Projects to perk up the plant life in every corner of your home
Creative gardening need not be restricted to outdoors. Or, indeed, to off-the-shelf plant pots. Making a hanging plant holder is a craftier way to display greenery, and a great project for anyone finding themselves low on either time or space.
The ancient craft of macramé was a hit with the Victorians, although it’s most associated with 1970s homespun style. Plant hangers are back, given a colourful – and, dare we say, tasteful – makeover. You can, of course, buy one (see page 8 of February’s The Simple Things), if all that knotting brings back painful memories.
Hanging plant holder
You will need:
textile yarn*
scissors
2 plant pots, ideally already containing a plant
1 Cut five pieces of the textile yarn, each of about 4m long, and one more of about 40cm (you can adjust the measurements to your desired length).
2 Fold each of the longer pieces of yarn in half. Group all the folds together, then create a loop by wrapping the smaller piece of yarn around the grouped threads several times and tying firmly (A).
3 Divide the 10 pieces of hanging yarn into five pairs (B).
4 About 20cm below the top loop, take the first two threads and knot them together. Repeat for each of the pairs (C).
5 Then, take the right hand thread from the first pair and, further down, knot it with the left hand thread from the second pair. Repeat for each thread until each piece of thread is tied to another (D).
6 Repeat the process down the length of the yarn. The bigger you make the gap between the knots, the more space you’ll have for the pot, but you’ll need to make the knots closer together to hold the bottom of the pot.
7 Test for size with your plant pot, before tying a secure knot underneath the pot with the threads.
8 To add a second pot, repeat under the bottom knot using exactly the same knotting system.
9 Finish with a large knot containing all the yarn and neaten the ends with scissors.
Project by Laetitia Lazerges, a Paris-based pattern designer who blogs at www.vertcerise.com and www.doityvette.fr. She has also written several DIY books and sells bright and fun paper goods on Etsy at www.vertceriseshop.etsy.com.