Macramé

Dip-dyed macramé wall hanging. Dip-dyed macramé wall hanging.

Macramé is a form of knotted lace that probably developed from the knotting of warp fringes on a woven material to prevent unravelling and to provide extra decoration. According to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, the word macramé comes from the Turkish word makrama, meaning a bedspread (also the Arabic word mikrama, with the same meaning). But the word might also originate in the Arabic migramah, meaning a fringe.

Macramé was popular in the West during the late nineteenth century and then went out of favour. There was a revival in the 1970's, when it was used for a wide variety of objects, from hanging plant pots to bags. Its popularity declined in the 1980's because of its close association with the hippie movement of the preceding decades.

Sources:

  • EARNSHAW, Pat (1984). A Dictionary of Lace, Aylesbury: Shire Publications Ltd, p. 107.
  • Shorter Oxford English Dictionary: ‘Macramé’.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 29th June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Sunday, 30 April 2017 14:33
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