How to make three tiered tassels, part two

Without further ado, here's the conclusion to yesterday's Three Tiered Tassel tutorial!

Three Tiered Tassels, Part Two

by Terri Wright

Step 8:  Garnish with desired Beads.

Step 9: Repeat about 35 times for Collar and 48 times for Costume.  (Yes, that is around 250 tassels!)

Step 10: Sew onto collar/costume equal lengths apart – use ruler for this one.  I usually go about 4-5 mm apart.  Don’t pull on the sets of tassels as it will cause them to stretch, and some will become too long.

Step 11:  Gently brush out the tassels so they sit evenly, making sure to tie up any loose ends of the tassel ties so they do not come apart.  

Step 12: Taking a small container of water and your eyebrow brush, dip the brush in the water and gently comb the tassels, making sure to wet each of them to keep them together, and help with placement.  If one strand is still too short, gently pull on the bottom tassel to even it up, but be careful not to tug too hard and ruin the set.  Generally, try to avoid pulling on them, it will cause the knots to tighten and the strand to stretch, coming out of place.

My tassels aren’t perfect, and I’ll be the first to admit it.  I don’t like the way they aren’t perfectly even, but I usually tell myself the reason is because the surface they hang on is not even.  A horse has shape to it, which affects the way they hang.  So if you aren’t happy with your style, perfect it and practice it until you become more satisfied.

Tada!  You can then proceed with the finishing elements of costume making! 

Here are several references that can direct you in costume making from the beginning to end:

Jennifer Wilson’s Model horse Arabian costume making book 

Keriokie Pattern book 

Melody Snow’s kit 

And a couple other links to help you get started:
Jennifer Baker Wilson's tassel tutorial (you must be a paid member of Blab to read)
Abby Marston's braiding tutorial
Abby Marston's cowrie shell tutorial  

If you've enjoyed this series, please let Terri know by leaving a comment.  She's open to writing other Arabian costume tutorials in the future, so topic suggestions are also appreciated!