Scandi Rope Tassels
Why settle for ordinary tassels when you can personalize them by adding a bit of contemporary detail?
For my next project I am making a wine bottle hanger. The design was a bit bland, so I decided to add some details in the form of tassels. Since the in-store selection is quite sad and not at all in the style that I wanted, I decided to devise my own.
To make a tassel, you will need:
- two sizes of wooden blocks, in scale with the tassel size you have planned
- 2 screw eyes
- a large jump ring, I used a part of a necklace pictured below
- natural twine, I used two different types
- marker pen of your colour choice
- Superglue, I used instantly drying Q-bond, (possibly gloves)
- Scissors
- Hammer
- Nail to start your hole with
- Wood sealer, spray, such as Rustoleum Ultra Cover Matte Clear
- Wrap a strand of natural twine around a shape such as a book (top left). I wrapped mine about 40 times.
- Loosely tie the top,middle section with a shortish piece to gather all the strands (top right).
- Cut the opposite side of where you tied with scissors, which means you end up with a whole lot of loose ends. I cut slightly to the side which meant my two bunches of strands weren't equally long (bottom left).
- I adjusted the knot holding the strings together so that the left and right sections were of equal length (bottom right) and then tied it firmly, leaving some string to tie the tassel to the screw.
I wrapped some string a slight distance away from the top knot,then tied and trimmed it. This creates a 'neck' for the tassel.
What I like about this type of tassel is that it needn’t be as perfect as a silk one, which makes my life much easier.
I then attached a small gold screw eye to the top of the tassel and trimmed the bottom strands.
I coloured the smaller blocks with a marker. This is a lot easier than painting or spraying but the wood does suck up a lot of ink. You could also add stickers, washi-tape, drawings or decoupage.
Using instantly drying superglue meant that I didn't have to devise ways of keeping the smaller blocks in position whilst the glue dried. You could also use a glue gun. Seal with a spray sealant if you wish.
I must say I was not looking forward to the whole screwing story because it meant going on a hunt for a tiny drill bit. My husband suggested that I use a screw and hammer to make shallow holes. Just as well because otherwise he would have to go hunting through his messy tool room for that tiny drill bit that he may or may not own. Driving a small hole makes it much easier to simply twist the screws into the wood by hand, I was pleasantly surprised. Attach one screw eye to the top and one with a tassel attached to the bottom of the large block.
My jump rings were easy to bend open by hand and attach to the top of the block.
For my wine rack I don’t really need an extra rope or ribbon to hang the tassel by but here is how I would do it: I would use a 3 pieces of thicker twine to plait a rope. The easiest way to start this is to stick 3 strands of string down together to the table with tape. This makes it easier to start plaiting. You will notice that I am using a thicker twine.
The picture above shows two separate knots which are not necessary if you are going to tie the two ends together. Thread this rope through the jump ring and knot.
I love the rustic yet contemporary look of these tassels - plus it's my own unique design.
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Lynne on Sep 28, 2020
awesome idea!! i am also thinking a change of color, and ornaments. thanks
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Could you show a picture of how the tassels attach to a wine bottle? I don't understand, they look as though they'd be too large to use as a tassel on a regular size bottle. Maybe I'm missing something? Thanks for the idea!
What do you plan to do with the left over pieces of the necklace? They might be cute attached to the rim of a lampshade.
BTW, nice job. :)
A wine bottle hanger? What is it for? Do you hang it on a bottle like a necklace or hang a bottle from it for some reason. A picture of it with the bottle would help.