How To Make “Little Missy” Macrame Purse

Many of you have asked “how do I close up the bottom of a macrame purse?” And though I do already have basic directions posted on how to do this, I thought I would do another tutorial and provide detailed illustrations to make the steps clearer.

And the best part…

You get the tutorial for the entire purse, not just closing up the bottom. Two for One.

This is the Little Missy Purse I have mentioned before. I have made and sold quite a few. Cute little purse for a precious little girl to carry her allowance in. Fast and easy to make.

I am doing mine in two different colors to illustrate the joining of sides and how to close up the bottom.

Ready? OK, let’s get started.

First, the supplies list.

---

Supplies/Tools Needed

6mm braided macrame cord (I am using brown and cream)
two 3″ D shaped plastic Marbella rings
ruler/yardstick/tape measure
scissors
craft glue
macrame board (or covered ceiling tile)
T pins

---

Instructions: How to Make Little Missy Purse

Cut 12 cords 40″ long – brown.
Cut 12 cords 40″ long – cream.
Or 24 cords all one color.

Melt the cord ends slightly with lighter or matches to keep from fraying. Don’t hold fire to cord long. Just a nanosecond. Could burn cord. You can see in this photo the fraying that happens as you work with the cord, IF you do not melt the tips first.

Find centers of six brown and six cream cords and pin to macrame board. (Set aside the balance of the cut cords for later.)

Lark’s Head 6 brown cords to the 1st D ring.

Notice the “knobs” formed on the backside. You will be working from the knobless side.

You will now begin tying macrame knots. Mostly Square Knots (SK) will be used in this project.

Starting on the left, number cords from 1-12.

Row 1. Tie one Square Knot (SK) with cords 1-4, 5-8, 9-12.

There are now 3 Square Knots in this row.

Row 2. Tie a SK with cords 3-6 and 7-10.

Find the center of one of the extra 40″ brown cords. These will be called the “add on” cords. Place it next to the FIRST cord on the left. Find the center of another 40″ brown cords. Place it next to the LAST cord on the right.

Tie a Square Knot (SK) with the new cord just added and cords 1 and 2. (The new cord when folded in half becomes two cords to work with.)

Pull down on the loop formed, smooth it out.

Repeat this by tying a SK with the new cord added on the right plus cords 11 and 12.

This row now has 4 Square Knots.

Renumber cords 1-16.

Row 3. Tie SK’s with cords 3-6, 7-10, 11-14.

Repeat the “add on” process. Same as you did for Row 2.

This row now has 5 SK’s.

Renumber cords 1-20.

Row 4. Tie SK’s with cords 3-6, 7-10, 11-14, 15-18.

Repeat the “add on” process.

This row now has 6 Square Knots. Renumber cords 1-24.

Set aside Side 1.

---

Now you will work Side 2. Repeat all steps to attach cords to the 2nd D ring. Do all steps up to the 6 SK’s in Row 4. Number cords 1-24.

Now lay both sides side-by-side on macrame board to join the two.

Tie SK with cords 23 and 24 from Side 1 plus cords 1 and 2 from Side 2.

This one SK starts the next row. Row 5.

Renumber cords 1-48.

Now, to finish Row 5, tie SK’s with cords 3-6, 7-10, 11-14, 15-18, 19-22 (skip 23-26, knot is already there), 27-30, 31-34, 35-38, 39-42, 43-46.

Row 5 now has 11 Square Knots (SK).

Now join sides together to work purse in a tube, in the round. Unpin Side 1 from macrame board and place it next to Side 2.

Tie one SK with the last two cords on the left and the first two cords on the right. See photo for assistance.

This completes Row 5. It now has 12 SK’s.

---

Begin tying in the round.

Row 6. Starting with cords 1-4, tie one SK.

Go all around, tying in the round. These are called Alternating Square Knots (ASK) since you are tying a knot with 2 cords from the above SK and 2 cords from the above adjacent SK. (12 SK’s)

Row 7. Tie one row of ASK’s. Go all around. Don’t tie with the same cords as in Row 6. (12 SK’s)

This is how your Little Missy purse should look after 7 rows.

Row 8. Tie one row of ASK’s. Go all around. Don’t tie with the same cords as in Row 7. (12 SK’s)

Row 9. Tie one row of ASK’s. Go all around. Don’t tie with the same cords as in Row 8. (12 SK’s)

Row 10. Tie one row of ASK’s. Go all around. Don’t tie with the same cords as in Row 9. Make sure to tie each knot tight. (12 SK’s)

This is how your purse should look after 10 rows.

---

Closing Up the Bottom of Purse

Turn purse inside out.

The “knobs” up near the D rings will now be on the outside.

Locate Cords 1 and 48. Tie an Overhand Knot on cord ends to identify later. Do the same with Cords 24 and 25.

Turn purse sideways or fit between your knees. Divide cords into 24 and 24. Front and Back cords.

Use the cords with Overhand Knots on the ends as your guide.

Tie a Square Knot with no filler cords with Cords 48 and 1. Just those two cords.

Push cords out of your way. Tie a SK with the NEXT TWO CORDS FROM THE LEFT and THE NEXT TWO CORDS FROM THE RIGHT.

Pull on the filler cords to tighten knot. Continue tying knots this way. Two from one side and two from the other until you reach the last 2 cords. They have Overhand Knots on the ends. Tie a Square Knot with no filler cords with just those two cords.

All knot tying is now complete.

OK, let’s do a check of the closing knots. You should have one SK (no filler) in one corner, 11 SK along the bottom of the purse and one SK (no filler) in the other corner.

Here is a bottom view of the closing knots.

And a flat view of the closing knots.

Make sure you pulled down on all filler cords. So the bottom will look as smooth as possible.

Trim each cord to about an inch. Melt the cut ends with a lighter or match to prevent fraying. Touch cord lightly so not to burn.

Turn purse inside out. “Knobs” along the top of the D ring should now be back on the inside.

Apply craft glue to each knot from the inside of the purse. Allow to dry. Shape the bottom.

Push down on the knots from the inside. Purse should be able to stand up on its own. (This is the craft glue I used.)

Embellish, if desired, with buttons, bows, ribbon. You can even add a lining inside.

You are finished!! Enjoy!!

Purse Measurements: 6 1/4″ length, 7 1/2″ height, 1 1/4″ width (at the widest point, the bottom)

---

Note: These instructions for closing up the bottom of a macrame purse will work with a large purse, too. You will just have more SK’s to tie.