contests and fairs. Well, she roped me and my budding macrame skills into the county fair hoopla, too (pun intended).

To please my friend, I acquiesced; but in the process, I really started getting into the challenge. That’s what’s so great about art, right? The creative process always unleashes your inner child. For the macrame planter category, I’ve come up with this 3-pot planter, 24 inches wide but just small enough to hang on a door.

I call this planter Indigo Fair. It may look complicated, but all you really need to know are 3 basic knots – Square Knot, Half Hitch Knot, and the Wrapped Knot. You can find tutorials for them here.

Supplies needed:

  • 18 pieces of 5 mm cotton rope, each measuring 10 feet
  • one wooden dowel, 24″ long and 3/4″ diameter
  • three 15-oz tin food cans, painted

(Affiliate links included for your convenience. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. See disclosure here.)

step 1

First, I painted the ends of the pole copper. An easy trick is to tape a piece of paper over the pole, leaving only the end exposed. Then place it in a cardboard box to spray paint it.

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 2

Cut 18 pieces of 5 mm rope, each measuring 10 feet long. I’ve been yearning to make a project with colored cord and fell in love with this indigo shade from Modern Macrame. It’s 100 percent cotton and frays easily for a playful fringe. 

Tie 18 Lark’s Head Knots onto the pole. 

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 3

About 1.5″ down from the Lark’s Head Knots, start with the first individual cord on the left and make a row of 9 Square Knots.

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 4

About 1.5″ down from the last row of knots, starting with the 3rd individual cord on the left, make a second row of 8 Alternating Square Knots. 

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 5

Again, about 1.5″ down from the last row, starting with the 1st individual cord on the left, make a row of 9 Square Knots. You now have a total of 3 rows of knots.

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 6 – left section

Now you need to start thinking of this planter as 3 individual projects, working with one section of 12 individual cords at a time.

Starting with the first 6 cords on the left, weaving left to right, begin making Half Hitch Knots, angling downward. Then, starting with the 12th individual cord from the left, weaving right to left, begin making Half Hitch Knots, also angling downward toward the center (of this section).

macrame planter - myfrenchwtwist.com

step 7

Make a second row of Half Hitch Knots just like the ones above. 

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 8

Make a chunky center knot with the 4 middle cords in this section. (I’m not sure if there is a proper name for this type of knot, but watch this video to see how I did it.)

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 9

Now, beginning on the inside and working outwards, make 4 more rows (2 rows for each side as shown) of Half Hitch Knots. 

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 10

About 2″ down, starting with the 3rd individual cord on the left, make a row of 2 Square Knots.

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

Using the 4 loose cords (2 on each end), tie a third Square Knot. This will begin to make the “pocket” for the flower pot.

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 11

About 2″ down from the last row, make another row of 3 Alternating Square Knots. Then about 2.5″ lower finish it off with a Wrapped Knot. Untwist the cords to create fringe.

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 12 – before starting next section

Now that you have finished the left section, look at the remaining 24 individual cords. About 1.5″ from the last (3rd) row of knots, starting with the 3rd individual cord on the left, make a row of 5 Alternating Square Knots. 

Again, about 1.5″ down, starting with the 1st individual cord on the left, make another row of 6 Alternating Square Knots. 

step 13 – middle section

Now focus only on the middle section, which consists of 12 indidivual cords. Directly underneath the middle Square Knot, begin weaving the Half Hitch Knot. Start with the 6th cord from the left and weave Half Hitch Knots from right to left, angling down toward the left. 

Then with the 7th cord, weave Half Hitch Knots from left to right, angling down toward the right.

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 14

About 1.5″ down from the center top of the arch, make a Square Knot with the center 4 cords.

Then, starting with the far left cord, weave Half Hitch Knots from left to right, angling downward towards the center. (Use only the first 6 cords.) 

Next, starting with the far right cord, weave Half Hitch Knots from right to left, angling downward towards the center.

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 15

About 2″ down from the bottom of the “V” make a row of 2 Square Knots, starting with the 3rd individual cord from the left. Using the 4 loose cords (2 on each end), tie a third Square Knot. This will begin to make the “pocket” for the flower pot. (This is the same as step 10.)

step 16

Then about 1.5″ down, make a row of 3 Alternating Square Knots.

Again, about 1 – 1.5″ down, make another row of 3 Alternating Square Knots.

step 17

About 2.5″ lower than the last row of knots, finish it off with a Wrapped Knot. Untwist the cords to create fringe.

step 18 – right section

You now have one section left (12 individual cords). About 1.5″ inches down from the last row of knots, beginning with the 3rd cord from the left, make a row of 2 Square Knots. About 1.5″ inches down from this row, make a row of 3 Alternating Square Knots.

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 19

Starting with the cord on the far right, directly underneath the last row of knots, tie Half Hitch Knots from right to left, angling down. Next, tie another row of Half Hitch Knots from left to right, angling down as shown.

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

step 20

About 1″ down from the last row of Half Hitch Knots, beginning with the cord on the far left, make a row of 3 Square Knots.

Again, about 1″ down, make another row of 3 Alternating Square Knots (with the front knot creating the pocket.)

Finish with a Wrapped Knot.

macrame planter - myfrenchtwist.com

final touches

Now that the wall-hanging is finished, fill the pockets with containers. I used copper painted tin cans to complement the copper ends of my pole. Then fill the cans with flowers (faux succulents would work well, too) and enjoy!

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Comments · 21

  1. Hi Wendy,
    Would this design fit a slightly larger plant container like a small grow pot?

    1. The pockets are pretty small but you can probably make them looser and a bit larger as you weave it

      1. Thank you! One more question for you. Started making this but ran out of enough cord for the first portion. My rod is 1.1in. Would adding another ft to make it 11inches work? Sorry, I don’t want to be short again

        1. that should definitely take care of it. Sometimes macrame is trial and error. Let me know how it goes.

  2. Hi, I’m new to larger scale macrame. I just made this project, but for some reason, I ended up with some strings much shorter than others, or even much longer. In fact, for the 3rd section some stings were so short I couldn’t even use them at the end . Ended up having to improvise. What might I have done wrong?

  3. Do you ever take orders to make this? I’m 76 with arthritis my hands and would love this in my home.

  4. Very pretty Wendy and it brings back memories, my mom used to have lots of them. Thank you for sharing with us at Celebrate Your Story, and have a great weekend.

  5. I need to try this again! It was years ago when my mum taught me how to do it and I have completely forgotten how! I love your planters and the colour of rope that you chose with the copper pots! Such a clever idea!

    Thank you for sharing your fun project with us over at Waste Not Wednesday!

  6. This is gorgeous ❤️ I love the colour, I love the different lengths and I love the copper tin can planters 😊

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