Yes, I was already tassel-obsessed before my trip to Egypt, but after seeing scores of camels decorated with colorful woven blankets and garlands of brightly hued tassels, I was inspired to up my DIY tassel game.
I, too, desired to be decked in strands of tassels, so as soon as I got back to the states, I headed straight to the craft store to stock up on a broad spectrum of embroidery thread. Here’s what I came up with.
For this project, you’ll need the following:
• embroidery thread
• seed beads
• accent beads
• 8mm jump rings
• nylon beading string
1. First, pick out five shades of embroidery thread with which to make your tassels. You’ll need exactly one hank of embroidery thread per tassel.
2. Start with a piece of cardboard cut to the desired length of your finished tassels (mine were about two and a half inches). Wrap the embroidery thread around the cardboard about 50 times, depending on how thick you want your tassel to be.
3. Cut a 6″ piece of embroidery thread and slip it through the top loops of the wrapped thread. Tie it tightly several times. Then, slide the wrapped thread off the cardboard and slide it onto a pencil.
4. Use the remaining piece of thread (should be about 12″) to tie around the tassel just below the pencil. This will create the ‘head’ of the tassel. Wrap the ends of the tied thread around the tassel five or six times and then use a needle to tuck the ends back behind the wrapped thread.
5. Using scissors, cut the loops at the end of the tassel and trim the ends so they’re even. Finally, attach a jump ring to string that ties the top of the tassel.
6. Once all your tassels are made, string your nylon thread with seed beads until you’ve reached the length you desire. Then, add one crystal accent bead and about 40 seed beads.
7. Next, string the first tassel onto the necklace, sliding it over the seed beads. Add 10 jump rings, one tassel, 10 jump rings, one tassel, etc. until all the tassels have been added. Then, add the second crystal accent bead and finish the necklace with the remaining seed beads.
8. For the finishing touch, use a needle to comb through the threads of the tassel to separate the strands for a nice, full look.
