Tassel Tutorial

I decided the Purple Passion Margo bag in the previous post needed a tassel pull on the zipper to complete the look.

I gathered up the Color Catchers I use in the washer when I wash hand-dyed fabrics.  I used these because they're some kind of synthetic fabric and they have this marvelous color but don't ravel or fray.  I also got out some largish beads, and embroidery thread.

I stacked the pressed Color Catchers and cut them into 1/8 inch strips.


I cut a 20 inch length of embroidery thread.  I folded the strips in half to mark the middle, then tied the thread around the center of the strips, leaving one side of the thread about 4 inches, and the other around 16 inches.  I didn't measure the thread ends, just eyeballed them.  Also, I used all six strands of the thread -- I did not separate them.

When I was happy that the thread was tied in the center of the strips, I tied a tight square knot.
Then I formed a loop with the shorter end of the thread.

I tightly wrapped the longer end of the thread around the strips and the shorter end of the thread.  When I got to the end, I tied a square knot with the two ends of the thread.  I had to be careful here because it's easy to  pull too tight and lose the loop.  I trimmed the ends of the embroidery thread.

Then I made a knot in the loop so it wouldn't go anywhere.  I probably should have done the knot in the loop before winding the thread, but I wanted the thread to lay flat against the top of tied strips.

I snipped the ends of the strips so they would have little points.  Using a folded wire, I added beads to some of the strips and tied a small knot at the end of each of the beaded strips.  I added a small clip through the loop at the top and attached it to the zipper pull.

I have left all of these photos large, so be sure to click on them for a closer look at any of the steps.