purrfectly cute DIY cat bed using macrame cord

I have seen many macrame cat beds on Pinterest but I have always disliked the fact that they have too many strings that I’d fear my cats could strangle themselves in, especially if they have a squabble. Let me show you below which macrame beds I’m talking about:

They are definitely stunning and if you aren’t a worrywart like me then go for one of those.

I wanted to also create one that was easier to make so you guys can replicate it.

• Cut a string around 40 feet long. I know it’s super long but that’s what I used. I bunch all the string into a neat ball so I can easily loop the knots and then just pull out more whenever needed.
• Start creating the Vertical Lark’s Head Knots by looping the yarn around the hoop as shown in the first and second photo with a short end of string hanging to the side
• Pull the yarn tight
• Then lay the yarn on top of the ring and pull through the back to the left side and pull tight
• After that place the yarn behind the loop and up through the left as pictured. (I always keep telling myself in my head first front over and trough the back, then behind over and through the front so I remember to alternate to create the Vertical Lark’s Head Knots)
• When you reach all the way around, you can cover the small string that you left at the beginning of the wrapping with more Vertical Lark’s Head Knots.
• At the end you will have one piece of string left hanging which you will cover later with the other knots of the hanging cat bed.
• If you run out of string during the hoop wrapping, you can just cover the ending string the same way and start a new row of Knots the way I showed you at the beginning.

Do this with both 18-inch hoops and put them aside until later.

Creating the hanging part of the macrame DIY cat bed

The way I created the loop part to hang the cat bed can be done different ways. If you want to save time then you can do it with a ring the way I did in my DIY macrame lantern tutorial. Just make sure you use a metal ring instead because the wooden rings can snap and break.

The loop I created is again the same Vertical Lark’s Head knots that I used to wrap the hoops. This time you wrap the strings that hang down at the center with a piece of yarn that’s about 8-foot long. Let me show you and you can also see this part in the video.

Figuring out how much macrame yarn to use

To me figuring out how much yarn to use is always the hardest part, especially when it is a project that I come up with myself and I’m not following someone else’s tutorial. I’d rather end up with a lot of leftover yarn material than not having enough. I always use my scraps for other projects like my macrame planter sleeve, macrame earrings, macrame bracelet and macrame half-moon embellishments.

You need to determine how long you want the cat bed to hang down. I knew that I wanted the bed to hang slightly above the window sill. So I hung my plant hook above the window first and then measured the length.
I multiplied that times 10 so I could have enough yarn for the rest of the knotting and the bottom tassel part.
Cut 8 pieces of yarn of that length and fold in half.

Now simply repeat the same steps for the Vertical Lark’s Head Knots as I showed you above when wrapping the hoops and as shown in the video.

Like I mentioned earlier my macrame lantern tutorial pretty much starts out the same way except for the ring part.

The Gathering Knot Method is best watched in my video at the 3:12 mark. Or you can just tie it of by twisting yarn around the strands and placing a tight standard knot at the end to hold it all in place.

For the rest of the project I used only square knots but you could also use spiral knots which are almost the same as the square knots, you just don’t alternate. Check out the difference in my YouTube video about Spiral and Square Knots.

I decided to not use Square Knots the entire string sections to make the project faster and to make it more visually interesting which is also why I added the wooden beads.

Below you can see that I always measured 5-inch equal sections on all 4 parts of the strands and just kept repeating that.

My beads didn’t have a hole big enough to add 4 strands of macrame yarn so I used a 3/8 drill bit to make the existing holes big enough. I clamped the beads into a vice and then drilled into the center. This leaves little teeth marks from the vice but I’m ok with that since I don’t have a drill press.

Attaching the hoops to the hanging strands

It’s time to create the area for the pillow to create the lounging part of the cat bed.

I marked 4 equal sections on the hoops and attached the strands with square knots to the hoop which you can see in the video.

Place the two center strands in front of the hoop and the two outside ones behind the hoop and then place the square knot under the hoop to hold it all in place as shown in my video.

Now it is time to cut more string for the sections between the top hanging strands. I decided to do three more strands for a Square Knot grid in between.

Cut 24 pieces of macrame yarn at 180 inches long. You need to fold each strand in half and loop them onto the hoop with a Lark’s Head Knot the way I showed you above when starting the Vertical Lark’s Head Knots. The only difference is that there isn’t just a small piece of yarn hanging to the side. This time it is equal yarn parts because you folded it in half. Maybe sounds complicated but really isn’t as shown in the video.

Believe it or not, I eyeballed this part instead of marking it exactly because in the end you won’t be able to tell.

Like I said above, fold the strands in half and loop the macrame yarn onto the hoop with Lark’s Head Knots as shown below and my video.

Each section has two Lark’s Head Knots to get the 4 strands that are always needed to create Square Knots.

I added a Square Knot to each section to match the Square Knots I used to attach the top hanging strands to the hoop.

Repeat this 12 times to complete all the sections.

Time to make the grid that will eventually hold the pillow for the cat to sleep on.

Grab the two outside strands on two adjacent sections and gather them with a Square Knot. I measured about two inches down.

Then keep repeating this all the way around the perimeter of the hoop.

Next, you have to repeat that again to create a criss-cross pattern. Grab the two adjacent strands next to each other which you can see below and gather with another Square Knot.

You have to attach the second hoop with more Square Knots which is the same way you attached the first hoop, remember?

Next you could continue the grid knotting with Square Knots to meet in the center of the hoop the way I did above but I decided to just gather the strands and tie them together to make things easier for me and you.

I simply used a piece of macrame yarn to tightly knot the yarn strands together in the center. You could also use a Gathering Knot like I used at the top of the DIY cat bed.

Trim the tassel at the bottom of the hanging DIY cat bed, add the pillow and you are done.

How to hang a macrame cat bed

My hanging planters are usually all hung from the curtain rods which has worked well but for the macrame cat bed I wanted to ensure that it was hung a bit sturdier.
I used a planter hook that is typically used outside to hang the cat bed as you can see below. This way I could use two large screws to drill into the wooden structure that holds the window behind the drywall. It might not look as pretty but I better play it safe than be sorry later.

Our kitties safety always comes first!

Tschüß