TUTORIAL DIFFICULTY: BEGINNER TO INTERMEDIATE
Can you do this tutorial if you’ve never tied a macrame knot before? Oh yes, you can!
Can you do this tutorial if you’re “not creative”? Oh yes, you can!
Can you do this tutorial if you have two left thumbs? Oh yes, you can!
In the absence of a physical storefront, offering a macrame pride flag tutorial is as close as we can come to hanging a pride flag in our business’s window. And, come what may for this business, I want to make sure that I hang our flag proudly–every day of the year!
There’s something really special about making a pride flag, too. It’s the conscious act of love that goes into making every step. It’s the humility required of us to create something handmade. And it’s the effort to represent something with the utmost care. Consciousness, love, humility, representation, and care: are these not some of the building blocks of empathy? Great. We need more of that.
LGBTQ people are important to me because their creativity, intellect, innovation, resilience, protest, and advocacy have always moved the world in directions I find necessary. I’d rather go out of business than buckle to pressures to not say that. I’d rather not have a business at all than feel too afraid to put a pride flag in my virtual shop’s window. The potential outcomes of not expressing pride seem far worse than any potential business risks incurred by celebrating queerness.
So let’s make a pride flag together! I’ll do my best to walk you through each step with clarity, concision, and care
Please note that there are some slight colour differences between the pride flag in these photos and the kit’s balls you have in your possession. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to restock the bright yellow sunflower colour of the original flag, so we’ve made some necessary substitutions that will retain the essence of rainbow, but it’s just not quite as vibrant.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED FOR THIS TUTORIAL
- A sharp pair of scissors
- A measuring tape
- The Unfettered Supply Pride Flag Kit
- The Unfettered Supply Knot Guide. You can download it here:
Step #1: Preparing your frame and strings for knotting
Included in the Pride Flag Kit are two metal s-hooks for handing your frame while you work on it. If you have an adjustable clothing rack like the Ikea Rigga Rack, that would be ideal (this is an unpaid endorsement). But, in the absence of this handy macrame tool, you can secure your flag frame to the back of a chair, or maybe across an open doorway? Failing all of these options, you can easily work from your lap.
We’re going to start off with the 6 colours in the left hand pyramid.
The Pride Flag Kit contains six rainbow colours: ruby, burnt orange, mustard, avocado, cobalt, and violet. In ruby and violet, cut 4 x 12 foot strands. In burnt orange, mustard, avocado, and cobalt, cut 6 x 12 foot strands. Let’s work from left to right. Beginning with your first 12 foot strand of ruby, fold it in half. Now use a larks head knot (see the knot guide for instructions) to attach it to the frame. Repeat this process for all 4 ruby strings. Now, do the same for your remaining colours until your flag is fully loaded with rainbow colours.
Step #2: Knot the Rainbow
Whisper “knot the rainbow” in the voice of Skittles “taste the rainbow” campaign while you work.
We’re going to work from top to bottom, knotting a separate strip of each rainbow colour in alternating square knots. Learn how to knot alternating square knots from the knot guide you’ve downloaded.
With your first four strands of ruby, create a square knot. Then repeat the process with your second four strands of ruby. You should now have two ruby square knots resting side by side.
With ruby cords 3-6, create a square knot that sits just below your first two.
Repeat these alternating ruby square knots until you have a knotted belt/strip that looks something like this (ending on a diagonal that parallels the diagonal line of your flag frame). With about 1/4″ of wiggle room between your diagonal line of square knots and the diagonal metal bar of your flag frame, use the double horizontal clove hitch knot (instructions are here in the knot guide) to attach your ruby strands to the frame. You’ll create a double horizontal clove hitch knot with every 2nd strand of ruby.
Squish your double clove hitch knots as tightly together as you can.
Let’s do this together one more time, but with burnt orange and then you can be set free to complete all remaining colours independently
Begin knotting your strip of burnt orange alternating square knots by creating a first row of three side-by-side square knots. Your next row will have two square knots. Repeat in this fashion until your orange strip ends on a diagonal line that parallels the flag frame’s line (leaving about 1/4″ of space to pull your orange strip tightly).
Knot every second burnt orange strand around the diagonal flag line with the help of double clove hitch knots. Then squish your knots together so that they’re nice and tight.
Repeat this process with your four remaining rainbow colours. You’ll end up with something that looks like this:
About 1/4″ from your row of rainbow clove hitch knots, trim your ends. These ends will eventually be hidden behind your flag.
Step #3: Flip your flag and we’ll work from the opposite direction
We’ll be working with the balls on the right for this section of the pride flag.
