Thread Tassels – …out of a portrait

Gilding the Lily: adding tassels to period costumes and accessories for more color, movement, reflected light and weight.

I know I’m drawn to tassels because they supply many of the same things feathers do: color, movement and reflected light but they also have weight. I believe that all four things are important in fashion’s love affair with tassels. Tassels have been around for millennia, ever since the first person tied a knot in a cord to keep it from fraying, but they soon became more elaborate and decorative. I tried to find some early European examples in paintings and I chose Hans Holbein, 1497-1553 following a clue in a figure from Franz Meyer’s “a handbook of ornament” (1920). I found two great examples without much looking, and it appears Franz was right; tassels appear in every period of art.

Young Englishwoman and a section of the Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger

Tassels on clothing and accessories have waxed and waned, but have never totally disappeared. Even today, you can see them often on the zipper of purses (as in this Anya Hindmarch Fan Straw Clutch on purseblog.com), small leather tassels on men’s loafers, or most likely for home decoration. For this article I’m going to skip the home decoration category (although many of the techniques are the same), and concentrate on tassels attached to things people wear or hold. I have been searching for examples of tassels in many of the online museums and auction houses and have amassed quite a collection of links; they are at the end of this article. I knew I would find tassels on purses, parasols, fans, hats, shoes and dresses, but I was amazed to find them on a Christening robe from the mid 1700s, a 1630 collar, gloves, a 1603 powder flask, a Sporran, and a few wedding gowns. The tassels I found took many different forms. Some of which I tried to recreate for this article. Another thing I discovered was that the silk covered wooden beads are a crucial part of many Victorian, as well as later period tassels, so I had to figure out how best to do that. I will pass this information on as well.

Why would a person want to make their own tassels when one can take from an hour to 4 or 5 hours to make? The tassels one can purchase in fabric stores and online are usually home decorating styles. Those that are not meant for decor, come in limited colors and sizes. And most have short cords. They are also almost always made cotton or rayon, which might suit depending on what you are making. If you can find the color, size and style you need for your project, I would say purchase them. But, once you have seen a color chart from a silk thread maker you may never want to purchase another tassel. I know you can’t feel my silk tassels or see the way they move, nor can I do it justice with my descriptions, but take my word for it, they are in all ways better than commercial rayon tassels.

Thread Types

When I knew I was going to do this article, I wanted to experiment with as many threads types as I could so that I could rate them for you. Going in, I didn’t know anything about thread sizes. There is a number scale (most command weights from buttonhole to very fine: 16, 30, 50, 100) and an alpha scale (from very fine to thick: 0, 00, A-F, FF, FFF). Even after working with both scales, I’m not quite sure how they equate and the answers I got from the thread sellers where not the same. So, my best guess is that size A (the silk sewing thread that has been around for years) is equal to 50 wt. thread. I like making tassels with A or 50 and 30 wt. the most. I think that 100 wt. is just too fine. FF or 16 wt. would give you a tassel very much like most commercial tassels, those not made with chainette (chained cord, not a ply or twist).

Two commercial tassels, the top (or left) tassel is made from chainette and the bottom is made from a twist cord.

Note: Tassels for fan are good examples of functional tassels. If the cord has a slider ball, it can be adjusted to your wrist so that you can carry your fan hands free while you dance, and in most cases, you can use the fan while it is still attached to your wrist.

I have noticed that some reticules and parasols have sliders as well. If you look through the links at the end of this article, note that when a slider is used, the cord can end in two tassels or sometimes it can end in a single tassel. The choice is yours. A slider ball can be made in the same way as the top half of the type 4 tassel, steps 5-8. Then you thread your cord ends through the bead hole in opposite directions.

Terminology

To start, it would be good to get some terms out of the way. The parts of a tassel are the cord, mold or body, neck or ruff, and skirt or fringe (see the tassel diagram). I have separated the types of tassels into four general categories. Instructions for making these tassels will come in a later section. But for now, here are the types that I will refer to in the following examples.

