I’ve been calling the loops at the bottom of a fan that one can use to add a tassel or tassel wrist set a “U” ring but I have seen it called a loop. They start appearing on hand fans During the Victorian period and are still a part of most fans right into the present. Not every fan has them some of the fans that do just have a short corded tassel but many have a tassel wrist set or ribbon. These are wonderful things because then mean you never have to set down your fan. Check out my other articles in tassels and tassel wrist sets for how-to.
What you need; 1) thick wire like brass or jewelry wire gauge ~18, 2)wire cutters, 3)jewelry pliers one regular and one rounded, 4) hammer, 5) an anvil or some hard metal surface to hammer on.
Cut a piece of wire about 5″ long.
Starting about 1″ from one end make a loop around your round jewelry pliers.
Use your wire cutters to cut the extra wire past the loop.
Tighten up the loop,
until it looks like this,
Hold the loop with your pliers and bend it back just past the loop.
Mark the wire at 3″ from the loop.
Make another loop here.
If your wire has both loops but the do not line up,
Use both your pliers to hold the loops and twist one until they do.
Find and mark the center.
Hold the wire at the center mark,
and with your hands bend down both ends.
Move your pliers around the side of the bend you just made and by hand bend one end up 90°.
Once done move the pliers to the other side,
And bend that end up.
It should look like this now.
Use the rounded base of you pliers to hold the wire.
Bend one end up then move the pliers and bend the other side up.
It should look like this.
what you want is to by hand or with the pliers shape the sides like this.
Then use the flat part of your pliers to hold the loops and bend them so they are parallel and even.
Like this.
Use your hammer to flatten the loops.
Both of them.
They should look like this. If the loop opens up a bit you can use your pliers to close it. (not the pliers shown in this picture these are wire cutters) use your round pliers.
Your tassel fits in the u shape bend at the center bottom.
This is one I made on the left and a vintage one on the right.