DIY Macrame Teepee for Cats, Kids, and More

It’s been a while since I’ve made something for our cats, and I had the macrame itch again, so I made a DIY macrame cat teepee. Our Willy frequently gets attacked by our Walter, who loves sneaking up on him while he is sleeping in his round cat bed. I figured that if I put a teepee over that bed, Walter can’t sneak up on him from behind anymore. So it is not only pretty but serves a purpose too.

Video tutorial

It’s always a good idea to watch my video tutorials to see what my hands are doing. You can also go to my YouTube Channel instead to watch. Give me a follow too if you head over there.

Step-by-step instructions

The basic knotted grid that holds this macrame teepee together is the same as my macrame cat bed and my macrame lantern.

Since not every kitty likes a bed that can swing around, a macrame teepee might be a better option for those scaredy cats.

Let me show you what I did.

Macrame knots used

Let me show the basic knots that I used throughout this macrame teepee tutorial.

Lark’s Head Knot

The Lark’s Head Knot is used throughout this tutorial to loop new strands of macrame yarn onto the dowel rods and existing cords. It is a simple folding knot that anchors your working strands securely in place.

Square Knot

The Square Knot is the most common knot in macrame and the foundation of this entire teepee. It is made with four strands, two working strands on the outside and two filler strands in the center. If you alternate the direction of each knot, you get a flat Square Knot, but if you repeat the same direction every time, it creates a Spiral Knot. (Check out my simple macrame plant hanger tutorial for Spiral Knots)

Clove Hitch Knot

The Clove Hitch Knot is used to create diagonal lines, V-shapes, and horizontal rows in macrame. Each individual strand is knotted onto a carrier cord, which gives you full control over the direction of the pattern.

Prepare and tie the dowel rods at the top

I drilled holes into my 5 dowel rods 5 inches in. As I just mentioned, you can certainly skip that and move to the part where you just tie the top together. It will work just fine that way as well, but I wanted to make sure that there is no way it could collapse, just in case Walter and Willy have one of their moments, which unfortunately happens often. (image 1 in the collage below)

After that, I wrapped the tip of a macrame cord with clear tape so I could easily thread it through the 5 drilled holes. Then you just tie them together tightly. (images 2 through 6)

After you spread the teepee frame open, you can add another structural piece, which is again optional. I inserted a long threaded screw with a matching nut and two beads (as shown in the video) into the center of the tied dowel rods at the top. This helps the dowel rods to stay open and prevents them from collapsing if there is fighting. (images 7 through 10)

Lastly, I tied off the top of the teepee frame structure with an additional cord. (images 11 through 13)

Prepare the bottom of the dowel rods

Again, I opted for drilling 5 inches up into the bottom of the dowel rods, which was an afterthought, to be honest. You don’t have to, and the macrame knotting will work fine without it, but it helps to keep the structure/shape of the teepee. (image 1)

I measured the distance between each dowel rod to make sure it was even. The distance was about 11 inches. Then I measured and marked 5 inches from the bottom of each dowel rod and drilled the holes accordingly while placing a cutting board behind the rod. (images 2 and 3)

Next, I threaded another piece of macrame yarn through the dowel rod holes that was slightly longer than the perimeter of the teepee. I also added simple knots before and after each hole so the macrame yarn stays securely in place. Make sure you measure while working around the perimeter to make sure the sections are even. (images 5 through 8)

Knot the Square Knot grid pattern

Fold two strands of macrame yarn (I cut mine to 140 inches) and loop them onto the two dowel rods with Lark’s Head Knots that are facing each other. (images 1 through 4)

Then you knot a Square Knot in the center. (images 5 through 10)

Cut two more macrame strands 5-10 inches shorter at 130 inches and loop them onto the dowel rods about 2.5 to 3 inches down from the last one, and facing each other again. Those Lark’s Head Knots are followed by tying a Square Knot with the two strands from the previous section above. This forms the knotted grid of the teepee side panels. (images 1 through 6 below)

Now grab the four center strands (image 5) and tie a Square Knot in the center about 2.5 to 3 inches down. (image 6)

Add two more strands (120 inches long) to the dowel rods that are aligned with the previous center Square Knot. Follow that with Square Knots again to form a line of Square Knots. (image 7) Repeat that one more time for another row of Square Knots. (images 8 and 9)

The most important thing to remember when knotting the side panels is to use the same tightness of knots so it stays even. The beauty of macrame is that you can open it and knot it again should it not be even.

You can just continue with the same pattern of Square Knots, or you can change the distance of knots and add rows of Square Knots that are closer together, which is what I did because I wanted some extra visual interest.

I didn’t add new yarn for every section because it would have been too much. Here I’m showing how to loop on one existing cord on each side of the tight rows of Square Knots. (images 1 through 6)

Keep alternating the loose Square Knot rows and tight Square Knot rows until you reach the bottom cord of the macrame teepee.

Loop the grid cords to the bottom cord

When you reach the bottom cord of the macrame teepee side panel, it is time to loop the cords onto that single strand of macrame cord with Clove Hitch Knots. (images 1 through 7) Trim the fringe with your scissors.

Now I added some of the scrap cords that you just trimmed to the gaps between the fringe strands. Fold scraps in half and loop them onto the cord between the gaps with more Lark’s Head Knots. (images 8 through 10)

After that trim the fringe to your desired length.

Repeat these steps for the remaining 3 panels. Loop added new yarn either above or below the previous panel’s yarn, as shown in the measurements image above.

You can call the macrame teepee project done now and leave the front panel open, as you can see below. Or you can move on the way I did by adding a decorative knotted detail to the front.

Knot the macrame teepee front panel pattern

You could just repeat the same Square Knots all the way down, or add some more detail as I did.

First, you need to loop one 140-inch piece of macrame yarn to the top of the macrame teepee front panel so you can attach more yarn to it. You can see that I marked the center on the piece of yarn so I can make sure it is even and centered on the front panel. (images 1 through 6)

Add fringe to the front dowel rods

I used most of the scrap cord that I cut off earlier from the bottom of the teepee to add fringe to the front panel with Lark’s Head Knots. (images 1 through 5)

Then I decided to tie back the long fringe on each side, which resembles a teepee opening. (images 6 and 7)

Trim the fringe, and you are done.

Finished DIY macrame cat teepee

Another thing I added was dried silver vine fruits. Have you ever bought them for your cats? My cats love them just as much as catnip. The dried fruits are hard as wood and can be used in the same way as wood beads if you drill a hole in them, which is what I did. I strung those on some macrame yarn and hung them from the center of the teepee. As you can see, it was a hit.

We also have these silver vine sticks, which they play with often.

And Willy was interfering with the project whenever he could!

I will hopefully get some more photos of the cats using the macrame teepee in our living room throughout the year.

Frank also approves, especially loving the silver vine beads. He was drooling!

The funny thing is that I built made this macrame teepee so Willy could hide from Walter’s attacks and now Walter is the one who wants to sleep in it all the time.

Similar macrame teepees for sale

Here are some pretty macrame teepee options for sale if you don’t feel like crafting your own, as I did.

The other day, I was snuggling in bed with the cats, and I thought to myself: “This truly brings me joy.” So I’ve decided that I want to write a bit more about my cats again in the near future. So stay tuned.

Tschüß,