How to Make a Tassel Out of Yarn

I am constantly using these tassels in my projects and I think its long overdue that I shared the secret to making these gems with y’all. These are honestly so easy to make that they’re almost addicting. And they take less than 5 minutes from start to finish!

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First things first, you will need:

• yarn
• scissors
• any flat object that is 8.5 inches long

Other than yarn and sharp scissors, the only thing you really need to make these is an object to wrap the yarn around. I have found that a 8.5 inch long flat object works the best. A book or journal works great here or you can cut a piece of cardboard to size. Today, I’m using a manila folder that I folded in half so its twice as thick and stiff enough.

Once you’ve gathered your supplies, you start by wrapping the yarn around your 8.5 inch item 30 times.

Then you cut your yarn and slide your coils of yarn off of the object you wrapped it around. Place them flat on the table but positioned vertically in orientation.

Next, you cut 2-3 additional pieces of yarn to about 12 inches in length.

Now, take 1-2 of those 12 inch lengths of yarn and place them horizontally under the middle of your bundle of 8.5 inch yarn coils.

Tie them securely around the middle; a single square knot in each of them works great here. Repeat with another 12 inch length.

Then fold the yarn coils in half around these ties. Or, in other words, pick up the tassel by the securely tied 12 inch lengths so the 8.5 inch coils/loops are folded in half and hanging down either side. Adjust as needed to ensure you have equal length loops on either side of the fold. Now, lay your tassel down with the fold furthest away from you and the ends of the loops closest to you.

Next, take your remaining 12 inch length and position it horizontally. Lay it under your tassel, about 1/2-3/4″ down from the top. Tie tightly and securely with a single square knot.

Flip the tassel over from right to left, keeping your 12 inch yarn length ends running horizontal and retie another single square knot on the back of the tassel. Repeat this step 1-2 more times until you feel your tassel is secure for your purposes and that it meets your desired aesthetic.

Now pick up your tassel by the folded top section in one hand and a pair of sharp scissors in the other and cut all of your tassel loops. Don’t worry if you can’t get the scissors through all of them at once, it makes no difference if you have to make several cuts here. Just make sure that each time your scissors runs through a loop or several loops that you are pulling taught before cutting.

Now that each of your loops has been cut, grasp your whole tassel in your fist so that the freshly cut ends are gathered together near the top of your fist. Once they are gathered together like this, it is easy to trim them down as a group to ensure that the whole tassel is precisely the same length. This gives it that crisp, professional look of a store bought tassel.

Now, admire your handiwork and customize as you see fit.

You can alter the amount of coils if you want a thinner or a thicker finished tassel. Here are some that I did varying the amount of coils.

Or, if you want a shorter or longer tassel you can always alter the length of the object you wrap around. Although, I wouldn’t go much smaller than 7.5-8″ object as it will be much trickier, and therefore more time consuming, to work with. If you need to go shorter than that, I suggest trimming your finished tassel a bit more to suit your needs.

And, of course you could always play around with your yarn color, or even mix two or three yarn colors together by wrapping them around your object together. Just make sure that you reduce the number of times your wrap them around accordingly. In other words, for two colors wrapped together, only wrap them 15 times around, or for three colors, only wrap them 10 times around.

This technique is not just limited to yarn, you could even choose to use another type of cord all together. I tend to use a natural cotton cord, like a macrame cord, most often. I find that it is slightly stronger if I will be attaching my tassels to a pillow or blanket like I did for my linen star pillow or some of my pillows made out of shirts and sweaters and I really like the boho natural look of it in a finished tassel. When using cotton cord I usually like to wrap my cord around 50 times for each tassel.

Thick embroidery floss would also make for some gorgeous tassels on a pillow if you wanted a more polished and formal, finished look.

I can’t wait to hear what you will be using your tassels for; be sure to comment below with your latest project!

DISCLOSURE: THIS POST CONTAINED AFFILIATE LINKS (*). MEANING, I WILL EARN A COMMISSION IF YOU GO THROUGH THEM AND CHOSE TO MAKE A PURCHASE. PLEASE NOTE, THAT I ONLY INCLUDE LINKS TO PRODUCTS THAT I BELIEVE WILL BE HELPFUL TO YOU AND NOT BECAUSE OF THE COMMISSION I RECEIVE. REST ASSURED THAT THERE WILL BE NO ADDITIONAL COST INCURRED TO YOU IF YOU CHOSE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH ONE OF MY LINKS.