Type 1 – Simple tassel with thread cord
Type 2 – Simple tassel with twisted cord (version 1)
Type 3 – Simple tassel with twisted cord (version 2)
Type 4 – Compound tassel with separate covered mold

Sometimes the body is padded with just the knot from the cord. But larger bodied tassels often use a wood form or bead to pad it. The fringe and the body can be made separately (my type 4) and then added to each other, this is not so common in tassels on clothing but very common on tassels for hats, fans and parasols.

Examples of type 1-3

Below are some of the tassel examples with a description that includes the maker (if not myself or vintage), tassel type, thread fiber, weight and brand along with the bead or mold where used. Note: As you read through the examples below, you will notice that the units of measurement switch often. This is because of the different sources for threads.

1. This 1830’s style wool short cape with velvet trim and reticule are examples of when one does not need to make their own tassels. These are commercial tassels, some type 2 (the larger one on the cape and the two drawstring tassels on the bag) some type 3 (the smaller ones on the cape and the ones that hang from the bag).

2. Three tassels made from a spool (90 yds.) of size FFF Gudebrod Bros. Champion silk thread. From left to right the first tassel is type 2 with an 18×10 mm wooden bead inside the body, the middle one is also type 2 with no bead and the last is type 3 also without a bead.

3. This single tassel was made from a 250 meter 50 wt. spool of Tiara variegated silk thread. The neck below the tassel body was done in a solid color size A silk sewing thread. It is type 3 with an 18×10 mm wooden bead inside.

4. This type 2 silk tassel was made from a 100 m spool of 50 wt. Tire brand silk sewing thread. It has an oval 9x18mm bead.

5. I used four colors of silk sewing thread size A to make these small type 1 tassels. The thread that makes the cord for each of the tassels was left fairly long so that they could be tied together. The bundled cords where sewn through the hat and tied off inside.

6. This type 2 tassel was made from a 15m spool of Soie et hand stitch silk thread. This thread is a matte silk thread that is very similar to cotton embroidery floss. It is fairly expensive and I would not recommend it unless you had a silk yarn project and wanted tassels of the same fiber. The tassel has a flat 15mm wooden bead with an enlarged hole so that the cord could fit thru. The wood bead gives the body a nice shape and I would recommend using it over the drapery ring I used for the tassel below.

7. This is another type 2 tassel made from a matte silk fine yarn from Aurora Silk called Ahimsa™ Peace yarn in a 110 yd. skein. It has a ¾” drapery ring inside the body. I really don’t think there is enough difference between cotton and matte silk to pay $20 to make a tassel up in silk (except it was a lot of fun to use koolaid acid dying to ombré dye a tassel).

8. The thread for this tassel also came from Aurora Silk. It is their Peace silk thread and comes on a 216-yard (200 meter) spool. I liked this better that the thicker yarn but I used almost all of a $6 spool to make this tassel. This is also a type 2 tassel. The neck is not thread but two wraps of a braided trim.

9. Here is another set of tassels for a fan. These tassels do not have a bead in the body and are made with a 50 m spool of 30 wt. Tire silk. The slider bead is a 1cm bead with a 3 mm hole. When making a slider ball it is somewhat tricky to figure out just how large the hole needs to be so that after you have covered it with thread it remains large enough to let the twist cord pass through, but still be small enough that they do not pass too easily. I think some trial and error is in order depending on the materials you are using.

10. This type 2 tassel is made of YLI pearl crown rayon thread. The spool does not list a size for the cord but it is almost the same thickness as the brown FFF silk cord in the three tassels pictured above in example 2. The twist is not quite as tight which gives it a coarser look. It has two of the 18x10mm beads that where glued together. The look of rayon does come close to silk in the final tassel but it can be more difficult to work with because it is so slippery.

11. This Regency style reticule has three type 1 tassels and two larger modified type 3 tassels. The tassels and the twist cord for the drawstrings of the bag where made from threads that where pulled from strips of the fabric.

