DIY Silk Tassels for Jewelry

One of the latest trend in jewelry is tassels. They are featured everywhere on malas, attached to bracelets, earrings and more... In fashion you can find them on clothing, belts, shoes, purses along with lots of fringes. Tassels can be made out of many different type of materials depending on their final use. They can be simple or complex. 

Here is a tutorial for a silk tassel well suited for jewelry. 

I found filament silk best suited for tassels. The weight and flexibility of the silk makes gorgeous tassels. Kanagawa 100 Denier Silk and Fujix Tire Silk come in an amazing array of colors. Kanagawa 1000 Denier Silk comes in 162 colors; Fujix Tire Silk in 121 colors; Griffin Jewelry Silk in 11 colors. The following tassel was made with Kanagawa color #5. The two Japanese brands, Kanagawa and Fujix Tire, are comparable and they are as far as I know the best filament silk available. Griffin Silk, a beading silk is also a very high quality silk suitable for tassels. 

1. Cut a folded piece of cardboard a bit longer than the desired length of the tassel.

2. Insert the thread in the cardboard fold and wind the thread around. 

This one was wound about 45 times around the card. 

The more you wind the thread around the cardboard, the fuller the tassel will be. 

3. With separate thread, bind all the tassel thread on one of the end.

I go around the bundle twice, then tie the two ends into a flat knot.

4. Cut the thread along the other end of the cardboard while holding the bound end. 

Continue holding the bound end for next step. 

5. Run the thread under lukewarm water to remove the folds and to make it easier to cut the ends. 

Blot the tassel with a towel to remove excess water. 

This step can be skipped with Griffin Silk, and with silk coming off of spools, but cutting wet silk is easier than cutting dry silk. It is just like getting your hair cut wet rather than dry...

6. Continuing while the tassel is wet… 

With a separate piece of silk, wrap the tassel neck. 

Stitch the ends back toward the tassel ends. 

7. To trim the tassel, wrap the tassel in a piece of plastic shed.

Use your sharpest scissors to trim the ends.

Here is the finished tassel.

The finished length of this tassel after trimming is 4.5 cm long.

The head is about 5 mm in diameter. 

The bottom of the tassel skirt is about 18 mm wide. 

Tassels made with Kanagawa 1000 Denier Silk and Fujix Tire Silk.

Some are longer, fatter… The fattest one on the right was made with the full card. 

Tassels made with filament silk.

The two on the right are made with Griffin Jewelry Silk Size 6. 

The Kangawa and Fujix Tire silk tassels have a bit more sheen than the Griffin ones. Griffin Jewelry Silk is another filament silk often used for stringing beads. It is less sheen and more grip, so a bit easier to handle than Kanagawa & Fujix Tire. It is available in 12 colors at this time. Griffin Jewelry Silk comes in spools. Size 6 has 65 meters per spool.  

> See earlier blog on Griffin Silk - it comes in spools and in cards… 

Tassel made with Madeira Silk

This tassel is soft and fluffy, but the floss does not have the weight of the filament silk, so it does not hang quite as nicely. It might make a good tassel, but it would not be my choice for jewelry. Madeira Silk Floss come in 108 colors. It is made in Germany with spun silk from Switzerland.  

Tassel made with C-Lon Micro Cord. 

This tassel skirt is bit stiff. I may attach this ones to my keys or a purse, but I would not attach it to a strand of beads, nor wear it as a jewelry charm… 

I am now experimenting with tassels made with Chinese Knotting Cord, so far I really like the results with Micro Size E. > Read New Post on Tassels 

See latest post on tassel HERE. 

Silk - References

All these fine silks are available at Jewels in Fiber online store

Here are the silks, I tested for tassels. I made the same types of tassels growing up in Geneva, Switzerland. I came up with a few improvements while making them this past week… Oh, I was told at the show I just attended that books are good to wind the thread around to make the tassels. I will try this next. 

