MAKE IT / WALL HANGING
today we’re featuring a very cool wall hanging DIY from michelle bablo who is an NY based event designer, stylist and florist!
“i’ve always loved the weavings of fellow Brooklynite Maryanne Moodie – the colors, the textures, the interesting shapes. so when i moved into a new studio space, i wanted to create a textile-based wall hanging that had a similar vibe & made a big impact in my space! what i love about this project is that you don’t need any special tools & it’s extremely easy to make. plus, depending on what kind of yarn you use, it can cost as little as $10 in materials. there are also lots of great ways to customize it – you can paint the dowel a bright color, hang it from a branch or piece of ribbon, or even use different thicknesses of yarn. my cat, unsurprisingly, also LOVED this project – tassels make the perfect cat toy.” – michelle
CLICK THROUGH TO SEE HOW TO MAKE ONE!
what you’ll need:
• yarn. you can use as few or as many colors as you’d like. for this project, we chose three neutral colors & one pop color.
• a wooden dowel. ours is 36” long.
• fabric scissors
• a ruler
how to make it.
• Start by making your tassels. Using a ruler, measure a length of yarn to the desired length – for us, that was 12”. Wind the yarn back & forth 10-12 times, creating loops at the top & bottom. This will be the “tassel” part of your tassel.
• Measure a piece of yarn in the same color that’s 24-36” in length – or however long you’d like your tassel to hang. Use the piece to tie a knot at the top of the tassel – going through all of the loops at one end of the tassel. With your scissors, cut off the loops on the other end.
• Measure another piece of yarn approximately 24” in length. This will be tied & then wound around the top of the tassel to create the crown. Starting about 2 inches from the top, tie a knot and begin winding up. When you reach the top, use the remaining end to tie a knot. Trim the remaining string.
• Create 4-5 tassels in each color in your palette. We varied the length of each tassel so they could be layered & create texture.
• Next, create the background of the wall hanging. We wanted ours to fill a large white wall, so we made it 4 feet long by 2 1/2 feet wide. Whatever length you choose, cut your pieces of yarn double that amount. So for the base of our wall hanging, each string was 8 feet long.
• Loop the doubled piece of yarn around the wooden dowel & pull the ends through – creating a hitch knot. This makes the top of the wall hanging look clean & finished.
• Continue to add yarn to the dowel to create the background of the wall hanging. We used a pattern of 10 white, 2 cream, 10 white & 1 gray. And then we book-ended the hanging with 20 strands of gray.
• Once you have the background of the wall hanging complete, start adding your tassels. We didn’t have a specific plan for arranging the tassels. We just wanted it to feel full & textured. Once you know where your tassel goes, tie a small knot around the top of the dowel & trim. Push the knot to the wall-side of the dowel, so that when it hangs the knots aren’t very visible.
• Once you have all of your tassels attached, trim the bottom of the wall hanging with your fabric scissors. Even if you measure the lengths of yarn, there’s always a little variation because of the way the yarn is spooled. You can use a ruler or just eye it.
this is the perfect DIY for your office or room makeover…and it will also make a beautiful photo backdrop at your next event! see it used here for a wedding. have fun making them!
DIY by:michelle bablo
DIY photos by: jonica moore
bottom 2 photos by: katie osgood