12. Another garment that usually has tassels, are Men’s Victorian smoking caps. This type 3 tassel, and its cord, where made with unraveled threads from the fabric. Both the chenille and the plain cotton threads where used for the body and fringe. Just the chenille was used for the neck and the cord. There is a round wooden bead in the body mostly for weight.

13. Here is another smoking cap with a type 3 tassel. In this one the wide trim was frayed to give the threads for the tassel, and two colors of DMC cotton embroidery floss where used to make a two color twist cord for the tassel to hang from. There is a round wooden bead in the body mostly for weight.

14. This 20s hat has tassels with two different sizes of round wooden beads inside. They are covered with the same ½” wide woven cotton trim that decorates the front of the hat. The small bead is covered with two widths of trim at 90° to each other then the larger bead is covered with those same widths plus two more at 90° to each other. These are 45° from the first, so that all the surface of the larger bead is covered. The ruffs between the beads are made from the other trim on the front. Below the second band, the eight ends of trim are frayed out. This tassel is not like any of the other tassels in that it does not have a cord. The sections are held together and it is sewn on to the hat with sewing thread.

15. These Chopines made by Frances Classe have type 1 tassels made by Cynthia Barnes, who also took the photos. She made them with chenille thread she got by fraying back the same cotton fabric that was used to cover the Chopines.

Tassel Making Instructions, type 1-3:

Note: Since the same method for creating the tassel neck/ruff is used for the first three types of tassels, I am going to list the steps in the type 1 instructions only. Be sure to go back to type 1 step 4 (**) for this part in tassel types 2 and 3.

Type 1 – Simple tassel

This is the type of tassel that most people have experience making if they have done any crocheting or knitting. The thread/yarn used to hold the tassel strands together makes the cord the tassel hangs from.

1. Wrap thread/yarn around a cardboard that is the length of the tassel you want. Slip a length of thread/yarn under all the rounds. The more rounds you add to the board the fatter your tassel will be.

2. Pull the length up to one edge and knot it with two overhand knots or if the thread is slippery then a surgeon’s knot.

3. Cut the rounds free from the board on the end opposite of the thread tie.

4. Create a neck as described below.

**Creating a tassel neck/ruff

Cut a length of thread/yarn that is about 1 ft. long, and fold it in half. If the thread is slippery it is important to wax the loop area otherwise the knot will not hold.

Slide the looped end under your tassel.
Pull the free ends thru the loop while going over the tassel.
Pull the free ends thru the loop again.
Snug down the loop until it is as tight as you can get it. Wrap the threads tightly around the tassel several more times working your way towards the body.
Thread the free ends into a large eyed tapestry needle and pass the tip under the wraps you just created and out the bottom. Cut the thread off at the length of the tassel ends if it is the same thread/yarn. If it is not, trim the threads close to the neck.

This would be the type of tassel to make if you do not need a removable tassel, or a tassel with a short cord. The tied length of yarn (the cord) are threaded into a needle and sewn into a purse or cap as in the 20s hat and the regency reticule above (examples 9 and 21).

Creating a Twist Cord for Tassel Types 2, 3 and 4

With the other types of tassels one has to make a twist cord as the first step. There are special tools that help you make twist cord but I like doing short amounts by hand. All you need are two metal hooks. I’m using #8 9/16 screw hooks they are very easy to hold onto but any hook that is long enough to tape securely to the tabletop will work.

1. Securely tape the hooks to a long table with packing tape with the hook openings facing away from each other. The length of your finished twist cord will be about 40% of the total length.

2. With a slipknot, anchor your yarn/thread to one of the hooks. (Be sure to leave a tail on the knot.) Wrap your thread back and forth between the hooks as many times as you need to create the thickness you want in your finished cord.

3. Tie off the end of your thread to the tail of the slipknot.

4. Carefully un-tape the hook without the tied threads from the table and hold it between your thumb and forefinger.

5. Begin twisting the hook while keeping tension on the cord.

6. Continue twisting until the twist closes down on the hook and the cord starts to kink even though you have tension on the cord.

7. With your finger at about the middle of the cord, keeping the tension on the cord, fold it in half matching the hooks and securing them under the tape. Slip your finger out and begin twisting the folded end of the cord in the opposite direction.

