Thursday, July 17, 2008

make tassels from yarn

Yarn tassels are so quick and simple to make... can be made from scraps, so they cost next to nothing... and you can co-ordinate them beautifully with your projects, by using matching yarn.

blue tassel

I learned to make these as a child. I promise you... they are not difficult! I've taken lots of photos along the way, so you can see how to make your own tassel. As always... if you click on the photo it will take you to my flickr account where you can view it in a larger size for more detail.

I'd love some feedback on these instructions, so after you try them out please leave a comment and let me know how you went... good, bad or otherwise!

You will need yarn, something to wind it around (I use a small book) and a pair of scissors
1

Hold the end of your yarn firmly at the edge of the book, and begin wrapping around and around...
2

and around and around... NOT TOO TIGHTLY... maybe 15-20 times, depending on how thick you would like your tassel to be... then cut the yarn
3

thread a small length of yarn under the 'wrappings' at the spine of the book
4

firmly tie a double knot to secure
5

snip through all pieces of yarn at the other end
6

remove the book, and it should now be looking like this...
7

okay... here's where it starts to get a little bit fancy, but hang in there... it's worth it!

use yarn directly from the ball for this section... hold the tail end of the yarn at the top of your work with the other two threads
8

then bring the yarn down, loop it to the right, then back over itself ( just look at the photo, you'll see what I mean)
9

still with me?

start winding yarn around the tassel... you are creating the 'neck'
10

and around and around
11

and around and around... until you are happy with the length of the 'neck'
12

snip yarn from ball, leaving a short tail... thread this tail through the 'loop' you made earlier (look closely at the photo and you should be able to see what I have done)
13

pull gently on the starting tail (which is coming out of the top of the neck) you should notice the loop at the bottom gets smaller and smaller
14

and smaller and smaller
15

until it disappears inside the neck
16

now you can snip both tails off
17

and trim the ends of the tassel straight
18

19

ta-da... now it's your turn to try
20

8 comments:

Karen said...

Nice clear directions - thanks - I now know how to make a tidy 'neck' on a tassel. And the book used for the wrap was a fun choice and had me grinning.

kenda said...

The neck part is very helpful. I had always just wraped it and tied a knot and tried to tuck in the ends. This was sounds much better.

Nicole said...

These instructions were a tremendous help to me, so thank you! Just found your blog the other day but I have literally spent hours reading through everything and enjoying the pictures and all of your amazing projects. Keep you the good work!

Anonymous said...

Than you. It was easy and there were a lot of pictures.

Tara said...

Your instructions were great and really easy to follow-- I am now a tassel making machine! Thanks!! :)

Valerie said...

This is really helpful but I am still a bit confused by what is supposed to happen between pics 9 and 10. Can anyone explain that part to me?

laughing purple goldfish said...

valerie... all I have done is taken the red tail of yarn from the left hand side of the photo, and started wrapping it around and around the the blue tassel in a clockwise direction... this forms a 'neck'... imagine you are creating a separation between the head and the body of the tassel

does that help any? if not... please let me know... and I will try to explain more clearly

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the wonderfully clear instructions on making a tassel. It worked beautifully!