Modern Macramé in Mexico City: On Set for Domestika

One of the most frequently asked questions we hear from our wonderful, knotting community is, “how do I design my own macramé pattern?” This year we were lucky enough to answer this question in the form of a collaborative course with the learning platform, Domestika! Macramé for Beginners: Explore The Art of Knots is available now as an online course in English, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Polish and Dutch.

Emily and Elspeth were invited down to Mexico City where Emily had the privilege of teaching a one-of-a-kind video course in which she’ll teach you everything you need to know about pattern design from start to finish. Join us as we take you behind the scenes of our trip to Mexico and our time on set.

We started our journey at the studio where we busily packed our suitcases full of everything we needed to have with us on set. It was a lot: the final project, tools, design books, drawing material, rope, string, wool, inspirational objects, all had to fit into our rolling cases. Somehow we managed! 

Modern Macramé supplies for Domestika filming

Emily Katz and Elspeth Vance heading to Mexico City for Domestika filming

Off to the airport! With a 2:30 am wake up call, we made it to the Portland airport with plenty of time to get lattes, tea and treats before boarding the plane. After a long yet uneventful day of flight we arrived safely in Mexico City and made our way to the beautiful Ryokan Hotel. We felt right at home when we saw their tasteful rope installation in the lobby.

One restful night of sleep later and we were on our way to Domestika headquarters. Our amazing project manager, Laura, made introductions and settled us into our set and we began filming. Action!

Filming for Domestika with Modern Macramé

The team at Domestika built us a wonderful set and the lighting was just perfect. The days were long but we all had a lot of fun getting to know each other and finding the flow of the work day. 

Filming for Domestika!

Every evening we would walk home to the hotel through the enchanting neighborhoods and try a different restaurant or cuisine. Mexico City is an incredibly diverse and densely populated megalopolis with a rich culinary scene and we sampled as much as we could! We both agreed that we could probably have had churros from El Moro Churreria every night...

And that the tuna tostada from Contramar might be the most perfect food thing in the world..

The squash blossom pizza from Pizzeria Lardo in Roma Norte was picture perfect and quite delicious as well! 

Back on set we worked our way, scene by scene, through our course structure. It’s all in the details and we did our best to include every tip and trick we could think of. Being in front of the camera is tiring work but Emily gracefully performed her role with enthusiasm even as she was 4.5 months pregnant! And Elspeth, as producer, kept track of continuity and script supervision.

After work at the hotel we availed ourselves of the beautiful roof top baths at the hotel. The perfect way to unwind..

After a job well done we finally wrapped! We thanked our fabulous team at Domestika and got a few final shots on set, and enjoyed wandering the streets of Mexico City. 

After all of the work that went into this project, we are thrilled to finally share it with you. May it empower you to express your personal creative vision and inspire you to make the macramé of your dreams.

Emily and Elspeth would like to thank everyone at Domestika, especially, Efren, Emiliano and Lau. We are so grateful for your hard work and support in crafting this course with us. ¡Muchas Gracias!