Originating from thirteenth century Arabic weavers, the knot-tying textile art of Macrame peaked in Western popularity during the seventies.  Recent work from a number of Australian-based artists and designers has seen a reasonably strong resurgence of the craft in home furnishings.

Smalltown is a Melbourne boutique that primarily specializes in the craft, creating commissioned macrame displays, hanging pots (pictured above), lampshades and jewellery using fine-quality rope.

Lorraine Cook creates  ‘micro-macrame’ jewellery and wearable art pieces (below) using thread, fibres and beads woven into tiny, intricate patterns.

Late last year designer Tamara Maynes released a collection of macrame owls titled ‘to john denver, with love’; each hand-dyed as part of her Six Week Boutique online store project.

[via DesignSponge and NOTCOT]