Learn how to make yarn tassels in this DIY tassel tutorial, showing two methods - one by hand and one using cardboard for making tassels.
Yarn is one of the most versatile craft supplies; you can make everything from yarn pom poms, yarn pom wreaths, diy yarn tassel garlands, and everything in between.
Plus, yarn is affordable and comes in hundreds of different colors. What’s not to love!
A simple yarn tassel has the power to dress up anything from a DIY tassel pillow cover to homemade tassel earrings, or DIY back-to-school keychains to a wood bead and tassel garland.
If you’ve been wondering how to make tassels, let’s take a look at two different methods for making yarn tassels - one using your hand, and the second using a piece of cardboard.
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Why You'll Love This Craft
- Yarn is one of the most common craft supplies in the entire world! It comes in an endless variety of colors, thicknesses, and fiber types, which means the sky is the limit for the variations of yarn tassels you can make!
- There are two easy ways to make yarn tassels so you can pick your favorite!
- The process is so simple, it's the perfect craft for kids. Particularly the cardboard method, you can easily turn this into a kids' craft at school or for a daycare or church group.
Craft Supplies Needed
- Yarn - Medium-weight yarn is foolproof for making yarn tassels, which is great because it's often the cheapest variety of yarn. And it comes in a zillion colors. Be careful with very thick yarn. Yarn that is very thick or course may be challenging to make tassels with.
- Scissors - A craft roof staple!
- Your Hand or a Piece of Cardboard - Depending on what method you want to use, you can either use your hand or a piece of cardboard. If you want to make a LONG tassel (longer than the width of your hand), you will need to use the cardboard method.
How to Make Yarn Tassels with Your Hand
Step 1: Wrap the yarn around the palm of your hand 20-30 times.
PRO TIP: 20 wraps make a sparse tassel and 30 wraps make a thicker tassel.
Step 2: Slide the wrapped section of yarn off your hand.
Step 3: Cut a 10” section of yarn from the skein, and pass it through the looped bundle as pictured.
Step 4: Tightly tie the thread into a knot to secure the top of the tassel.
If you want to use the ends of the knotted tie string to hang or display your tassel, you can leave them up on top as pictured.
Step 5. If you want a clean tassel without hanging strings up top, rotate the knotted tie string so the knotted section moves to the underside of the tassel, and the top has a straight section of yarn on top, as pictured.
Step 6: Carefully cut the loops apart at the bottom of the tassel.
Step 7: Take another 10” piece of yarn, lay it down, and place the tassel bundle on it, near its top.
Step 8: Tie the string around the head of the tassel, pulling tight.
Step 9: Double knot the string around the neck of the yarn tassel.
Step 10: Trim up the bottom of the tassel strings so they are all even.
That's it! That's how you make a yarn tassel using your hands.
The photo below shows the difference in the tassels by wrapping the yarn around your hand 20 times, 30 times etc. The more you wrap, the thicker the tassel becomes.
How to Make a Yarn Tassel using Cardboard
Step 1: Wrap the yarn around a piece of cardboard 20-30+ times.
(20 wraps make a sparse tassel and 30 wraps make a thicker tassel.)
The longer your cardboard section, the longer your tassel will be. (In our Fall Yarn Tassel Garland tutorial, we made longer tassels with a piece of cardboard that was 8" tall.)
Step 2: Cut a 10” section of yarn from the skein, and pass it through the bundle, sliding it to the top.
Tie it loosely.
Step 3: Carefully trim the bottom of the tassel loops to get the tassel off of the cardboard.
Once the tassel is removed from the cardboard, finish knotting the yarn at the top of the tassel to secure it.
Step 4: Take another 10” piece of yarn, lay it down, and place the tassel onto it, near the top.
Step 5: Tie the string around the neck of the tassel, pulling tightly.
Step 6. Double knot the string around the neck of the tassel to secure it.
Step 7: Trim the bottom of the tassel strings to even it all up.
That’s it! Your tassel is complete and ready to be used!
Common Questions
The answer is - it depends! If we're talking short tassels that are the width of your hand in length (or shorter), I prefer using my hand. It's fast and easy, plus it requires fewer supplies which is always a plus.
