Charm School Week Seven: Tassels

Enthusiasm!

Let's face it. Enthusiasm is a wonderful trait to encounter either in yourself or in someone else. And, to me, tassels are enthusiastic, happy little things with no purpose other than to delight and amuse. So what better way to spend my time than playing with a technique that was so much fun -- but, challenging!

The book this week was a real treat to study. Most of the tassels within the book are meant for decorating your home and they are all stunning. Though, like any thread work, I believe that they would take practice to make them look as perfect as in the book.

Tassels have three main sections: a suspension cord, a neck and a skirt. My favorite section of this book is where the author splits the pages into three so you can create any combination of cord, neck and skirt. It's marvelous.


Many of the tassels are quite large but use mini tassels within their skirts. I decided to attempt three of the methods the author gives for mini tassels -- the are more "charm size". I was also thinking that a string of mini tassels would look great in a CQ block, quilt or purse... I have to admit that my little tassels are not nearly as exciting as the large ones in the book but I believe they've served to whet my appetite for their larger cousins.


The first mini tassel I tried (the little tan one) involved the one method I'd used before...wrapping threads around a cardboard template, cutting the ends and then making a neck. Simple and the result reminded me to make more tassels for things...

The second method caused a bit more struggle for me and was intended to help you make many mini tassels at once. Wrapping the skirt threads on a wrapping board...


Making a suspension cord for each section, dampening the threads to keep them together and then cutting them into sections...


I screwed up this part by having too many skirt threads and cutting the sections too short. It made me a little sad about wasting so much thread...*frown


I did salvage one however and used it to make this little gem...


That left the most interesting technique for last ~ making a cord that had multiple mini tassels hanging from it...


This was my favorite by far. The end result looks like a garland and I could just see it tucked around a block or a frame, embedded with embroidery and beads. It would be...well...

delightful.

I was really glad to finally sit down and figure out these mini tassel techniques. Thank you for your patience if you were looking for me on Tuesday. I was a bit late this week. I'll see you next week on Tuesday for Week Eight where I'll be looking to this book for inspiration: