 |
Royal Claret Tassel
Designed by Patti J. Ryan
Beginner project
Time to complete project: an evening
Dimensions: 3/4 ” x 1-1/2” x 4-1/2”
Inspiration:
The little brass bells at a wedding reception sparked an idea for a tassel top. The curved top of an empty atomizer morphed in my mind’s eye into a horseshoe-shaped tassel. Expressing my ideas on paper fueled my sketching, including a page full of home décor ideas for using tassels.
Materials:
- 1 Recycled flat-faced plastic lid from atomizer or
perfume bottle lid (1-1/2” wide)
- Krylon® Crafter's Spray Paint—Copper, #1130
- Crafter’s Pick The Ultimate Glue
- 6” of 1/4 ”-wide Ribbon—red
- 16” of 1/8 ”-wide Twisted rayon cording—red
- 18” of 3" Chainette fringe—red
- 1 tube 6mm Bugle beads—silver-lined red
- 1 pkg. ea. size 11/0 Seed beads—red and amethyst
- 18-20 The Beadery® 4mm Acrylic Cabochons—
Foil Back Dark Amethyst, # X549–002
- 20 4mm-8mm Assorted glass beads—red
- 1 1/2"-dia. Round wooden bead
Additional Supplies:
- 1/8”-wide red-liner industrial double-sided tape, 60- and 120-grit sandpaper, basic beading supplies, bead board, craft stick or old paintbrush handle, drill and 1/4” drill bit, pencil, rotary tool with cut-off wheel, scrap block of polystyrene foam or flower foam, tweezers
|
|
 |
|
Tip:
Tassel tops can be made by repurposing any hollow object like a perfume bottle top, a glue stick lid, or a pill bottle. If you can drill a hole through the top for the cord, it can be made into a tassel top. |
| Instructions: |
| Prepare tassel form |
- Measure and mark the length of the plastic lid to be the same measurement as the width and cut off excess with the rotary tool.
- Mark a centered hole on top of the lid. Use the drill with 1/4” bit to make the hole.
Smooth cut edge with 60-grit sandpaper. Lightly rough up the plastic surface with 120-grit sandpaper. Wipe with damp cloth.
- Insert craft pick or old paint brush handle into lid to aid during spray painting. Lightly spray the lid with several light coats of Copper paint; let dry 10 minutes, then apply light coats again for solid coverage. Stand up in jar to dry thoroughly.
|
| Beading the tassel top |
- Lightly draw a line dividing the tassel top front and back. Sketch an arch shape on each side or follow the indented shape. Starting on one side, apply Glue along the arch shape and outline with amethyst Cabochons. Apply glue to the center of Cabochon area and use tweezers to place bugle beads in horizontal rows, entirely filling the center area. Let glue dry.
- Flip the tassel top over and apply Glue along the arch. Outline area with bugle beads placed horizontally. Make two rows at the top and bottom of the arch. Add Glue to the arch center and fill randomly with seed beads.
- Spread glue around the bottom edge of the tassel top. Add a border of vertical bugle beads.
- Using beading thread, make several strings of red and amethyst seed beads (about 3' of each in total). On the Amethyst Cabochon side, spread Glue on surface and place a line of red seed beads surrounding the Cabochons. Note: Use a straight pin to help position the beads and form sharp corners.) Continue adding glue and more lines of seed beads until this half of the lid is entirely covered in beads. Let glue setup.
- Flip the tassel top over and add the amethyst seed beads in a similar manner. To finish the tassel top, fill any gaps with individual seed beads.
|
| Beading the fringe |
- Cut a 6” length of ribbon as base for beaded fringe. Prepare a beading needle with a doubled length of thread. Sew through the ribbon edge and knot securely. Add 5" of amethyst seed beads, a red glass bead, and one more seed. PBT the red anchor bead and tie a knot around the beaded thread. To hide the knot tail, pass needle back through four or five seeds and trim excess.
- Start the next fringe about one seed bead-width from the first fringe. Repeat for total of 20 beaded fringes.
|
| Assembly |
- Cut a 16" length of twisted rayon cording. Fold in half and thread through the wooden bead. Make a large knot at cord ends to secure bead from sliding off.
- Lay out 18” of chainette fringe on a flat surface. Cut a 17-1/2” piece of double-sided tape and remove liner from one side. Starting at one end of fringe, apply tape along top edge, leaving the last 1/2" tape-free.
- Position the hanger cord from step 1 across the untaped edge, with loop facing up and the wood bead resting on the fringe. Remove the remaining tape liner. Fold the untaped fringe edge over the hanger cord and onto the exposed tape (encasing the cord, but not adhering it). The hanger cord should snugly move up and down. Tightly roll fringe along the tape to form a large compact tassel. Pull hanger cord to snug the bead up inside the chainette fringe.
- To check that the tassel fits inside the beaded tassel top, thread hanger cord up through hole and snug tassel up inside of tassel top. If necessary, snip off a bit of chainette fringe and reinsert until the tassel fits, but not too tightly. Remove tassel.
- Trim the length of amethyst beaded fringe to fit around the tassel circumference. Add a length of double-sided tape to the top of the fringe, and then adhere to the chainette tassel.
- Feed the hanger cord through the tassel top hole and pull tassel snuggly into the tassel top concealing the ribbon top of the beaded fringe. Check length of chainette fringe. Trim, if necessary, for uniform length.
|
|
 |
| For questions concerning this project,
contact designer Patti J. Ryan of Malibu, CA.
E-mail: pjryan@gte.net |
|
