DIY Tassel Earrings

Tassels are so now, aren’t they? I’m seeing them everywhere. On baskets, as party décor and on clothing and jewelry. I’ve been thinking about getting some tassel earrings since my sister wore a pair to her wedding this summer. I loved the look, something a little playful and ‘of the moment’ with her classic dress. It was a subtle and fun nod to her style.

I was thinking there must be an easy and cheap way to make a pair for myself. I turned to the internet to find a good tutorial, but something about how the tassels were made bugged me. I couldn’t help but thinking that I’ve seen a lovely and neat tassel before that was really beautifully tied…then it dawned on me: my husbands climbing rope! Yes, friends, you can find inspiration anywhere.

So, here’s a step-by-step, super quick tassel earring tutorial. The great thing about using this trick from coiling climbing rope is that you don’t even need to unravel your skein of embroidery thread. And you can decide on the length of your tassel as the very last step in making your earrings (I thought I’d like a much shorter tassel but kept them quite long in the end).

Quick DIY Tassel Earrings

What you’ll need:

2 earring hooks

2 jump rings

2 skeins (packages) of embroidery thread

Pliers

Flexible wire/crochet hook/tweezers

Scissors

Steps:

1. Slip the wrapping off the embroidery thread but do not unravel it.
2. Determine how many strands of the embroidery thread you want in your tassel. Tease away the strands that you don’t want included in your tassel (pictured below). (More threads equal a bigger and heavier looking tassel – I used 13 strands in the tassel in this DIY.)
3. Open up the jump ring with your pliers and put all of the threads you want included in the tassel into the jump ring. (This may require a bit of cramming and squishing with your fingers, but it wasn’t too bad with the 13 strands I used.)
4. Close the jump ring by squeezing it gently with pliers.
5. Holding the top of your bundle of embroidery thread (where you’ve put your jump ring) pull away all of the threads that you’ve teased out so you can better see the threads you’re using in the tassel. (The unused threads may look like a tangled mess, that’s OK, you’ll be cutting them off later anyway.)
6. Pull away a looped strand of the embroidery thread, you’ll use this to secure the top of the tassel. 
7. Wrap the strand around the top of the tassel, about 2 cm (3/4 of an inch) away from the bottom of the jump ring. Keep wrapping until the thread you’re wrapping is about 2 cm long.
8. This video on coiling climbing rope (start at 1min and 45seconds) will help demonstrate what you need to do next. You’re going to pass the thread you were wrapping through the top loop of embroidery thread that the jump ring is holding. A crochet hook, flexible piece of wire made into a hook, or a pair of tweezers will help you do this.
9. Then you’ll loop that thread over the whole top of the tassel and this is what will keep everything in place. To tighten up the tassel, push up on the wrapped threads until you get the look you want for your tassel.
10. Now, attach your earring hook to your jump ring. Put on the earring and have a look in the mirror to help you decide how long you want your tassel.
11. Cut tassel to desired length.
12. Repeat all steps with the second skein of embroidery thread for the second earring.

And there you have it – your own pair of tassel earrings. This was hard to describe in writing, but I hope by using the rope coiling video you’ll be able to see that the process of tying off the tassel is actually very simple (you’re just doing it in miniature!).

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below!

Christina