Cut 16 x 8 foot strands of deepest mustard, fold them, and begin attaching them (with larks head knots) to the top of your flipped flag frame.
Position your deepest mustard strands in the middle of the frame’s top bar so that around 1-1.5″ of empty space remains to the right and left.
Knot a line of 8 square knots
Using rows of alternating square and leaving your first and last two strands out of each subsequent row of knots, create a triangle (of 8 rows of knots) that parallels the inner triangle of your your flag frame. Cut the ends of your triangle off, leaving about 1″ of string hanging below the square knots.
Cut 8 x 12 foot strands of natural string. Fold them in half and attach them to your flag frame with larks knots. Attach 4 strands of natural on either side of the deepest mustard triangle you’ve just created.
Using alternating square knots, create two strips of natural on either side of your triangle. You can measure as you go to ensure the correct length, but both of your natural strips should end in a row with a single square knot.
Once you can join your natural strips so that they sit flatly on top of your knotted triangle of deepest mustard, you’ve reached your desired length.
We’re going to join the two natural strips into a connected V with the help of…you guessed it–more alternating square knots! Connect the inner two cords of each strip of natural with a square knot.
Your next row of alternating square knots will be two square knots wide and will connect your inner 8 strands
Your next row of alternating square knots will be three square knots wide and will connect your innermost 12 strands of natural
Your finished V will look something like this
Step #4: It’s time for Trans Pride!
Cut 4 x 12 foot strands of dusty rose, sky blue, caramel, and black. For now, we’ll work with the dusty rose and sky blue layers.
Squish your deepest mustard and natural larks head knots snuggly together so that you have enough space for a single larks head knot of dusty rose to be attached on either side of the frame’s top bar. Then attach your two remaining strands of dusty rose with larks head knots on the right and left hand sides of the frame. Your setup should look like this:
Consult our knot guide to learn how to make a spiral knot (but, it’s simply one half of a square knot, so you already know how to do this).
Create two strips of dusty rose spiral knots that measure the same length and join together evenly above your V-shaped layer of natural square knots.
Attach both spiral layers of dusty rose in the middle with the help of a regular knot. It will look something like this:
With a larks head knot, anchor two strands of baby blue string: one the left hand side of the frame (just below the dusty rose spiral). Then do the same thing on the right hand side. Knot your sky blue spirals so that they sit just below your dusty rose layers in a symmetrical V.
Attach your sky blue spirals with a regular knot
Step #5: It’s Black Lives Matter Pride time!
Attach and spiral knot your 4 strands of caramel so that they sit directly below your flag’s sky blue layer
Take your hanging natural, dusty rose, sky blue, and caramel strands and tuck them behind your flag. Like this:
Then spiral knot your black strands just as you have have done with the others. This time, instead of tucking your black cords behind your flag, you’re going to tie a wrap knot around them to hold them in place. Consult our knot guide for wrap knot instructions before beginning. Then, with the help of a 6 foot piece of black cord, tie a wrap knot as perfectly in the middle of your V as you can achieve. This will secure your knots and accentuate the V shaped outline of your black layer. Wrap knots can be challenging, so you might need a few tries to get this just right.
Once you’re happy with your black wrap knot, you can cut off its ends close to the knot.
Trim all of your loose cords behind your flag and turn it onto its side. Your Progress Pride Flag will now look something like this! If you need to, at this stage, you can use a few dabs of a glue gun to hold each of your layers in place and to pin down any loose ends in the back of your flag.
Step #6: You ready for some intersex pride!?
For this step, we’ll be using the ring that comes with your Pride Flag Kit, along with the 1mm “Bella” cord. Bella is named after one of Unfettered’s original–and wonderful–team members. Hello Bella, if you’re reading 😉 Find any origin point on your ring and start wrapping tightly around and around until you’ve come full circle.
Once you’ve wrapped full circle, tie a double knot to connect your two strings on one side. Then with the help of a larks head knot, attach another small piece of Bella to the opposite side. Your wrapped ring should look something like this:
This step might take some finagling because you need to position your wrapped ring as perfectly in the middle of your knotted V as you can. Once you’ve found your middle, poke the loose Bella cords through a sensible hole and tie them tightly together behind your flag. Cut your ends.
Step #7: Position your handmade pride flag somewhere special
The most important step is pride.
If you’ve created a Progress Pride Flag with me, thank you. I hope you’ve learned a thing or two about macrame along the way. If any of these steps gives you trouble, please don’t hesitate to reach out for assistance (unfetteredsupply@gmail.com). I want to help and would love to hear from you.
