How to Make Fringe for a Crochet or Knitting Project

How to easily cut fringe for a crochet or knitting project, a tutorial by April Garwood of Banana Moon Studio

Howdy all! Recently I released a new knitting pattern, Minco Shawl, that has fringe all along the edge. The pictures in this tutorial are from that project, using Lion Brand Yarns Mandala, graciously provided by Lion Brand Yarns. That required cutting a LOT of fringe! Fortunately, I came up with an easy way to cut all those fringe pieces just the perfect length very quickly.

Now, my shawl pattern is far from the only knitting or crochet pattern that uses fringe, so you’ll be able to use this info many times! If you are a crocheter, rather than a knitter, you would more likely be interested in my Variety Show Scarf crochet pattern, which uses fringe, and is also a free pattern!

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How to Easily Make Fringe

Begin by cutting a piece of cardboard in a square the same length as your finished fringe. Want your fringe to be 6 inches long? Make a 6 inch square of cardboard. Then, wrap your yarn around the piece of cardboard as many times as you need fringe pieces. Each complete wrap makes 1 piece of fringe. Don’t stretch your yarn as you wrap. You don’t want it loosey goosey, but if you pull tight and stretch your yarn, your fringe pieces will actually be shorter than intended because the yarn won’t stay stretched over the cardboard once you cut them.

Next, lay your wrapped cardboard on a flat surface and lay your non-cutting hand on top of it to hold the yarn in place. Use some large, sharp scissors to cut the one straight line through all of those wraps.

Once you finish cutting, you’ll have all the fringe pieces cut to the perfect length. Voila!

Once all your pieces are cut, you’ll hold 2 or more pieces together with ends even. Your pattern should tell you how many to hold together. Next, fold the pieces in half. Insert a crochet hook up through your fabric from wrong side to right side. Grab the fold with the crochet hook, and pull it part way through the fabric. Pull the ends of the fringe pieces through the loop this creates and pull snug. You’ll repeat this process all along the edge of your project.