Gypsy Cottage Influenced Tassels

I want to share with you how I made these gypsy cottage influenced tassels. I am constantly on the look out for vintage hardware, fabrics and scraps of this and thats, pieces that would fit in with the French and gypsy at heart.

If I was a simple piece of hand-me-down fabric, this is exactly what I would want to be. In keeping with this European flea market gypsy style tassel, I made tattered rag strips by tearing strips of fabrics half inch in widths and 22" long. I then washed and dryed them in the dryer this way they will look even more tattered and wrinkled.

Taking about 8 strips and using a 9th strip as a tie, you then take the 8 strips halfway point tying the 9th strip around the 8 in a tight knot. You then take a vintage glass knob, wood or metal drawer knob pull that has a hole all the way through it and run both ends of the strip of fabric you tired around the 8 strips up through the bottom of the knob through the top of knob tying that in a knot at the top of the knob as well, then tie off the top so you can hang it. You can buy or make a creative cotton flower sewing a vintage button in the center and a piece of tattered braided cotton lace to the back of the rosette, those ties will tie around the base of the drawer pull knob above the knot allowing the ties to hang and mix in with your tattered strips.



Finding or making pieces of art will embellish and charm your tassels adding lots of personality. I love to take random or meaningful words, about 2 to 6 words torn from old pages of a tattered with wear book. I will tear a strip of a book page of words then aged the strip with paints that I have watered down and glued to cardboards. I then add a small hole at the end of it, taking an old aged safety pin I then pin the book tag to a strip of fabric. I also make sure to tie some of the ends of the strips into a messy knot, this will only add to the charm of the gypsy cottage tassels, perfectly imperfect.

These tassels are going to my shop in hopes that they will be used in a number of creative ways, perhaps curtian tiebacks or adorn a door knob or a drawer pull or two, they can be used just about anywhere your style desires.

I want to ACKNOWLEDG Kim at WhiteWhispers2u.blogspot.com and thank her for gifting me this wonderful piece of muslin fabric, who in turn thanks Shellagh at TickingandToile.blogspot.com for gifting to her the muslin fabric and passing it onto me. What better way to recycle and restyle a simple piece of muslin fabric into a tattered tassel.
"Inspiring you to create your own tassels."