How to Make a Giant Yarn Tassle

Four yards of yarn wrapped around a notebook produces a tassel much bigger than the typical graduation tassel.

Tassels are versatile embellishments that can be added to home decor, clothing, bookmarks and more. Use a high quality, silk yarn to create beautiful yarn tassels for window treatments, a wool yarn to create tassels for knit scarves, or an inexpensive acrylic yarn to decorate a graduation party with giant tassels. Giant tassels are made in the same way as smaller ones, so once you master tassel making, you can adjust the dimensions and make tassels in whatever size you desire.

Things You'll Need

• 5 yards yarn
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Standard-sized notebook

Instructions

1. Pull one of the loose ends of the yarn and measure an 18-inch segment of it against the ruler. Cut the 18-inch segment with the scissors. Cut another 18-inch segment. Place the two 18-inch segments aside.

2. Hold the notebook with your nondominant hand so that one of the short edges of the notebook is at the top. Place one of the loose ends of the 4-yard segment of yarn over the top front of the notebook and pull it so that it extends 2 inches beyond the bottom edge of the notebook. Hold the strand of yarn in place with your nondominant thumb.

3. With your dominant hand, wrap the remainder of the 4-yard segment of yarn lengthwise around the notebook three times. Release the first wrapped segment.

4. Wrap the remainder of the 4-yard segment of yarn around the notebook over and over until you reach the end of the yarn. Do not allow the wrapped yarn to come closer than 2 inches from the long edges of the notebook, otherwise the yarn may begin to slip off the notebook.

5. Place the yarn-wrapped notebook down on a flat surface. Pick up one of the 18-inch segments of yarn and slide it beneath the looped yarn at the top edge of the notebook. Tie the ends of the 18-inch segment of yarn into a bow.

6. Slide the blade of the scissors inside the looped yarn at the bottom edge of the notebook and cut through the yarn loops. Remove the yarn from the notebook and unfold it so that the bow is in the middle of the stack of yarn pieces. Lay the yarn flat on a work surface.

7. Untie the bow, but keep the 18-inch segment of yarn in place. Tie the loose ends of the 18-inch segment of yarn as tightly as possible into a knot that rests firmly against the stack of yarn pieces. Cut and discard the excess yarn of the 18-inch segment that extends beyond the knot.

8. Fold the stack of yarn pieces in half so that the yarn pieces hang evenly from both sides of the knotted segment of yarn, making a tassel.

9. Pull one strand of yarn up from each side of the tassel, and tie the ends of the two strands of yarn into a knot as close to the edges of the strands as possible. This will be the hanging loop for the tassel. Set the tassel aside.

10. Pick up the remaining 18-inch segment of yarn and place it across a work surface. Place the tassel centered on top the 18-inch segment of yarn with the 18-inch segment of yarn 1 inch below the knotted segment of the tassel. Pull the tassel’s hanging loop up and lay it down, pointing in the opposite direction of the tassel.

11. Pull the loose ends of the 18-inch segment of yarn straight up and tie them into a tight knot that rests firmly against the tassel. Cut and discard the loose ends of the 18-inch segment that extend beyond the knot.

12. Hang the tassel by its hanging loop in a desired location.

Tips & Warnings

• Use more yarn to make a fuller tassel.

• The longer the object you wrap the yarn around, the longer the tassel will be. Make a smaller tassel by wrapping the yarn around a CD case or an even bigger tassel by wrapping the yarn around a long piece of cardboard.