Tassel with Yarn Bead Collar
In this tassel, the collar is made from a "bead" of yarn. Two thread collars are tied around the tassel, then a "bead" is created by stitching the Cretan stitch anchored by those two thread collars. Once this bead is created, it cannot be removed because it's sewn onto the tassel itself.
The trick is to tie the two thread collars very tightly so that they stay in place as anchors while you work around them. The further the two thread collars are placed apart, the larger the bead and the better the design of the Cretan stitch shows up.
This tassel is six inches long and made from tapestry wool in several shades of green. The yarn bead is about one inch from top to bottom.
Tassel with Multiple Wraps for the Collar
On this tassel, a thread is tied tightly at the top of the collar. The collar is divided into three equal sections. Each section is wrapped with a contrasting fiber. Then the three sections are twisted into the desired shape. Finally, the sections are recombined to form the tassel skirt by tying a thread tightly at the bottom of the collar.
I find this tassel weird and disproportionate. It looks like a girl with braided pigtails wearing an ankle-length dress and a long-sleeved brown shirt, holding her hands behind her back. I can't imagine actually using this tassel as a decoration on anything.
This tassel is made of a 4-ply variegated yarn. The collar is a 4-ply solid brown yarn. It's an eight inch tassel with a 2.5 inch collar.
Tassel with Collar of Multiple Bead Rows
This is another of my favorite techniques. The beads on this tassel give it an elegant, understated look.
The trick to making the collar work well is to be more concerned with how the beads lie flat against the tassel threads than the concern that each of the three collars has the same number of beads.
This tassel is made from #5 perle coton with green seed beads. It's a 4 inch tassel.
Tassel with Single Bead for a Collar
I love the simplicity of this tassel and it's another of my favorites. I think this one is effective because I used simple household string for the head and skirt and a bead with an interesting size and shape for the collar. The proportion is just right. It's a very casual, cute, fuss-free, fun tassel.
This tassel is made of string and a wooden bead. It's a 5 inch tassel.
Tassel with a Single Bead for the Head
This is my least favorite tassel of the bunch. I think it looks completely goofy. It may be because I used an oblong bead instead of a round bead for the head. I'm not sure. It could be that this is just an odd technique. I think it looks lopsided and disproportionate.
This tassel is made with 4-ply variegated yarn with a wood bead for the head. It's a 5 inch tassel.
Tassel with Beaded Dangles
This idea may have worked well had I used different materials. As it is, I find this tassel quite unsuccessful.
The goal of this tassel is to have some beads stationary on the tassel head, have them caught in the collar, then have them hang freely over the tassel skirt. Were this tassel made of a silkier fiber, and were the beads smaller, and were there six or eight strands of beads instead of four, it might be quite pretty. I think the dangles would look better if they were the same length as the tassel skirt as well.
This tassel is made from white baby-weight yarn that has a shiny rayon strand wrapped around it. The dangling beads are 4mm, and the end bead is a 3mm round opalescent bead. It's about 5 inches long.
Beaded Tassel
I adore the final look of this tassel. Boy, did I have to work for it! This little tassel took over six hours of concentrated effort, and quite a slew of curse words.
I'd never attempted a peyote stitch before this project. Trying to learn with tiny beads had me crying and pulling out my hair. So I took some yarn and pony beads (larger scale) to figure out the technique. When I went back to the seed beads, I decided to use two colors, yellow and green, so that I could more easily tell the difference between row one and row two. That strategy helped me keep track of where I was on the pattern.
I also had a lot of trouble pulling waxed thread through those teeny tiny holes in the seed beads. I broke a number of beads in my attempts to pull the long, skinny needle through them, so had to replace the beads as best I could. It was a test.
But isn't it pretty?!
This tassel is made entirely of seed beads and waxed thread. The head is 5/8 of an inch long with a two inch skirt.
The next #throwbackthursday tassel post will show six embellished tassels.
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