Ombre Macrame Plant Hanger

Since we last talked about my houseplant hoarding habits, I’ve collected a bit more. Although I’ve smothered – and killed – some of them with love, I’ve started to run out of places to put them. That is how I entered the world of macrame plant hangers. They are super easy to make and pretty good looking – plus, they provide more ways to hoard ALL THE PLANTS! Okay okay, I may be getting a little out of hand.

macrame plant hanger
For this ombre plant hanger, you will need:
Cotton rope – I found mine at Home Depot but they can also be found online.
Fabric dye – I used Dylon in Flamingo.
A steel ring – totally optional and can be found at Home Depot.
A pot and a plant – obviously.
ombre plant hanger
First thing you’ll need to do is estimate how long you’ll want your plant hanger to be. I over estimated since I knew I could always trim any excess. Once you have your desired length, cut four pieces of rope twice the length of your final hanger – mine were 10′ long.
Fold your four lengths of rope evenly in half and tie a knot at the fold. If using a steel ring, string the rope through the ring then tie your knot.
plant hanger
Once that is done, it is time to dye your rope. To do this you’ll need to soak the rope in water while preparing the dye. I followed Dylon’s instructions and dissolved the dye in warm water; I actually broke the rules and only used a half of the dye at first. I then filled up my stainless steel sink with warm water and poured the dissolved dye into that. By the way, hooray for hot water heaters!
Before I started dip dyeing, I tied a small piece of rope where I wanted to the color to start to use as a guide but you can also just eye it if you’re feeling risky.
3 tie
Dip all of the ropes into the dye, stopping at the mark. Note: At first I did this quickly, but the dye didn’t come out as dark as I had hoped for, so I suggest leaving the rope in the water for a couple of minutes or so to prevent having to dye the rope twice. After pulling the rope out of the water, re-dip it, this time at a lower height than previous for an ombre/gradient effect. Repeat this one or two more times at a lower height each time.
4-dye
After allowing the dye some time to soak in, rinse the rope in cold water and allow to dry overnight. I hung mine from our shower head over our bathtub to dry since some of the dye dripped while it was drying.
9-dry
There are so many various ways to make a macrame and plenty of patterns. I tied, untied, and retied at least three times before settling on my final spacing for my plant hanger. Keep in mind each pot will sit differently and need unique spacing.
plant hanger
Here’s how to make this particular pattern using four 10′ rope strands folded in eight 5′ strands.
First, group four pairs of the rope and tie each pair about 11 to 13 inches down from the initial knot.
plant hanger
Then, 11 to 13 inches down from those knots, tie each pair again. About 4 inches down from the above knots, take one strand from one pairing and tie that to one piece from the adjacent pair, continue this with the other strands.
macrame plant hanger
Finally, tie a final knot another 4 or so inches down with all eight pieces to hold the plant up. Trim off any excess rope, if desired.
plant hanger
Remember that you may need to adjust the spacing of the knots to fit a particular pot.
plant hanger
See, really easy – right?
ombre plant hanger

To make my houseplant addiction worse, I may – just slightly – have a plant hanger addiction now. Whew – the first step is admitting it, right?

PS: Since writing this, I’ve come across this super lovely dip dyed plant hanger made by Mandi at Vintage Revivals. Not only does hers look twenty times better than mine, I feel like a total ditz. Can I use the terms “great minds think alike”?!

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4 Comments

  1. This is very cool! It looks awesome.

  2. I absolutely love this! I have a house plant addiction too! LOL, you can't ever have too many. PS. I love that wooden cubbie desk you have your books and frame on! It is lovely!

  3. Kelly says: Reply

    I’d love to try this! I have a macrame plant hanger, can I stop dye it even though it had already been made?

    1. Yeah, I don’t see a problem with that.

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