The Work of Jeanne Wertman

Jeanne Wertman lives in Ohio and is a multi-talented textile artist. Take a look at her beautiful designs on this web site. You can also see more of her work here.

Macrame Towels in Brazil

On Teresa's blog Cantinho da Teresa she shows terry cloth towels macramed to the hilt! Here are all of her magnificent macrame towel blog entries.

Macrame Headboards

Those Fiber Form & Fantasy folks reign supreme! When I saw this Bali Hi headboard I sooo wanted it! It has even got that undulating leaf pattern arching around the center! And the matching swag lamp! Baby, for 1977, that's swinging!






And they truly outdid themselves in their sequel to Opus 1 with this ever so charming guest bedroomy Tailored to Taste headboard.













But the pièce de résistance is their Sundowner Headboard within the pages of the second booklet:

Oh la la la la. I think these headboards are perhaps the inspiration for the preponderance of Dreamcatchers in the 80's...

More of the Good Stuff

The Vogue Guide to Macrame, published in 1972, was produced in the hippy hempy macrame heyday.

Its one outstanding feature is an up and coming star in the textile industry: Kaffe Fassett, better known for his knitting and quilt colorways.













Another resource, if you can find a reprint of it, is the Priscilla Macrame Book. The reprint I found from Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions was a copy from the 1923 revised edition. It purports to be a "Collection of Handsome Designs" and indeed, it truly is. Most of the pieces look Victorian with lots of frittering and tassels.
It's one of those book where the instructions ain't so hot and you'll have to figure out the knotting sequences from looking at the old-timey photos. I did find one pattern that was a calling card case in this book, it became the inspiration for my Reynard necklace.

Where to Find Macrame Books

I don't know how other micro-macramers learned the craft, but I studied old macrame books and pamphlets; in fact, I scoured yard sales, second-hand bookstores and eBay for manuals, pamphlets, one-sheets, books, anything with macrame lessons with pictures. Here's what looks like a great source for more instructional books on macrame: KINGSKOUNTY.
I love that they have a section called "Best Sellers". Who knew?

This week let's focus on some favs from my massive collection of macrame instruction books. Mad About Macrame, No. 2, published in 1975, started the revolution, my friends.


Take a look at the cascading leaf pattern on this curtain/garden divider/alternate doorway to Narnia.
This was the pattern I had to reverse engineer for my leaf necklace. Completely smitten by the waviness of the design, I had an epiphany about stringing seed beads inside the leaf structures so that color would peep through each little opening, creating a minor stained glass effect.

And seriously, who can resist the delicacy of the macrame inset at the top of this window? Another excellent place to splash a little color ala seed beads.

I haven't gotten around to bringing this one to fruition, but if I ever do, it will be in micro-macrame.

Whoo Ya Gonna Call?

Two sisters in Buenos Aires make macrame owls like there's no tomorrow!
There are so many things to love about their darling owlies: how they've shaped the eyes, the gradation of colors in some of the knottings, and the stout twigs the owls are "standing on" are just a few. So if you have a hankering to amass your very own parliament of owls, but don't have the wherewithal to create them yourself, you now know where to find them, don't you?

Ply Split Braiding

Julie Hedges is a British artist who works in ply-split braiding, which is sort of like micro-macrame, but not quite. Take a look at her incredible work.