How to Install Rope Tassels on Drapes

A tasseled curtain tieback may be simple yet elegant.

When you want to restrain your drapes and admit the morning sun into a room, curtain tiebacks, with their tasseled ends, are the answer. Tasseled rope tiebacks pull the drape back, almost to the window frame, like silent servants holding back the darkness that would otherwise permeate a room. Utilitarian in their own way, the rope tassels may be plain — a threaded ball with fringe at the bottom — or more elaborate. As with any good accessory, they come in a variety of colors to match any decor.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• Pencil
• Drill
• 1/8-inch drill bit
• Large decorative cup hooks

Instructions

1. Tie one of the tiebacks around the middle of the curtain, loosely. Pull the tieback to the widow surround, the visible wood facing of the window frame. Slide the tieback up or down on the curtain to determine how you wish the window to appear and how much light you wish to admit into the room.

2. Mark the surround with a pencil to indicate where you want the tiebacks to hold the curtain. Then measure, from the floor to a point 6 inches past the pencil mark, with a measuring tape. Note the measurement and make a second mark on the window surround at that point.

3. Move to the other side of the surround sash and measure, from the floor up, the height of the second pencil mark. Make a pencil mark at that height, on this side of the window surround as well.

4. Drill a 1/8-inch pilot hole 1 inch from the outside of the surrounds, at the height of the pencil marks. Screw a large decorative cup hook into each of the holes. Hang the curtain tieback over the hook; you may hang the tassel at the hook or hang the tieback so the tassel hangs down at another spot, as long as the tassels hang at the same height.

5. Make a loop near the end of the rope. Push the end of the rope through the loop, twice. Pull the knot tightly. Pull the curtain back, toward the edge of the surround, and wrap the tieback around the curtain, loosely. Hang the decorative knot in the cup hook, to secure the end of the tieback rope.