8. Slowly work you fingers up the cord.

9. When you have worked your fingers all the way up to the hooks, carefully slip the threads off the hooks and knot the ends.

Note: The direction that you twist your hook will determine the twist of the cord. If you are right-handed you naturally twist in a clockwise manner and if you are left-handed you naturally twist in a counter clockwise manner. In most cases it does not matter which way the cord twists, unless you are trying to go for a special effect as in the multi-colored parasol tassel (7) and tassel (8) above. If I want a reverse twist in the cord, for me it is easier to twist with the other hand than to spin the hook in the opposite direction, so I flip the way I tie off the cord and do everything backwards.

Type 2 – Simple Tassel with Twist Cord

After you have made your twist cord, tie a knot in it to form a loop of the desired length.

Wrap thread or yarn around your cardboard until you have as much as you will need. Slip a piece of tape with the sticky side up under the thread
Fold the tape around your threads; do this on both sides of the board. The use of tape may seem overkill when working with yarn, but when you are working with slippery threads, it becomes necessary.
Cut the threads on the taped end.

Open up the full length of threads and lay it down on a flat surface; place the twist cord with its knot near the center of the threads.
Using a short length of a strong thread of a similar color, tie two overhand knots (or if the thread is slippery then a surgeon’s knot) just to the loop side of the knot in your cord.
Before you tighten the second knot in the securing thread from step 5, adjust the tassel threads so that they are evenly distributed and cover the cord knot all the way around. Remove the tape on the loop side of the tassel.

7. Hold the tassel up by its twist cord and adjust (comb) the un-taped threads until they lie evenly around the knot and cover it. Steaming can help at this point. Remove all the tape.

8. Follow the steps above for creating a neck.

Simple Tassel Type 3

First make a twist cord and tie a knot in it as with type 2.

1. Wrap thread or yarn around your cardboard until you have as much as you will need, and slip a length of strong thread or cord of a color that nearly matches your tassel under the thread/yarn to secure the top.

2. Slip a piece of tape with the sticky side up under the thread and fold it over your threads; do this on both sides of the board.

3. Cut the threads free from the board on the end opposite of the tie.

4. Lay the threads out on a flat surface and slip one free end of the twist cord below the threads.

5. Tie another knot in the twist cord around all the threads so it covers the securing thread.

6. Hold the tassel up and adjust (comb) the threads around the second knot in the twist cord. Steaming can help at this point.

7. Follow the steps above for creating the neck.

Note: Both type 2 and type 3 tassels can have wooden beads or molds added to the twist cord, so that the body of the tassel is larger and heavier than with just the knot. With type 2, the bead needs to be added to the loop end of the cord.

Type 3, the bead needs to be added behind the knot of the cord and another knot needs to be tied behind the bead.

The very first tassel of the three brown tassels in example 2 is an example of a type 2 tassel with a bead, and the orange variegated tassel in example 3 is a type 3 with a bead in the body.

Compound Tassels

I left type 4 tassels to here, these are tassels where the fringe and the body are made separately and then added to each other. Type 4 tassels are not so common on clothing, but are very common for hats, fans, and parasols.

Examples of type 4

Below are some examples of type 4 tassels with a description that includes the thread fiber, weight and brand along with the beads or molds that were used, Note: As you read through the examples below, you will notice that the unit of measurements switch often, that is because if the different sources for threads.

1. I made this type 4 tassel with two 100 yd. spools of Belding Corticelli size A sewing thread. I used two shades of red; the slider ball was covered with the darker. I glued two wooden beads together to make the body and covered it with the lighter thread. There is also a 3/8” oak dowel hole plug below the fringe that the cord passes thru. The twist cord was made from the two different shades.

2. This is another vintage ca. 1900-1910 parasol tassel from Claudine’s collection that has almost no fringe left but is very interesting nonetheless. It has a two-color twist cord. The body is a cord-covered wooden bead, which is covered with a spiral of three different twists of cord. It has a right twist, a left twist, and between them there is a fine covered cord. Also, because the fringe is almost gone you can see there is a wooden single-hole button just below where the fringe is attached.

