https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/lapis-lazuli-and-tigers-eye-tassel-necklace • Posted by Michelle @ My Beads
This tutorial is mostly about making a simple tassel from nylon cord. It is a very basic tassel that takes next to no time or skill to make. You can make them as large or small as you like – this one is relatively small at about 60mm, and is not super thick. Of course you can use more cord and make it as thick as you like! The necklace, otherwise, is simply strung on tigertail. All up this design took less than an hour. We would often knot between each gemstone bead with this style of necklace, but by using tiny 15/0 seed beads we get the same effect with a lot less effort (and time, yay!). I couldn’t resist these gorgeous ceramic shell pendants as a feature – and they were of course the inspiration for the colours in the necklace. The deep royal blue of Lapis Lazuli and shimmery brown/gold of Tiger Eye went perfectly.
This tutorial is mostly about making a simple tassel from nylon cord. It is a very basic tassel that takes next to no time or skill to make. You can make them as large or small as you like – this one is relatively small at about 60mm, and is not super thick. Of course you can use more cord and make it as thick as you like! The necklace, otherwise, is simply strung on tigertail. All up this design took less than an hour. We would often knot between each gemstone bead with this style of necklace, but by using tiny 15/0 seed beads we get the same effect with a lot less effort (and time, yay!). I couldn’t resist these gorgeous ceramic shell pendants as a feature – and they were of course the inspiration for the colours in the necklace. The deep royal blue of Lapis Lazuli and shimmery brown/gold of Tiger Eye went perfectly.
First off, we are going to make the tassel. Cut 3 pieces of 0.8mm nylon cord: one 3 meters, one about 15cm, and one about 1 meter. Take your 3 meters of cord, and wrap them into a circle. I have simply used four fingers to get the size I am after.
Take the cord off your fingers, and using your 15cm piece of cord tie together one end.
Photo showing cord tied together. This just makes the whole thing easier to work with.
Now take the 1 meter piece of cord and tie around the entire tassel, near the top that you have just tied off. Leave a tail of about 10cm one one side, with the remaining 90cm of cord on the other.
Then, wrap the long piece around and around the tassel until it looks good – you may not use the entire 1 meter.
Now, tie a tight knot using the shorter tail from before and the remaining cord from your wraps.
Do a double knot, then trim with sharp scissors. Adding a dab of glue will help keep this knot secure. I also try to pull some of the wraps up and over the knot to conceal it a little, but this isn’t totally necessary.
Using sharp scissors, cut the loops at the bottom of your tassel to turn it into a tassel!
You will probably also need to trim the bottom to make a uniform tassel.
And that’s the tassel made! I will often remove the original string I used to tie the tassel together at the top (and I did so in this design). In some situations, you make like to leave it on as you can use it to tie the tassel onto a necklace or loop.
Now it’s time to string together the necklace. This one’s pretty easy! Simply string all of your beads onto the tigertail in your desired pattern, using a 15/0 seed bead as a spacer between each bead. Don’t forget to add the pendant when you get to the middle point!
The pattern for this design is (from the clasp): 7x 4mm Lapis Lazuli Rounds – 12x Lapis Lazuli Rondelles – 11x 8mm Tiger Eye Rounds – 5x Lapis Lazuli Rondelles – 1x Silver Spacer – 1x Lapis Large Rondelle – 1x Silver Spacer – 5x Lapis Lazuli Rondelles – 11x 8mm Tiger Eye Rounds – 5x Lapis Lazuli Rondelles – 1x 4mm Lapis Lazuli Round – then we go down through a silver spacer, a large lapis rondelle, a silver spacer, the ceramic shell, through the tassel and back up again through these same beads (see photos).
Now we simply bead the other side of the necklace as you have just done.
Finish off your necklace using crimps, clamshells and the clasp of your choice (we've used a toggle). And that’s it!