deedly-ball

[Seán Fitzpatrick]

<<The ball fringe familiar to me from my childhood wasn't merely knotted fringe, but had actual chenille balls, like miniature stocking cap bobbles, attached at frequent--say, 3/4 in--intervals, hanging from little stems, like petioles. [It was often used on plain linen crash curtains.  Adding it to floral patterns sounds a bit much!] A. Murie>>

Per my wife, a costume historian:  That sort of fringe was very popular in the 1920s and '30s (especially among cats and small children) for curtains, bedspreads, and almost any article of clothing or household fabric.  The original name, from the French, was "pom-pon fringe", but it is generally pronounced and spelt "pom-pom".  "Ball fringe" is probably the trade term.  

Seán Fitzpatrick