3. This tassel was my test of some of the interesting parts of the parasol tassel above. It is made from a 100 yd. spool of Belding Corticelli size A (yellow) and a 220 yd. spool 100 wt. Kimono silk (black). It has two beads, an oval and a round glued together, and those where covered with cord of three different twists (this is what gives that chevron look). It surprised me that 100 yards of size A thread went almost as far as 220 yards of 100 wt. thread. That is why I would never recommend the 100 wt. thread for making tassels.

4. This is a tassel from a vintage parasol ca.1870 in the collection of Claudine de Montigny. Because some of the silk threads are worn away you can see the wooden bead that makes the body of the tassel: it is a long bead with ridges. The horizontal wraps of silk thread pull in the vertical wraps of thread so that the silk follows the contours of the bead. This is a type 4 tassel with some differences: the fringe is made with a very thick twist cord that has been knotted off about half way and the cord below the knot has been un-twisted.

5. These purple tassels were made from two 100 yd. spools of size A silk thread. There is a 1” long grooved bead in the body of each tassel and a barrel shape bead in the slider (see close-up photo). Each tassel also has a small shell button (with a center hole) between the bead and the fringe.

6. This tassel was made with a 15m skein of DMC perle cotton. The wooden piece that makes the body was sold in the craft store to be used as a taper candleholder. The come with a hole but I enlarged it to about ¼”. I covered the candleholder with black soutache trim using white glue. Another piece of soutache is used as the cord for the tassel and it is pulled up inside the cup of the candleholder. The tassel is type 3.

7. This tassel was made with two 100 yard spools of Talon silk thread size A. The wooden piece that makes the body is the same as for #16. The tassel is type 4 the threads where of a slightly different blue green I made the skirt from both, the twist is a two color twist and the head was covered with one color with the thread ruff is the other blue.

8. This type 4 tassel is also rayon but a fine 40 wt. embroidery machine thread. I used almost all 225 yds. of the spool to make this tassel. It has a 11×23 mm grooved bead inside the body. The bead was spray painted white before it was covered with the thread. It’s always best to have the bead as close as possible to the thread color. The tassel has a nice swing but the rayon was so weak I had to use a nylon beading thread to make the banding on the bead as the rayon keep breaking. The parasol and the photos of the finished parasol are by Claudine de Montigny with permission from her blog.

9. The above tassel is a modified Type 4. The skirt is attached as a Type 3 instead of being added like a sewn fringe as seen below. The body is covered with Sulky size 40 rayon machine embroidery thread, the neck is a silk size A thread, the skirt is a blend of the Sulky and a variegated Coats rayon 35 wt. thread and a twist is a two-color that uses both the Coats and the Sulky. The mold is a shape that is sold as an end cap for a 3/8-inch dowel. I did have to drill and 1/8-inch (3mm) hole down the center, but I think these make the best molds for medium size tassels. There is also a 3/8-inch (10mm) oak dowel hole plug between the skirt and the mold.

10. This type 4 tassel has the same bead inside, also painted white. It was made with 5 shades of DMC 50 wt. cotton. When photographed from the side you can see that it gets darker as you reach the core. The cotton was stronger than the rayon but the finished tassel does not have the swing that a tassel should have so I don’t think I will make any more cotton thread tassels.

11. This modified type 3/4 was the last one that I made. The only reason I made it was I had to take my sewing machine in to be serviced. The store has a large rack of Floriani 40 wt. polyester machine embroidery thread, I could not resist I had to see if polyester would work for tassels. Well with some reservations it did. For less that $5 for a 1000 meter spool I think I could make four large tassels like this one. This thread has the swish of silk and the luster as well but not the weight. It just feels different in the hand. It seems to be a loose two-ply so you can really see the twist but it does not come easily unraveled. The storeowner said that the color is in the fiber so you could even bleach it and it would never fade. I’m not sure if that is a really good thing or not. I suspect that it would be for home decoration but not for costume. There are two wooden beads in the tassel the long one is almost 2” (I think it was suppose to be a drapery cord pull) and the round one under the skirt. As I did not have a sewing machine to hand I made this one more like a type 3 tassel but with the knot is inside the fairly large hole of the large end of the bead.

