Panamanian

Tembleques

Hair ornaments called tembleques are an

important part of Panamanian traditional

dress. They are called tembleques, which

means trembling or shaking, because they

are made of very delicate, flexible materials

that shake when the wearer makes any sort

of movement while dancing or walking.

In former times, a woman in a long, full-

skirted dress used natural flowers to adorn

her hair, such as a carnation over the ear,

under the brim of the hat, or small white

jasmines.

The descriptions of tembleques we have in-

dicate that the first artifical ones used by

women were made with fish scales; these

are the most traditional type.

Message from Evelyn and Cecilia De Sasso: Remember that each design is inspired by the beautiful flora and fauna of Panama.

Bun-cover models

Peacock

Small flowers and ear-cover models

Jasmine

Evelyn Cassano Tel: 585-329-9671 thecassanos@gmail.com

1-scissors, pliers, electricity or jewelry tweezers

2 30-gauge soft wire and thick aluminum wire

3- #3 to #10 white and iridescent pearl beads

4 white and iridescent teardrops in different sizes

5 white and iridescent rice-grain beads in diffe-

rent sizes

6 white, gold, and iridescent bugle beads

7 transparent pony beads

8 green DMC embroidery thread, hairpins

9 box with dividers

10 floral tape and cloth hair band

11 clamp

The original set of tembleques is made up of:

2 bun covers

2 ear covers

2 mosquetas (rosettes)

2 butterflies

2 peacocks

2 orchids

2 flowers with long pistils

2 full roses

2 simple flowers

4 jasmine flowers

For a dance group I recommend making 1 pair

of four-flower bun covers with leaves, two pairs of

bun covers with three flowers, one pair of pea-

cocks or one pair of flower bunches, one pair of

ear covers, 4-6 Jasmine flowers, 2-4 single flo-

wers.

Making the tembleque flower. Tembleques flowers are always made in pairs. To make a pair you will need to cut 30 wires in 7-inch lengths. String 24 pearl beads on a wire, put the ends together, and turn them so the beads wont fall off. On the second wire string 18 pearls and finish in the same way. Now take the third wire, add three pearls, put the ends together and add another pearl. Then open the wire and put it in the middle of the pearls. Add a large pearl, a rice grain bead, and join the three wires. Make all the petals in this way until you have ten total (five for each flower).

Making the pistils. Now you must make the pistils. There are four on each flo-

wer, and here are some models:

When you have eight made, tie them together in this way: Join the four pistils, then add the four petals one by one and

turn them twice, with the thread very close to the petal. Then add the five remaining peals one by one, wrapping them with the thread to cover about one inch.

Bun cover and ear cover. The bun cover: cut a thick wire to 18 cm (7), wrap the tip in green and add the branches of pistils and flowers.

The bun cover should have at least 2 4-pistil flowers of 2.5 in length. 2 branches, one pointing up and the other down, with three pistils: 2 short and one long and two leaves more on each side to fill. The pistils should be 3.5 and 4.5, and the wire for the petals should measure approximately 8.5 inches, and it should have 20-28 petals.

Ear cover: These are made like the bun cover, but they only have one flower, five leaves, and three pistils. They should have 10 or 13 petals.

Form and function

The bun cover is the first tembleque one puts on after put-ting in the combs. As its name indicates, it should cover ones bun.

Similarly, an ear cover is meant to cover the ears and is placed over them.

The various tembleques are named according to their sha-pe. The doves are placed above the ear covers.

We also have the mosquetas, which simulate two White roses, which decorate and show off the face. The head of the tembleques is made of a pair of mosquetas, which should be placed behind the doves where the bun cover begins. There are also peacocks, which should be placed where the small and large combs meet.

Other tembleque shapes include the butterflies and scor-pions, which are placed on the upper portion of the head taking care that they do not cover the part in the hair. As for the flowers, these fill the rest of the head and should be put on from top to bottom. They represent lilies, orchids, impatiens, etc. We also have the jasmines, and these are placed after all the other tembleques. Between 4 and 6 jas-mines are placed on the upper part of the head around the combs. These can be natural or artificial.

Materials used