How to make yarn tassels with a unique twist

I have a tassel obsession that I frequently indulge in here on my blog with various tutorials and today I want to show you how to make yarn tassels with some added detail from quilting squares and embroidery floss inspired by Hmong tassels I found on Etsy.

I just wanted to add some interest and not just have the standard basic yarn tassels that you can find everywhere and I think I accomplished that.

How to make yarn tassels with a unique twist

I’m not sure if you are wondering what Hmong tassels are but I know my daughter was wondering. So I told her that I came across them when I did my favorite tassel sources post. And I did some Hmong googling. Hmong is an ethnic group of people who live in China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand and they create really beautiful and colorful items with lots of tassels, pom-poms, and beads. Just google it and you won’t be disappointed.

Step-by-step instructions on how to make yarn tassels

As I said, I saw the yarn Hmong tassels on Etsy and fell in love with them and thought about making them myself. The idea really started to bloom when I saw the variety of quilting squares at my local craft store.

Start out by making a basic tassel and here are the steps.

Gather wrapped yarn which you can do in several different ways.

I like wrapping the yarn around my hand. You can also use a piece of cardboard cut to the desired size of the tassel. Before looping the yarn around the cardboard don’t forget to add a piece of yarn under it first which you will use later to hang the tassel.

Fold it in half …

… and tie again with a tight knot to form the body of the tassel.

And you could end this tassel DIY right here because now you have simple yarn tassels. But like I said I didn’t want to stop here. I wanted to keep going and add a bit more detail and interest. Let me show you.

Take your fabric and I double layered it before cutting.

Then I wrapped the fabric around the tassel and tied it with a string to keep it in place for sewing.

For the top hanging loop, I braided three string of wool …

And then knotted the loop to the top of the tassel…

The next step of the tutorial had a blurry photo (oops sorry) but I’m sure you get the story.

Sew side of the fabric – attach loop string and sew up the top of the fabric around the loop by hand

Then I picked my little accent color embroidery floss.

To match the rest of all my black, white and blue! I sewed a little border at the bottom and at the top of the tassel.

Take a piece of thread on a curved upholstery needle to stitch on the details the way you can see below and in my video tutorial.

I also added the same colored detail to the top of the yarn tassel.

And that’s it!

Photos of finished yarn tassels

{you can find the knobs HERE and my pink dresser makeover HERE}

You can make so many different combinations and have fun with it and I love that they aren’t perfect and really look handmade. They are the perfect home decor accessory as you can see above.

I also used some of that same yarn to make fluffy thick pom poms. Check out my favorite 3 tricks for making pom poms.

Is this something you’d make yourself or are you someone who’d rather buy them?