Tassels and Pom-poms

The section on Trims from the American Thread Company booklet continues with tassels and pom-poms. The directions from the booklet are at the right.

Both start out the same way, with wrapping yarn around a 3" wide piece of cardboard as in the leftmost of the pictures directly below.

For a tassel, wrap the yarn around the 3" cardboard about 20 times. Cut the yarn. Then tie the cut yarn around the middle. Finally, tie the yarn again about 3/4" down. The result is the rightmost of the pictures at the left. The tassel is just under 3" long. You can and probably should trim the bottom of the tassel to make it even.

For a pom-pom, again wrap yarn around a 3" piece of cardboard -- but this time about 60 times. Slide the yarn off the cardboard. Tie it in the middle -- as in the leftmost pic of the pics at the right. Then trim the sides to produce a pom-pom as in the rightmost pic of the pics at the right. The pom-pom is just under 3" across.

You can, of course, use a bigger piece of cardboard in order to make bigger tassels or pom-poms.

The booklet also gives instructions on making several at a time. Wind the yarn around heavy pins set several inches apart (depending on how many you want to make). Tie the yarn together at intervals and finally cut the yarn between the tied sections. So, if you wanted to make three 3" pom-poms at the same time, you'd place pins 9" apart. Then you'd tie the yarn together 1 1/2" from each edge and also 4 1/2" in from an edge. Then you'd cut the yarn 3" in from each edge. Finally, you'd trim the yarn and shape each section into a pom-pom.