Case Study: Reconstruction Era Jacket

12. When I went back to pick up my sewing machine I got more of the polyester thread, two spools this time. I wanted to do a larger project (I only temporally thought that I was done with tassels). The jacket of my late 1860’s costume needed more decoration. Tassels seemed a good choice as many of the clothing articles in the Reconstruction Era Fashions book have them. I added four type 2/4 tassels to the back and four on the front. They are of two different sizes with the smaller ones hanging from wooden buttons covered with some of the same two-colored twist cord I used for the larger tassels’ cords.

I chose a charcoal gray and a dark brown. Making the fringe goes twice as fast if you are two threads at a time to your card. The fringe is made of both threads blended evenly.

This is what is left of the 1000m spools of the thread. I chose a charcoal gray and a dark brown. The fringe is made of both threads blended evenly. Making the fringe goes twice as fast if you are adding two threads at a time to your card. Because polyester thread can break I used black nylon to form the neck as I do with cotton and rayon heads. The small black shaped bead I used for the smaller tassels is a section of the same bead I used for tassels 7 and 8. I cut the bead with a panel saw in two places to give a shape that was similar to the light colored wooden form near the center of the picture.

I darkened the light colored wooden forms and the 3/8” oak dowel hole plugs with a black permanent marker (left). On the right are the thread covered tassel heads and plugs strung with a loop of two-color twist cord ready for the fringe.

Above is one half of the tie closure for the jacket. One of the small black forms covered with thread (the neck threads have not been added yet) is shown in place on the long twist cord with a small bead in place just before a knot. The fringe will be added between the thread covered form and the small bead.

Case Study: Edwardian Straw Hat with flat silk covered beads

13. After looking at a few period tassels under a dissecting scope I came to the conclusion that the silk thread covering the forms (as in 4 above) was not a twisted thread or a ply. I found out that there is a Japanese flat embroidery thread that is made of 12 single strands that are not twisted. Lacis carries it so I had to give it a try. It comes on 50m spools, the green sections of the tassel decoration pictured above and below was made with the majority of that spool.

The flat silk was a little difficult to deal with as it snags easily and seems to catch up when being pulled thru the holes of the beads even if they are well sanded. But that said, covering a bead goes much faster with the flat silk and it used much less yardage to cover the beads.

I was able to cover the two head molds, two slider beads, and make enough twist cord to cover the small flat bead and the larger oval bead, as well as the cord from which everything hangs from one spool of the flat silk thread. It cost 6 dollars. The fringe took 66 yards each of Gudebrod Champion Silk thread size 0 (out of a 600 yard spools at 15 dollars). Because silk is an animal fiber (like feathers and wool) it can be acid dyed. I used the same techniques that I have used for feathers (see my feather article on Koolaid dying) to ombre dye the tassels. I was happy to see that with just a little mixing of colors I could create a gradient from a color that matched the bow on the hat down to the darker color that matched the silk velvet that covers the upper brim.

Case Study: Fan Tassel with Ribbon Floss

14. Figuring that rayon ribbon floss (a flat tape made up of very fine strands of rayon woven into a mesh) was very much like the flat silk I wanted to test that as well for covering beads. I made this covered bead (yellow-gold), the neck (over a nylon neck) and the twist cord (orange-gold) from ribbon floss.

The two spools above are the two different colors of ribbon floss that I used. The white spool of Champion silk size 0 made the type 2 tassel below the covered ball. I used 120 yards of the silk thread. The tassel has one of the flat beads shown on the right inside the head. The twist cord has a knot then opens up to go thru the covered bead and back out and then thru the flat bead. The tassel fringe is added between the covered bead and the flat bead.

