How To Make Tassels From Repurposed Denim

How to Make Tassels From Upcycled Jeans With Pom Poms

Tassels seem to be everywhere, they are the new pom poms. And I do love them! I was so happy when I worked out how to make tassels from my favourite material to upcycle, old jeans.
 
 
Previously, I have made sweater felt tassels from repurposed scraps. Even though those tassels were a fun way to use up old felt scraps and were very colourful I think I prefer these denim ones.
 
 
These denim tassels are made by fraying squares of old jeans offcuts. They are much more robust than other handmade tassels as the threads are still attached to the denim fabric. As with all my other denim upcycles, I love the different shades of indigo you get from old jeans.
 
 
The great thing about this DIY tassel tutorial is that you can easily make the tassels in various sizes. So you can make large ones to use as curtain tie backs, smaller ones to fringe cushions and blankets. Or even smaller to make earrings and necklaces. I’ve even seen tassels of various sizes hung up as a unique wall decoration.
 
 
This is what I call a Netflix craft. That is it doesn’t take much concentration so it can be done whilst catching up on a Netflix boxset. I, in fact, made these whilst watching the football world cup. Each tassel takes about 30 minutes to make.
 
 
 

 
 
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How to make tassels: What You Need

• Scraps of denim from old jeans at least 12cm (5″) square. The size of the denim scrap will determine the size of the handmade tassels.

 

• Bright colourful embroidery thread.

 

• Embroidery needles.

How to make tassels from old jeans

1. First decide on what size you would like your tassel to be. As the size of the scrap piece of denim you choose will be the size of the tassel. If making denim tassels for a cushion I recommend using a scrap piece of denim approx 4 inches (10cm square).

 

 
 
 

2. Pull some of the loose blue threads of denim to expose the white threads down one side of the scrap piece of material.

 

 
 
 

3. Denim is a woven material and the tassel is created by pulling out the white cross threads one by one. Grab the end of a white thread and pull it firmly away from the denim material untill it all comes out.

 

 
 
 

4. Carry on pulling out all the white threads until you are left with approximately 2cm of material at the top. I found that with some denim I could pull more than one thread at a time. If the white thread snaps as you pull it out, just use a pin to find the end and pull it again.

 

 
 

5. Next roll up the denim tassel tightly. Using colourful embroidery thread and a needle hold the top of the tassel together with a stitch through the denim. Then wind the coloured thread around the top of the tassel and finish off with a stitch to stop it unraveling.

 

 
 

 
 
 
Pom poms and tassels definately look fantastic together. For my bigger denim tassels I added a couple of colourful pom poms to give them extra panache. I’ve just been hanging these on the doors for decoration for now.
 
 

 
 
 
I’m on the look out for a nice rattan beach bag to addorn with these lovely tassels too.
 
 

 
 
I just love the different shades of indigo threads you get from different pairs of jeans. Also, these tassels do feel very soft.
 

 
 

 
 
 
I’ve also put some of my denim tassels on my Frida Kahlo cushion as I thought they went well with it. I’m making a stack more denim tassels to fringe the recycled sweater blanket I made. I may even make a wall hanging from them.
 
 
What do you do with your tassels? If you’re not sure there are some great ideas here.
 

 
 
 
Don’t forget to check out all my other upcycled denim crafts and DIY’s and other ideas for using pom pom crafts and DIYs.
 
 

 
 
For more denim sewing projects visit allfreesewing.com