After I posted my tutorial for a tassel chain necklace last week, I started thinking about different types of tassels, and how to make them. I’ve shared a tutorial for how to make leather bag tassels and beaded tassels, but I had never made tassels from thread. So I made two different versions, one from embroidery thread and the other from fringe.  Here’s the embroidery thread version, which I turned into a pair of earrings, but which could just as easily have been a necklace. The thread is a skein I had in my stash, but it happens to be a pretty good match for the color of the year, marsala. Let’s pretend I’m not a craft supply hoarder, I’m just staying one step ahead of those trend forecasters at Pantone.



Supplies:
Embroidery thread – 1 skein should be enough for 2 tassels
Glue – I used E6000
Bead end caps – I used ones with a 9 mm inner diameter, similar to these but with wire loops included.
Earring hooks
Scissors
Ruler
Jewelry pliers
(Ignore the pink fringe–it’s for another tassel type.)

Steps:
1. Cut two pieces of embroidery thread, about 6 inches each.
2. Loop the two pieces of thread through the loops at the ends of the skein of embroidery thread, being sure to catch all of the threads. Cut the skein in half.
3. Wrap the single piece of thread around the end of the cut skein, and tie a knot. You now have a tassel.
*The end caps I used had loops already, but if yours don’t, you’ll want to use eye pins to add them before proceeding to the next step.*
4. Put a dab of glue inside the end cap, and insert the tassel. Wipe off any excess glue before it dries.
5. After the glue has dried, trim the ends of the tassels so that they’re nice and even.
6. Use the pliers to attach earring hooks to the loops on the end caps.