Written by Caroline Hodges.
How do you make tassels? I get asked this a lot! You want to make yourself a glorious Arabian costume or halter but cannot find any tassels tiny enough in the shops and have no idea how to make them yourself! Here is the easiest way make them without having to spend a lot on bell caps.
1. Cut a length of embroidery thread in the colour you want to use (roughly half a metre for a traditional sized tassel depending on how “bulky” you want them). Take a jump ring the correct size for the project you’re attempting.
2. Wind the thread around your little finger or a thin pen or other such item, threading it through the jump ring each time. When you think there is enough thread to make a decent tassel, slip the coil of thread off of your finger or pen.
3. Clenching the thread around the bottom of the jump ring, tightly bind thin gold or silver wire or even some more thread around the top of the tassel then tie or twist it.
4. Cut the bottom of the tassel off so that it is actually a tassel then, depending on what you’re using the tassel for, leave it on or slip it off of the jump ring and attach to your halter or costume.