Macrame has become a very popular craft and with its growing popularity expensive macrame cord has become more readily available. Although using cord meant for macrame gives great results, there are many cheap macrame cord options that you likely already have around your house or can be bought at your local hardware or thrift store.
My favourite cheap macrame cord ideas
Thrift Store Finds
Thrifting can be a fun treasure hunt for unique environmentally friendly macrame cord options. The picture shows some of my thrift store macrame cord finds but really any cord that can hold a knot and is strong enough to hold a plant will do.
Old T-shirt
T-shirt yarn is a good upcycled option for macrame. It is easy to make nice knots with, is a great way to reuse an old t-shirt, comes in lots of colours, and is free. It is stretchy which can make it a bit harder to judge where you should put it your knots though.
Here is a tutorial on how to make t-shirt yarn.
Cheap Hardware Store Rope
There are many types of rope available at the hardware store that will work well for macrame but cost much less than cord made specifically for macrame.
My favourite hardware store option is a thin twisted cotton rope as seen in the picture. I have successfully used almost any other type of rope but warn against very glossy options as they don’t hold knots well.
Yarn
Yarn is a good option because most people already have it. Because it is so thin I recommend doubling up the strands to make sure your final project is strong.
For younger or first-time macrame makers I do not recommend yarn. Macrame made from yarn tends to be easier to get tangled, making it a bit harder to get the plant in and the knots are almost impossible to undo if you need to adjust one.
