FAQ| California Dreaming Macrame
FAQ: Questions and answers about macrame and California dreaming
1. WHERE DO YOUR ROPES COME FROM?
Sustainability and fair production conditions don't stop with clothing and food. Our two rope factories, with whom we have been working closely for many years, put both very great value on the high quality of their ropes, as well as on fair working conditions their employees. In the following we will explain to you in more detail where our macrame yarns and ropes come from.
RECYCLINGSEILE
Our recycled macrame ropes come from a small Spanish family business, which since 1956 has been making its ropes exclusively from surplus raw materials from the Textile industry produces. The small manufactory is idyllically located right next to the family home on a river that used to play a major role in the production of the ropes. There, the parents of the current owner spun their yarns themselves using branches. Today the rope factory has machines that do this work. The raw cotton comes from surpluses from the textile industry and is first shredded into small pieces. Yarn is then obtained from it, which is finally processed into twisted or twisted ropes. So there are no individual dyeing processes here, but raw materials that are left over from the textile industry are used, i.e. the clothes we didn't buy last season become our craft yarn! For this reason, some colors are only available seasonally, i.e. if you want to buy a specific rope for your project, we always advise you to plan enough rope for it, as we cannot guarantee that the same color batch will come again.
>> Here you will find an overview of our recycling ropes
LUXE SEILE (OEKOTEX STANDARD)
Our OEKOTEX certified ropes come from Turkey, they are made of 100% American cotton and are characterized by their first-class quality. They are certified according to OEKOTEX Standard 100 and are therefore free of harmful substances or other chemical substances, i.e. harmless for the production of e.g. macrame dummy chains, baby beds, blankets or similar. The small rope factory is also mainly committed to employing women who have fled from Syria and attaches great importance to good working conditions, fair salaries and vacation days.
>> Here you will find an overview of our OEKOTEX ropes
2. WHAT THREAD THICKNESS IS SUITABLE FOR MY PROJECT?
Especially if you are a beginner, the sheer selection of yarns and ropes may overwhelm you a little. Which yarn strength is the right one depends mainly on what you want to make of it. Macrame yarn is ideal for very filigree works such as jewelry or key rings 2mm, 2,5mm or a yarn count of 3 mm an.
Macrame Yarn in 4mm Starch has a standard thickness that works for a variety of projects, making it ideal for beginners. It is ideal, for example, for wall hangers, hanging baskets, coasters, dream catchers, bags or curtains. But also macrame yarn in 5mm is a good choice for this. You can also use this wonderfully for larger projects.
3. HOW MANY METERS OF ROPE SHOULD I ALLOW FOR MY MACRAMEE PROJECT?
Exactly how many meters you need for your project is not so easy to define. The required length depends on various factors, e.g. yarn strength or rope strength, type of knots, knot density or strength of your knots are decisive for the required yarn length for your macrame project. However, you can always calculate with a rough rule of thumb:
DETERMINE THE CORRECT ROPE LENGTH WITH THE RULE OF THUMB:
CALCULATE MACRAME YARN CORRECTLY - A CASE STUDY:
A wall hanger of 1.40m length knotted from 4mm rope:
If you want to tie a macrame wall hanging with 4mm yarn or rope (regardless of whether it is twisted, braided or twisted) and your wall hanger is to be 1.40m long, you should plan at least 7m long ropes for this design (7m/1.40m = 5). Once the rope on the wooden stick or branch with a lark head fastened, the rope splits in half. So you start with cords of 3.50m. Now you have enough rope (2.10m) to tie a pattern of your choice. You can see how far you can get with this during the course of knotting. A macrame wall hanging does not always have to be "tied through" from top to bottom: unknotted areas often provide a welcome boundary for a new pattern, and give existing patterns "room to breathe". The exciting challenge here is to playfully use the existing rope in such a way that you are satisfied with the result.
Another example:
A hanging basket of 1.30m length knotted from 2.5mm rope:
If you want to tie a 1.30 m long hanging basket out of 2.5 mm thick rope, we recommend starting with 4 m long ropes. Once the ropes are hung on the wooden ring or metal ring, you have 2m long cords to knot. With a classically knotted hanging basket, you start knotting the upper part and change the roles of the ropes after about 10-20cm knots (the previous working strand becomes the support strand and vice versa). Now you knot the next element until all ropes have reached the same length again before you knot the basket part.
For beginners we have instructions on how to make a macrame hanging basket yourself in the shop. You can either use them as DIY Kit inklusive Material acquire, or as PDF to download.
>>> You can find more macrame instructions here.
4. I USE THE CALIFORNIA DREAMING ROPE FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES. ARE THERE DISCOUNTS FOR ARTISTS RUNNING A BUSINESS?
Yes, of course! We know the challenges of the creative business and would like to support you in making your creative business as profitable as possible! If you can show us that you are using California Dreaming material commercially (it doesn't have to be limited to macrame!), you will receive from a permanent artist discount of 15%. Either send us a link to your shop (Etsy, website or similar). info@californiadreamingdesigns.com with the subject Artist Discount.
If you have an internet presence or are a blogger and are interested in a collaboration with California Dreaming, please send us an email info@californiadreamingdesigns.com with the Subject collaboration. We look forward to your inquiry!
5. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWISTED AND TWISTED ROPE?
The difference between "twisted rope" and "single strand cord" or "string" is mainly that the twisted rope consists of several layers of yarn and the twisted rope only one layer of many yarns. One speaks here of 2-layer, 3-layer, 4-layer etc. rope, this has the quality that it has a higher breaking load, which is of particular interest for projects such as hanging baskets, whose contents weigh several kilos.
The twisted yarn is particularly suitable for combing out and is therefore particularly popular for the production of wall hangings. Both variants are suitable for beginners and are independent of the level of difficulty.
6. WHICH SHIPPING SERVICE PROVIDER DO YOU SHIP ORDERS WITH?
Our shipping partners are DPD and DHL, the postage is 4.95 Euro throughout Germany, regardless of the weight and type of product. From a goods value of 50 euros, we will ship your order within Germany free of charge (except for SALE campaigns). We can also arrange express deliveries with other service providers, just get in touch with us.
7. CAN I PICK UP MY ORDER PERSONALLY FROM YOU?
If you live in Berlin, you can also pick up your order directly from our studio. To do this, select the "Pickup" option in the checkout and enter your desired pick-up time. We will then confirm the date as soon as your order is ready for collection. You can find more information about shipping and collection on our shipping page.
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION THAT WAS NOT ANSWERED HERE?
Then write us a message! You can find our contact details here. We look forward to helping you!