Macrame Wristlet Keychain Tutorial

In this post I share how I made the cutest macrame wristlet keychain. It’s super easy to make. Seriously, if you can tie your shoes, you can make this macrame keychain.

I bought some colored macrame cord from Amazon and I guess you can say that I’m entering my macrame era because I’m having a blast creating with it. At this point I’ve only ever made two crafts from macrame – this wristlet and the plant hanger that I made a few years ago. Both projects have similar knots and complexities so I’m excited to challenge myself more on future projects and will be sure to share those tutorials with you all.

How to Make a Multi-Colored Macrame Wristlet Keychain

This project is a quick one and can be completed in 10-20 minutes depending how fast you are at tying the knots. It uses two colors of macrame cord so you can get creative with your color combinations.

Here is what you will need to complete the project.

Supplies Needed

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3mm Macrame cord
Small swivel snap hooks
Sharp scissors
Tape if you will be taping it down to a flat surface. I prefer to tie it off to a door or drawer handle.
Measuring tape

Step 1 – Cut the Macrame Cord to Length

Cut each of the two colors to 84″ in length. You’ll end up with (1) 84″ length of the first color and (1) 84″ length of the second color.

Step 2 – Feed the Cord Through the Hoop

Feed the macrame cord through the small hoop on the bottom of the swivel snap hook.

Make sure that there are two of the same color on the left and two of the same color on the right as shown below. When you pull the cord through you will want the outside lengths to be longer than the inside two cords. The outside cords will be tied around the inside cords so the inside two cords essentially dictate the length of your wristlet. I used 16″ for the inside cords and 68″ for the outside cords (shown below).

Step 3 – Attach your Hook Securely

You’ll need the hook to stay in place while you tie the knots in the next step. There are two methods to doing this (assuming you don’t have a macrame board). First is that you can tape off the hook to a flat surface like the image below shows. The downside to this method is that if the tape isn’t strong enough the piece will pull out from under it. You may have to be gentler when tying the knots.

My preferred method is to tie it off to a door or drawer handle because I can be more dynamic with my knot tying.

Step 4 – Tie Square Knots to Desired Length

Leave about an inch of untied cord at the top of the wristlet. This is where you’ll tie the gathering knot to secure it later.

Start your square knots 1″ down from the hook and repeat for the desired length.

If you’re new to square knots, here is a simple step by step.

I tied 23 knots on each side (46 total) to make my wristlet but you can test the size and adjust as needed. It ended up being about 10″ of knots. Don’t count the knots in the picture below. I realized after I took that picture that it was too long and took out some of the knots to shorten it.

Step 5 – Pull the Ends Through The Hoop

Feed the ends through the hoop to create the wristlet shape. Align the square knots on each side so that there is un-knotted cord for the top inch on each side.

Cut the excess cord so that there is only about an inch remaining on the left side.

Step 6 – Tie a Gathering Knot to Secure it

The last step is to tie a gathering knot around the 1″ of untied cord at the top.

Cut about 16″ of cord (any color you would like).

Align one end of the cord with the top of the wristlet and then make a loop like the first photo and hold it down with your thumb.
Take the longer strand on the right and wrap it around the loop several times. Anywhere from 4-6 wraps should work well. Be sure to cover the cut pieces of macrame cord.
Take the remainder of the longer strand and feed it through the loop as shown in the 3rd photo.
Hold the bottom strand loosely. Then pull up on the strand at the top until the bottom loop disappears behind the wrapped portion.
Pull the top and bottom strands tight to fully secure the knot.
Cut the excess cord on the top and bottom.

Here are some finished photos of the three macrame wristlet keychains that I made. This was such a fun little project and I think I’ll be making these for Christmas gifts this year.