I knew a guy who tied the best-looking cat whiskers I've ever seen; he could get them looking like little perfectly round rubber puff balls.

He did it just like Arthur P described, except he used fishing string to tie them with in the middle... his hands had cuts from the line all over them (he was a tech at Gander Mountain, so he tied LOTS of them on). I wished I could have watched him do it more before he took another job elsewhere.