Making your own rope hammock can be a fun how-to project to work on with your children, or just as a nice project to work on by yourself.



Learning to build a hammock isn't as difficult as you probably think, and by following the directions we have here for you, you'll be resting on your new hammock in no time. These directions are for making a one person hammock.

Here are the materials you'll need to have:

- About 740 feet of hammock cord

- 2 rings that are between 2"-3" in diameter

- An electric drill and the following bits: 1/4", 5/16", rose bit

- Giant netting shuttle 8" x 1 1/8" X 3/16" thick

- Gauge stick, Cut a piece of wood 2" wide, 6" long and 1/8 thick.

- Hardwood bars (2) 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" and 33" long

To start out, you need to cut a three foot piece of twine and put square knots in the end. Using a nail or hook, hang the loop. Next, load the shuttle with hammock cord. You do not want the first row to be too full. Then, tie the free end to the loop.

While holding the gauge stick in your left hand, simply wrap the cord only one time around the stick. First go down the front of the stick and then up in the back. Pull the shuttle through the starting loop. Hold the shuttle cord loop tight around the gauge stick and half hitch around the starting cord on both sides. Repeat this process until you have made 20 loops around the stick. Be sure to keep it tight, but not too tight, and even.

Next, remove the gauge stick by pulling it out. Rotate it, so the shuttle is on the left side. Hold the gauge stick, just under the work. Bring the shuttle cord down and up, down the front and up the back, then through the first loop and around the loop with a 1/2 hitch. Repeat through each loop, keeping it even.

Before long, your shuttle will be almost gone. Reload it by adding as much cord as the shuttle will hold. Knot the free end to the end of the old cord using a secure square knot.

The next step is to turn it around so you can work with the shuttle cord on the left. All you have to do now is to repeat what you did for the first row and repeat all the same steps until it's completed. Fifty-five rows should come out to about six or seven feet.

After you are finished with the second row, you can now cut the starting cord and pull it free from the first row of loops. While adding rows, you will need to support it and keep it even.

Next, drill twenty holes through each of the hardwood bars. Starting from the center of the bars, the holes need to be about 1 1/2" apart and should stop about 2 1/4" from the ends. Then, you will need 40 50" long cords. Loop the first through one of your rings, thread each end through the left hand hold in the bar. Knot through the top left hand loop in the hammock net. Secure each cord through the bar to the loops in the net. Repeat for other end.

Because the hammock needs to sag in the middle in order to support your body comfortably, you will need to add side braids. It's not difficult to do. First we need to make two 3-cord braids from the cord. Thread one end through the outermost hole in the support bar and tie an overhand knot to secure. Continue by weaving in and out of the outside mesh. Thread through the bar at each end using the outside hole and an overhand knot.

Like all hammocks, your's will most likely stretch over time and you will need to adjust the length of the cords to make up for the stretching.

That's really all there is to making your very own hammock.