I have several books on tassels, but I have yet to make one of the fancy tassel featured in them. If you are interested in further research in the art of passementerie, that is the French word for fancy decorative trimming such as tassels, braid and fringing, check books on tassels and look for future posts on the subject!

Leather Wrap Bracelet with Madeira Silk

Silk is a fabulous fiber to work with lots of glamour. Silk adds a "je ne sais quoi" to any piece of jewelry.... So I decided to test leather wrap bracelets made with Madeira Silk.

Madeira Silk is a 4-strand floss, so it can be separated into 4 parts. Each strand is a soft 2-ply cord that can be used individually or as part of a group. Madeira is a spun silk, so it is made with pieces of filament that are spun together, so it has a fiber feel to it with a bit of fuzz sticking out.

The materials used to make this bracelet are 1.5 mm Greek leather, Madeira Silk Floss, Swarovski 6mm Bicones and Crystal Pearls, and Fresh Water Pearls.  Two strand of the Madeira Silk Floss were woven back and forth 4 times through each bead. Plus an old Italian button was used a the closure.

 I have been wearing this test bracelet almost everyday for several weeks to see how the Madeira silk will do over time. I just too the photos today. So far I have not noticed too much wear. The silk edges are a bit fuzzy, but no more than right after I finished the bracelet. 

After wearing for quite a while, I found the the silk thread moved laterally along the leather and after a while the bracelet was no longer flat so it did not wrap well around the wrist. 

I have since come up with a new double step process. I mount the beads with C-Lon Bead Thread Size D and afterwards wrap the silk around the leather. I will try to post the new way of doing this soon. 

Madeira comes in 108 colors > Madeira Silk Floss

Griffin Jewelry Silk Bead Cord - Making Your Own 2-Ply Cords out of Spools

Silk is traditionally the best material to use for stringing valuable beads such as pearls, coral, amber and jade. It is soft, strong and drapes well. It does not damage softer beads. The Griffin Jewelry Silk Bead Cord is made in Germany from 100% high-grade filament silk tightly twisted into a 3 ply cord. It is available in 13 colors created to coordinate with gemstones as suggested by their color names. It is a good silk to string beads, for bead crochet or any other projects requiring a strong high quality silk. It comes on spools with enough yardage for many projects.

Griffin 100% Natural Silk is usually available on cards as a 2-ply cordon with a needle attached to its end. The cards are only 79 inches (2 meters) long. It is often too short for longer necklaces and for application needing longer cords such as bead crochet. One of the way to get around this, is to make your own cordon.

Use the Griffin Jewelry Silk to make your own 2-ply cordon, add a collapsible needle and get what is available on a Griffin Silk Card but with the exact length you need for your project. A cordon is a two-ply made with a cord, twisting in the same direction of the cord. So since the Griffin Jewelry Silk 3-ply cord is twisted counterclockwise, make sure to twist in the same direction as shown in the illustration below. For references as to size comparison check this post > Griffin Silk - Spools vs Cards

I find the easier way to make a 2-ply cord is with at least two stationary hooks. Tie one end of the cord to the first hook. Wrap the cord around the second hook. The tie the end to the hook on your mini-twister or your cordless drill. Twist the cord counterclockwise until it starts kinking. Fold it onto itself. Tie it together and let is twist clockwise by itself. If you need a needle, attach the needle before laying the odd together and place it at the center hook, where the cord will fold onto itself.

Two-ply cord can be made out of many different types of cords, not just the Griffin Silk. The mini-twister or corder shown above is a good hand tool to use. Reversible drills with a hook attached are best for long cords.

If you are interested to make 3 and 4-ply cords, check the Learn Cord Making Tutorial and Tool Kit. The tutorial is available by itself for $10.00 and it has direction on how to make the tools needed for the project, or you can get the tool kit for an additional $15.00.

Let me know if you found this info useful, or if it needs clarifications. Best, - Marion

> Griffin Jewelry Silk by the Spool

> Tools for Cordmaking