Macramé Christmas

Isabella Strambio is a self-taught macramé and natural dye artist. She is half Italian and half Japanese and she grew up by the sea in Italy. At 18, she moved to the UK to learn English and study Interior Design. Isabella has always been attracted to design, hand-made products, natural materials and textures, and her passions are reflected in her work. She is also a big advocate of using recycled materials for her macramé work and food scraps for her natural dyeing. She started her blog www.twome.co.uk, to document her personal journey to learn 12 new crafts in 12 months. In 2017, she took the leap and quit her career as an Interior Designer to work full-time on her creative business.She has been featured in the Sunday Telegraph, the UK TV series Kirstie's Handmade Christmas and regularly writes macramé tutorials for magazines like Mollie Makes, In the Moment, Hobbycrafts and Origin. In 2019, her Natural Dyed Japanese Apron was one of the finalists for the Etsy Design Award. She runs workshops, events and teambuilding classes in London and across the UK. She also teaches macramé and natural dyeing online for people who cannot attend her workshops.Isabella's Instagram handle is @_twome – she has over 18,000 followers on the platform.This is her third book with Search Press.

• Introduction 6How to use this book 8Looking after your body 8Tools 10Materials 12Macramé essentials 14Knots 16Patterns 28Macramé tips 34Snowflake 1 42 +Snowflake 2 44 +Snowflake 3 46 +Christmas tree 52 +++Chunky Christmas tree 56 ++Advent calendar 60 +Garland chain 66 +Christmas tree garland 68 ++Candycane 72 +Cinnamon decoration 1 74 +Cinnamon decoration 2 76 +Cinnamon decoration 3 78 +Angel 1 82 +Angel 2 84 ++Wreath 88 ++Star 92 +Shooting star 98 +Roving wreath 100 +Bauble 104 +Gift tag 108 +Stocking 110 +++Reindeer basket 114 ++Napkin ring 118 +Star wall hanging 120Acknowledgements 128

Macramé artist Strambio (Macramé Jewellery) shows how to create winter holiday decorations in this appealing manual. Step-by-step instructions detail how to make overhand, reversed lark’s head, and half square knots, and she outlines the pros and cons of various materials, noting that single-twist string unravels easily and that novices would be better off with more durable braided string.The boho-chic projects include a Christmas tree wall hanging made from chunky double half hitch knots, a bauble adorned with gold string and tassels, and a simple stocking made up of square knots. Elsewhere, Strambio explains how to assemble green and white napkin rings, tree ornaments resembling candy canes and snowflakes, and a basket covering with a protruding knotted “red nose.”Crafters of all levels will appreciate the helpful advice on hiding string ends (she recommends taping the tips, weaving them through the backside of a knot, and trimming the excess) and working with long strings (to avoid tangling, she suggests folding strings over themselves several times and securing them with rubber bands). This will help crafters get in the holiday spirit.