How to Make a Yarn Tassel Garland
Learn how to make a yarn tassel garland with an easy hack – or just keep these as plain tassels. If you loved this, check out how to make a pom pom with a fork. This post contains affiliate links.
Sometimes classic crafts can be made easier using little tricks, and today I’m excited to share with you how to make a yarn tassel garland (or just plain tassels for your crafts) using a super easy DIY tassel maker from cardboard.
Table of contents:
- What you need to make a yarn tassel
- How to make a yarn tassel garland
- Make a DIY tassel maker
- Craft your tassels
- String it into a garland
Granted it’s not perfect, and if you have the ability to create this shape using a stiffer material (such as chipboard or wood) it’s worth doing if you make tassels regularly. If you’re the occasional tassel crafter, like I am, you can simply stick with cardboard and make it work.
My tutorial shows you how to make a “clean” tassel – just the head with the fringe. You can, however, leave out string on the top to tie it onto a garland.
This tutorial shows you how to make a yarn tassel garland, however, you can adapt it for any other crafts! Make these in mini with embroidery floss or silk string for jewelry crafts.
Make them really thick and fluffy and then add on googly eyes for yarn tassel monsters.
Use them to embellish a wrapped gift.
Use a finer satin cord and attach these to the end of a long ribbon to make graduation tassels.
Attach them to a rope as a window tie.
Sew a series of mini cotton twine tassels to a lace ribbon as trim.
There are so many things you can make and ways to adapt this tutorial once you’ve mastered how to make a yarn tassel using a simple DIY template customized to your needs!
What you need to make a yarn tassel
- Yarn (I used classic Super Saver quality yarn)
- Scissors
- A piece of cardboard
- For the garland: white cotton twine
- For the garland: optional yarn needle
How to make a yarn tassel garland
Make a DIY tassel maker
Cut a wide rectangle of cardboard roughly the height you want your tassels to be (the tassel will be larger by the width of the yarn on top.) Cut a slit about 1/3 from the top, leaving about 1 inch at the right intact, through to the end. It should be thick enough that you can slide a piece of yarn through it but not much more than that.
The height of this slit determines how high it’ll be tied off, so tweak this to your preference.
Craft your tassels
1. Start by cutting a piece of yarn a bit wider than your tassel maker. You’ll be holding this at the top.
2. Start winding your string around a few times to get things started. Don’t wind too tight! At this point, make sure your top string is in place. After this point it should more or less stay on its own. And now’s a good time to reposition it, as you don’t have a mess of yarn yet to find it in.
3. Wind it around 30-35 times total (or according to your thickness preference.) Keep things loose. You don’t want to squish the top flap down too much.
If you find that you’re not managing it, you can leave the top portion attached on both sides (cutting a slit in the center) but you’ll need to cut your tassel maker to get the tassel off. You can always just tape it back together for the next tassel.
4. Tie off the top string and move the loose ends down to blend in with the other strings. If you want those strings available to tie onto things, keep them out instead.
5. Insert another piece of yarn (the same size-ish as the top) through the right slit, behind the wrapped yarn and again through the left slit.
6. Make a double knot as tight as you can to tie off your tassel “head”. Blend these strings in – allow them to hang.
7. Cut the bottom of the tassel to release it. Slide it off the left of your tassel maker. Trim the bottom to even things out.
String it into a garland
To turn it into a yarn tassel garland, simply string it with a contrasting string. I used cotton twine. I threaded mine through the top loop (of all the strings) which was easy to find.
If you want to be more precise, you can use a yarn needle to string it. You can string it directly through the top piece of yarn that you tied off. Or, if you left the top yarn loose, simply tie those yarns around a string and trim.
String as many as you like in bright cheerful colors for a beautiful garland!
I hope you loved learning how to make a yarn tassel garland! Which tutorial would you like to see next? Comment below!
DIY Yarn Tassels
Learn how to make a yarn tassel garland with an easy hack - or just keep these as plain tassels.
Materials
Instructions
Make a DIY tassel maker
Cut a wide rectangle of cardboard roughly the height you want your tassels to be (the tassel will be larger by the width of the yarn on top.) Cut a slit about 1/3 from the top, leaving about 1 inch at the right intact, through to the end. It should be thick enough that you can slide a piece of yarn through it but not much more than that.
The height of this slit determines how high it'll be tied off, so tweak this to your preference.
Craft your tassels
1. Start by cutting a piece of yarn a bit wider than your tassel maker. You'll be holding this at the top.
2. Start winding your string around a few times to get things started. Don't wind too tight! At this point, make sure your top string is in place. After this point it should more or less stay on its own. And now's a good time to reposition it, as you don't have a mess of yarn yet to find it in.
3. Wind it around 30-35 times total (or according to your thickness preference.) Keep things loose. You don't want to squish the top flap down too much.
If you find that you're not managing it, you can leave the top portion attached on both sides (cutting a slit in the center) but you'll need to cut your tassel maker to get the tassel off. You can always just tape it back together for the next tassel.
4. Tie off the top string and move the loose ends down to blend in with the other strings. If you want those strings available to tie onto things, keep them out instead.
5. Insert another piece of yarn (the same size-ish as the top) through the right slit, behind the wrapped yarn and again through the left slit.
6. Make a double knot as tight as you can to tie off your tassel "head". Blend these strings in - allow them to hang.
7. Cut the bottom of the tassel to release it. Slide it off the left of your tassel maker. Trim the bottom to even things out.
String it into a garland
To turn it into a yarn tassel garland, simply string it with a contrasting string. I used cotton twine. I threaded mine through the top loop (of all the strings) which was easy to find.
If you want to be more precise, you can use a yarn needle to string it. You can string it directly through the top piece of yarn that you tied off. Or, if you left the top yarn loose, simply tie those yarns around a string and trim.
String as many as you like in bright cheerful colors for a beautiful garland!
