TemariKai Tassel Hints and Helps

Tassels Hints and Helps

There are about as many ways to make a tassel as there are people - not to mention it being an art unto its own. Making the tassel is not the purpose of Temarikai but, a number of TT members have contributed some hints and tips to help the process along -

From Glenna: My local dry cleaner taught me a trick. When you make tassels and want the threads to lay correctly in line and straight, steam it! I set my tea kettle on the stove and suspend my tassel in the steam while I comb it with the eye end of my needle. Makes all of the threads fall loose and straight. Think of it as three dimensional ironing. Any steam source will do. Works well on Perle Cotton, but is most effective on metallic and rayon threads. You have eto be careful with metallics. Sometimes the steam makes them curl instead of straighten! I also discovered that if I want the tassels to remain in that "ironed" condition, I need to make a protective sleeve for it. Cut a piece of typing paper the length of the tassel and several widths. Wrap the paper around the tassel and tape in place. I use these sleeves when I have to transport or box tassled temari.

From Debi A: I like to trim my tassels with my rotary cutter and straightedge. After combing the threads (with water or steam as needed) I lay them out as a bundle on my board with the straightedge held firmly in place. The rotary cutter gives a nice blunt cut so all the threads are the same length without fussing too much. You do have to make sure the threads don't 'spread' too much as you cut....Glenna's paper tube idea could help with that. And, my favorite method of making tassels requires no winding. I use a skeined fiber like perle cotton or embroidery floss. Tie a tight knot around the middle of the whole skein leaving extra thread for attaching it to whatever you want later. Fold the skein in half at the knot, move down a little and wrap or tie the head of the tassel with whatever way you like best. For a shorter tassel you can trim it above the looped ends you have at the bottom without combing out first, then comb out and retrim if needed. For a longer tassel, cut the loops first, then comb out and trim. If you want a thicker tassel, just start with two or more skeins.

From Joan: I use fringe trim to make a tassel. All I do is roll it and put a few stitches through the band. It is all ready even and I can make it as thick as I want. I can even layer it with a shorter trim around the top. It is a real time saver and I watch for trim sales and remnants. The only disadvantage is that there are not many color choices but I have a lovely gold that goes with any gold marked temari.

From Barbara Sp.: I usually use Native American shawl fringe. It is braided rayon cord with the shine of Japanese cord and used to make the fringe on the dance shawls . Because it's purpose is to make fringe it hangs beautifully. The only problem is that the fringe comes in large cones so you need to find others to share it. When I learned to make Temari we had 8 people in our class. Four of us each bought 2 colors and we divided it . There are approximately 1600 yards on a cone, so each of us got 400 yards of 8 colors. Any Native American supply store would have it, but I buy mine from Noc Bay in Michigan. And I have no affiliation other than a customer of this company. I have never even visited the store, I use mail order.