Of the three different ways to make a thread covered bead; four strands of thread (the instructions below are for thread), flat silk or ribbon floss. I would say that ribbon floss was the easiest and fastest way to cover a bead. It has a slightly different luster than the flat silk covered beads as do the thread covered ones. But the flat silk is the most beautiful.

Two Colored Twist Cord

a. Set up your hooks as for a single twist cord but place a bar at the middle point. Add thread and wrap it as in step 2 above from your first hook to the center bar. Tie the cord off as in step 3.

b. Add thread and wrap it as in step 2 above from your second.

c. Stretch the thread to the center bar but slip the spool between the rounds of the first color.

d. Bring the thread back to the hook. Repeat c and d until there is the same amount of the second thread as the first.

This is how it will look before you remove the bar.

e. Un-tape and remove the bar then treat it as if it was a single cord. Follow steps 4-9. This cord can be seen on tassel #1, 3 and 11 .

The two-color twist cord in all its glory.

If you want to make twist cord longer than your tabletop, you can tape one hook to the far end of your table and set up a chair across the room from the table in line with the edge of the table. Wrap (warp) your thread from the hook to the back of the chair. When you have enough rounds use your second hook to grab the threads that are on the back of the chair and start twisting. You can use a power drill to twist the hook. The hook can be added to any drill with a chuck. There are also many inexpensive thread tools that one can purchase to make cord but I do like to twist it by hand on the other hand if I did more I would want one.

Type 4 – Compound Tassel

Wrap your thread around the cardboard as neatly as possible. Cut two pieces of packing tape equal to the width of your threads and apply one over the threads on each side about ¼” down from the top edge.

2. Cut the threads at the bottom.

3. Open the threads up and place it on a square of tissue paper. With a matching thread sew down the center with a very short machine stitch.

4. Fold the threads on the right side over and sew about 1/16” over from the fold. Carefully tear the tissue paper and packing tape away, but do not cut the sewing threads.

5. Pick a bead that has a hole at least 1/16” to ¼”. If you have a drill or Dremel tool, use a 3/8” drill bit to enlarge the hole in the bottom half of the bead. Measure out about 4 yards of thread. Run the thread “back and forth” between your thumb and forefinger several times. This is very important as it gets the extra twist in the thread out, and it will not tangle later. Fold the thread in half and thread the fold thru the eye of your needle. Pull the fold until you have a needle with four even lengths of thread; clip the ends even if necessary. Thread the needle thru the hole in the bead until you near the end of the threads. Add a very small dot of glue the ends of the threads and push the threads against the inside wall of the bead hole with a toothpick.

6. When the glue is dry, bring the needle around thru the bottom of the hole again. Before you pull the thread tight, smooth the individual threads. Repeat this as many times as necessary working in one direction (counterclockwise or clockwise) until you reach the end of your thread.

7. When you near the end of the thread, pass the needle under threads from previous stitches inside the hole. Cut the needle free very close to the bead.

8. Prepare another 4-thread needle, and glue the thread as in step 5. Continue stitching until you cover the whole bead and finish off the thread as you did with the first length of thread (I usually need to re-thread two times to finish a bead).

9. Slip the twist cord through a bead or button and the thread-covered bead.

10. Use one end of the loose sewing threads on the fringe to tie the fringe you made in step 4 to the cord.

11. Wrap the fringe tightly around the cord as many times as needed to reach the other end. Use the other sewing threads to tie off. Comb out the threads. Add a small dot of glue over the stitches near the cord. Note: If you are using a Tenon Head type bead then wrap and glue the fringe around the base of the bead. (A tenon head tassel form has a ledge that is narrower that the bead and was made for several wraps of the fringe) You will want to add a thread band or some trim to cover the top edge of the fringe.

12. Push the covered bead down the cord until it rests tightly against the fringe and hold it until the glue dries.

All of the slider beads where covered following the steps 5-8 above. Covering beads with thread is simple, but there is a learning curve. Do not think that you will need as much time to cover a bead as your first one took. I believe that my first one took me almost two hours, but now that I have an article’s worth (~23) under my belt, it take me fifteen minutes.

