Friday, July 10, 2020

Easy DIY Tie-Dye T-shirt Macrame Plant Holders... with kids!

It's summer! Which means it's time for succulent crafts and tie dye crafts! Today's activity is perfect for this time of year. Everybody is tie-dyeing. Everybody is reminiscing about nostalgic summer camp crafts. And everybody is going bonkers planting. (And who doesn't love succulents?) So grab an old tie-dyed t-shirt, a cute potted plant, and let's make this adorable DIY macrame plant holder for yourself... or give it to a friend!

How to make Easy Tie-dyed T-shirt Macrame Plant holders

(A fun summer craft for kids, tweens, teens, and adults too!)


how to make easy DIY Macrame Plant Holders from old tie dye T-shirt fabric yarn, the perfect summer craft for the whole family (kids too!)


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Note:
This was my very first time making macrame! I watched several videos and visited a couple of blogs for directions. I found this one from A Beautiful Mess particularly helpful! So if my directions aren't clear, be sure to check that blog out for another set of directions!

O.M.G. Isn't this craft the coolest?

how to make easy DIY Macrame Plant Holders from old tie dye T-shirt fabric yarn, the perfect summer craft for the whole family (kids too!)

Materials Needed:


  • A pot with succulents
  • Old tie-dyed T-shirt 
    • We used a child's Medium-sized t-shirt that we tie-dyed the shirt last summer using Tulip brand dye (which you can purchase through Amazon, or just get it from Michaels with one of their amazing coupons!) 
  • Fabric Scissors
  • Masking Tape
  • Ruler (or just eye-ball it, it's not rocket science)

How to Make a super easy Macrame Plant Holder:

1. Make T-shirt "yarn"


Place your shirt on a table. Cut horizontal strips around 1.5" by cutting from one of the t-shirt to the other. You'll get a bunch of t-shirt loops. Snip the loop once to create fabric strips.

You'll need 8 t-shirt strips for this project. (You can use the other strips for other projects. Braid a bracelet or necklace!)

how to make easy DIY Macrame Plant Holders from old tie dye T-shirt fabric yarn, the perfect summer craft for the whole family (kids too!)


To make the t-shirt "yarn," simply pull your strips to create lovely rounded + thin strands.

how to make easy DIY Macrame Plant Holders from old tie dye T-shirt fabric yarn, the perfect summer craft for the whole family (kids too!)

2. Trim any rough or ragged edges.

(Some of my ends were a bit odd-looking, so I snipped those.)

3. Tie a knot with all 8 strands. 

See the short bit? That will be your plant holder's bottom tassel. We will make the rest of the holder with the longer bits.

4. Separate your 8 strands into 4 pairs of strands.


how to make easy DIY Macrame Plant Holders from old tie dye T-shirt fabric yarn, the perfect summer craft for the whole family (kids too!)

*Optional: I found it easier to tape down my knot for this part. But you don't have to.*

5. Tie a knot about 2" from the first knot for each of your 4 pairs of strands.

(You could measure it, or just eye-ball it.)

how to make easy DIY Macrame Plant Holders from old tie dye T-shirt fabric yarn, the perfect summer craft for the whole family (kids too!)

6. Separate your pairs and create new pairs by joining neighboring strands. Then tie knots about 1.5" from your previous knot.


Here I tied 3 new knots. See the outer 2 strands? You'll also tie them together...

how to make easy DIY Macrame Plant Holders from old tie dye T-shirt fabric yarn, the perfect summer craft for the whole family (kids too!)

like this! And now you should have 4 new knots and a mesh net of sorts...

how to make easy DIY Macrame Plant Holders from old tie dye T-shirt fabric yarn, the perfect summer craft for the whole family (kids too!)

7. Tie your 3rd set of knots by repeating step 6 again. So you'll separate your pairs and tie neighboring strands together again about 1.5" from the previous knots.


(My 3rd grader saw what I was doing and wanted to help!)

how to make easy DIY Macrame Plant Holders from old tie dye T-shirt fabric yarn, the perfect summer craft for the whole family (kids too!)

8. Test out your design by shoving your pot inside your net. Adjust knots as necessary.


(Looking good!)
how to make easy DIY Macrame Plant Holders from old tie dye T-shirt fabric yarn, the perfect summer craft for the whole family (kids too!)


9. Now you'll twist your 4 pairs of t-shirt yarn together to create 4 twisty strands. 


(You can tie a knot at the end, or just use masking tape them so they don't come undone.)

how to make easy DIY Macrame Plant Holders from old tie dye T-shirt fabric yarn, the perfect summer craft for the whole family (kids too!)

10. Tie all 4 pairs of twisty strands in a tight knot. (The location of the knot will depend on how long you want to make your macrame plant holder.) Then, trim off any excess t-shirt yarn.


Ta-da! You've now got yourself a gorgeous DIY handmade plant holder! (And since you upcycled an old t-shirt, you didn't spend a dime!)


how to make easy DIY Macrame Plant Holders from old tie dye T-shirt fabric yarn, the perfect summer craft for the whole family (kids too!)

More fun Summer Yarn Crafts:


Happy creating and connecting, friends!