Glass Float Macramé Water Bottle Holder

This macramé water bottle holder is perfect for beginners. It is based on the rope bags that fishermen used to hold their glass floats.

Before this particular project, I’d never done macramé before. However, I was in girl guides, so I knew a couple of things about knots. And I liked the idea of making a water bottle holder based on the rope bags used to hold glass fishing floats.

So I tried… without success a few times, but eventually, I figured it out! (I think it took at least 4 times to get all the steps in order).

Google likes craft instructions to be presented in an app, so I’ve got that at the bottom of the post, but I also included step-by-step photos… because I really didn’t know the lingo to explain how I made this project.

Glass water bottles

We run through water bottles like you wouldn’t believe. They always seem to get beaten up, dropped on the floor, or forgotten on holidays. That’s why I started reusing glass flip-top bottles instead!

I’ll admit, we always have a LOT of flip-top bottles around. We used them for homemade beer, wine, cider, kombucha, and ginger beer. Since I’m known as a fermenter, people always give me their flip-top bottles.

The best thing about flip-top bottles is that they are TOUGH. A proper bottle is built to withstand the internal pressure of carbonation. I’ve never had a bottle break on me… and I’ve been using them for years.

Wondering where you can find glass flip-top bottles?

• Some small breweries offer 975 mL flip-top bottles.
• I like the clear glass bottles that come with sparkling lemonade, or cider.
• You can also buy high-quality flip-top bottles from your local UBrew or online.
• Don’t use thin, inexpensive bottles… it needs to be strong to survive a summer full of fun.

The one issue with these glass bottles is that they’re pretty large… too large to pop into most purses or pockets. That’s where this water bottle holder comes in!

Macramé Water bottle holder strap

1. Cut 6 pieces of thin cotton rope, each 140 inches long.
2. Holding all the pieces of rope together, measure 36 inches from one end and tie a simple overhand knot to hold ends in place.
3. Starting at the knot, braid the rope to form the strap.

4. Stop braiding when you have only 36 inches of rope left. The braid will be approximately 45 inches long, depending on the stiffness of your rope.
5. End the braid by taking the longest piece of rope and doing a simple overhand knot around the remaining pieces of rope.
6. Untie the large overhand knot on the other end and do another simple overhand knot to hold the pieces of rope in place.

Forming the water bottle holder

1. Tie the braid to a chair or hang it off a hook so you can easily do the knots that form the water bottle holder. The holder is made with alternating square knots, done around in a circle. If you’re new to knotting, here’s a video of how to make a macramé square knot.
2. Line up the six pieces of rope. Form each square knot using 4 pieces of rope, so the knot is tied around two central pieces. (My cats are always involved in all my activities…)

3. The first row involves three knots all about 3 inches from the end of the braid.

4. The second row of knots is made about 2 inches from the first set of knots, and it joins the other knots to form a sort of lattice. I tried to verbally describe what I was doing many times, and decided a photo was better.

5. The final knot in the second row joins the ropes into a circle.

6. Continue forming a lattice structure of knots until it’s the right size to hold your water bottle. I used 5 rows of knots for my water bottle holder.
7. Gather up the loose ends and tie a single overhand knot. Trim the ends or decorate the ends with beads and you’re done!

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