However, you can't make long tassels with your hand only - anything longer than the width of your hand requires you to use a piece of cardboard. For longer tassels, the cardboard method wins - it doesn't require any fancy supplies, and you can customize the length of your tassels by determining how long your cardboard piece is.
Try both methods of making tassels! You'll be able to tell which one you like best once you give them both a try.
The lucky answer to this question is the cheap kinds of yarn work best! The medium-weight standard yarn seems to work best, and that is often the cheapest option (win-win!) You can use any type of yarn, in any color, made of any material, and the process will be the same. But some types of yarn work better than others - thick yarn can be tricky, and textured yarns may not lay very well as part of a tassel.
I agree - making yarn tassels is kind of addicting! It's a fast, easy process, and each tassel looks different, depending on the color of yarn you use. It's so fun!
You can use your tassels to make a yarn tassel garland, earrings made with yarn tassels, a wood bead and tassel ornament, and you can even sew tassels onto a pillowcase to give new life to a pillow!
DIY tassel crafts are fun and easy to make. (Here are 13 yarn craft ideas!)
You can make yarn tassels like we did here, or you can use any other type of string to make embroidery floss tassels, you could use cording or twine, or even long strips of fabric to make DIY fabric tassels.
Turn your diy tassel into a keychain, a yarn tassel ornament, or a DIY yarn tassel garland.
You can also add it to make a pillow cover, and you’ve created instant fun and visual interest in your home decor!
More Tassel Crafts You'll Love
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How to Make Yarn Tassels
Materials
- Yarn
- Scissors
- Your Hand or A Piece of Cardboard Depending on the method you will use.
Instructions
- Wrap the yarn around the palm of your hand 20-30 times.PRO TIP: 20 wraps make a sparse tassel and 30 wraps make a thicker tassel.
- Slide the wrapped section of yarn off your hand.
- Cut a 10” section of yarn from the skein, and pass it through the looped bundle as pictured.
- Tightly tie the thread into a knot to secure the top of the tassel.If you want to use the ends of the knotted tie string to hang or display your tassel, you can leave them up on top as pictured.
- If you want a clean tassel without hanging strings up top, rotate the knotted tie string so the knotted section moves to the underside of the tassel, and the top has a straight section of yarn on top, as pictured.
- Carefully cut the loops apart at the bottom of the tassel.
- Take another 10” piece of yarn, lay it down, and place the tassel bundle on it, near its top.
- Tie the string around the head of the tassel, pulling tight.
- Double knot the string around the neck of the yarn tassel.
- Trim up the bottom of the tassel strings so they are all even.That's it! That's how you make a yarn tassel using your hands.
- If you want to use cardboard instead: Wrap the yarn around a piece of cardboard 20-30+ times.(20 wraps make a sparse tassel and 30 wraps make a thicker tassel.)The longer your cardboard section, the longer your tassel will be. (In our Fall Yarn Tassel Garland tutorial, we made longer tassels with a piece of cardboard that was 8" tall.)
- Cut a 10” section of yarn from the skein, and pass it through the bundle, sliding it to the top.Tie it loosely.
- Carefully trim the bottom of the tassel loops to get the tassel off of the cardboard.Once the tassel is removed from the cardboard, finish knotting the yarn at the top of the tassel to secure it.
- Take another 10” piece of yarn, lay it down, and place the tassel onto it, near the top.
- Tie the string around the neck of the tassel, pulling tightly.
- Double knot the string around the neck of the tassel to secure it.
- Step 7: Trim the bottom of the tassel strings to even it all up.
Notes
- You can use either the hand method or the cardboard method to make yarn tassels. The hand method is easy and convenient for making short tassels that are the length of your palm's width or shorter. If you are making tassels that are longer than the width of your palm, use cardboard.
- The standard medium-weight yarn seems to work the best for yarn tassels. This is a good thing because it's often the cheapest yarn option! Plus it comes in SO many fun colors which means more options for your tassels.
- Use yarn tassels to make yarn tassel garlands, yarn tassel ornaments, keychains made with yarn tassels, and even DIY yarn tassel earrings!
AK
What kind of yarn did u use? Wool? Acrylic? Polyester? Cotton?
Laura
Honestly, you could use any kind of yarn you want! I've made these tassels with acrylic yarn, cotton yarn, wool yarn, twine, embroidery floss, and probably other types of string too! The same process works for all of it! 🙂