Meet Kira Dunlap and Rebecca Courtade of Macrame Club in Logan Square

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kira Dunlap and Rebecca Courtade.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Becky: Macrame Club started as a Saturday get together with a group of 4-5 of us who wanted to make plant hangers to hold all of our ever expanding plant collections. It was a time to hang out and unwind after the long work week and share food and maybe even get a little tipsy. Soon Kira and I got really good and started giving macrame gifts to everyone we knew, and then soon we ran out of people to give them to and realized that we should start selling them.

Kira: Becky’s always been super creative and inspiring, but I never thought of myself as much of a creative type. Once we started the Saturday get togethers, I realized that this rope offered me a way to tap into my creative side. I really enjoyed seeing a design in my head, and being able to translate it into a tangible object. I visit the Warren Dunes in Michigan quite often during the warmer season, to get a little dose of nature and a break from the city, and began to love taking “macrame stick hunting” beach walks.

Has it been a smooth road?
Becky: For me the making part of our business is great. However, I am not so enthusiastic about the business side of things – like creating a website, listing our products on Etsy, taking photos and measurements of our product. Taking photos has been super difficult actually. We are both using our living rooms as studios and finding the proper lighting has been an issue.

Other than that, it has been a pretty smooth road. We both have day jobs so right now it’s just a hobby, but we would definitely be open to it turning into more!

Kira: I think the road has been smooth so far. Both of us have a pretty clear vision of what we want this business to be at the moment, and kind of adjust as we need to. When it’s a slow making time, we embrace the break and focus on big picture ideas, and when it’s time to make, we make. As Becky mentioned, our challenges do involve the more “business-y” side of things, but those days we work on the business components of the club, we try to make as enjoyable as possible. We both listen to really good jams, so that helps!

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Macrame Club story. Tell us more about the business.
We take sticks and rope and turn them into functional pieces. Whether that function is to hang a plant on your wall or in your corner, or rather something lovely that hangs in your house and makes you happy when you look at it. We fell in love with the unique qualities of each piece, and the many combinations of stick size and color and rope size and color. I suppose we’re known as the girls who are usually carrying around an awesome piece of driftwood that will later become a plant hanger. I think what we’re most proud of is the amount of time and love that goes into each piece we create. We don’t mass produce and we really take our time with each creation and I believe that shows in the end product. We love that each piece has its own attitude that speaks to the customer.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Kira: It seems the macrame industry is moving in the “spread the love” direction. Workshops and classes are increasing and people seem to really be into it. We love teaching friends how to do what we do, and they can get a sense of how relaxing and meditative it can be. That’s something I think our culture needs more of and can certainly benefit from. Macrame has become sort of a moving meditation for me, and I really enjoy sharing that with others. We’re currently working on putting together a workshop in Detroit for some friends who are eager to learn macrame. Also, the marriage of ceramics and macrame is something we’re eager to explore. We have some ceramicist friends in the Chicago area and we look forward to working on some cool collaborations.

Becky: I think the macrame plant hanger trend is definitely here to stay. People love plants and recognize the benefits of filling their homes and work spaces with plants not just for health, but for mental wellness too. And plants and macrame go together beautifully!

I would love to eventually expand the macrame business to include other fiber arts. I also embroider, sew, weave, and quilt, and I would love to incorporate some of these more traditional crafts into our business, whether that means mixing these other mediums with macrame or expanding our line beyond macrame. And as Kira stated, we are super excited to teach others our craft. I am an elementary school teacher, so I feel like teaching our craft to others is the logical next step.

Contact Info:

• Email: macrameclubchicago@gmail.com
• Instagram: macrameclub
• Facebook: @macrameclubchicago
• Other: etsy.com/shop/macrameclub

Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.