Most of the bead heads in the compound section where made this way except that after the beads were covered with thread I wrapped another thread around the indents in the same manner as creating a neck (part 1). When doing this you can’t use a needle to bury the thread ends, so you need to use a thread loop that is laid down before you wrap the threads.

How to Use a Thread Loop

The images below demonstrate the use of a thread loop as shown on the bead in example # 8. The darker purple thread is the loop, and the lighter thread will be wrapped around the bead and over the loop a few times. When the neck is complete the thread is then passed through the loop. Then the loop is pulled, which draws the tail end of the lighter thread under the wrapped threads. The lighter thread is clipped off close to the bead. As always, it is important to wrap the threads as tightly as possible because they are all that holds the tail end in place to prevent unwinding.

Below the use of a thread loop is show on the bead in example 19. The darker purple thread is the loop and the lighter thread will be wrapped around the bead and over the loop a few times and then the loop will be pulled. This draws the lighter thread under the wrapped threads. It is clip off close to the bead. As always it is important to wrap the threads as tightly as possible because they are all that holds the tail end in place.

Trimming the Tassel

Surprisingly enough I have found the last step of trimming the tassels to be one of the most difficult. At first I tried to hold the tassel between my fingers like I was cutting hair, but that was not the best so I came up with this: Cut off a ~2″(5cm) of tape (more if your have a really thick tassel) and find one end over about 1/4″(6mm) towards the sticky side. Lay that down on your work surface with the sticky side down.

Lay the middle of your tassel across the tape near the folded edge.

Pick up the folded edge of the tape while compressing the thread of your tassel and roll the tassel until you reach the end of the tape.

Slide the tape collar down the tassel to about 1/4″ (6mm) from the end.

Use sharp scissors to trim the ends. If you cannot cut all the ends in one cut, you should trim around the edges first and then cut the un-trimmed middle.

Variations

I have only scratched the surface of the complexity of tassels and only shown you examples of those I feel are fairly easy to reproduce, but I was amazed by the variety even in the half dozen examples of tassels on vintage parasols that I was able to see in person and photograph. Here are four examples the two on the left are in the collection of Noelle Paduan (photos are also by her) and the two on the right are in Claudine’s collection. Noelle’s tassels show head beads that are covered in two very different ways than just having silk thread wrapped around the bead. And Claudine’s

Noelle’s tassels show head beads that are covered in two very different ways from just having silk thread wrapped around the head. While the bottom one has a glass bead instead of wood below the head and a slider. Claudine’s have pompoms in place of covered beads. The black one has a fez shaped bead that is covered with threads for the head. The pompom is just above the tassel on the cord.

I would like the thank Laura Dippold and Claudine for their help editing, and Claudine and Noelle for the photos they sent me. Ant thanks to Erin, the manager of Lacis, for her help with thread sizes and types.

References:

A great reference for the history of ornament including tassels:

Franz Meyer’s “a handbook of ornament” (1920)

In another on-line book, The Art of Making: Tassels, the author makes her type 2 tassels with fringe that is flipped over. Nice idea but I think it would be just extra work.

Materials Sources:

I got most of my wooden beads from Fire Mountain Gems

Silk cord and thread:

I ordered my silk threads from Superior Threads, Aurora Silks and Lacis

Other sellers that have been recommended to me:

Redrock Threads: they carry the polyester Floriani 40 wt embroidery thread

Links:

I would have guessed that if you go to an on-line museum collection and use “tassel” to search, you would find everything in their collection that has tassels. But, I did not find that was the case. They do not always tag an item with that word even if it does have a tassel. So, I have amassed the following list of links. Hopefully I have saved you some work.

Tassels on fans

http://www.imamuseum.org/art/collections/artwork/fan–33

http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/80094782?rpp=20&pg=2&ft=fans&pos=35

http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/210009546?rpp=20&pg=3&ft=fans&pos=43

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/fan-100587

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/cockade-fan-125717

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/fan-49032

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/white-satin-fan-48881

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/fan-48173

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/fan-48177

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/painted-paper-fan-48884

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/fan-115882