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Saturday, March 30, 2019

Freshly dyed thread "Corsage" purple and orange


Hand dyeing in progress
The colors were inspired by a Cattleya orchid, which I think would make a stunning corsage for a special occasion, hence the name Corsage. Several sizes of cordonnet thread and embroidery floss now listed in my Etsy Shop.











I haven't had much time for tatting lately, since I've been very busy practicing music. I'll be playing my cello in a Wisconsin Intergenerational Orchestra concert on May 5 and still have lots to prepare! Also, I sing in the church choir + some cello there too, and Easter will be here soon.

I did make a start on tatting a daffodil from the book Ostern - Easter Motives by Christel Weidmann. The plan I have in mind is adding some leaves along with other tiny flowers to make a ... (you guessed it) ...corsage!
Tatting a daffodil in progress

The book Ostern - Easter Motives by Christel Weidmann.

Friday, March 15, 2019

Made room for the long bead


Based on my Unfolding Heart pattern, I tatted this heart from hand dyed size 10 thread featuring a long red glass drop bead in the center. The pattern as written isn't long enough to make room for the 7/8 inch (2.2 cm) drop bead, so I added an extra ring with corresponding chain stitches to each side of the heart. 




Earrings from Heart Aglow pattern, using the same 11/0 seed beads on size 20 thread, with a 4 mm Swarovski faceted round bead at the top and 11 mm Czech glass dagger bead at the bottom.


Saturday, March 2, 2019

Tatting Using Left Hand Only



A left hand only tatting demo for people with limited or no use of their right hand, inspired by the book Tatting With One Hand - Tatting for the Physically Handicapped by Helen A. Chesno.

For the demo I used size 3 thread. Although it's easy to see and good for beginners to practice with, the downside of thick thread is that it constantly requires tension adjustments and the shuttle can't hold much. Once the process is understood, I recommend moving on to a thinner thread such as size 10 or 20. The larger the number, the finer [thinner] the thread.

The pillow in this demo is a 13 inch ethafoam cookie pillow made for bobbin lacemaking.

The pins and pillow do the work of the missing hand. All other shuttle tatting techniques are the same.