Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Behind the Scenes


These aren't all the scraps, some have already been thrown out. 

People have asked me "How do you come up with your designs?" 

Well, the answer is, "Experimenting". That actually means to learn from mistakes. To see what works, what doesn't, which parts are pulling out of shape, where to add more stitches, thinking, tatting, cutting out, more thinking, more tatting.

The design I'm still working on is "Phoenix", and I actually thought about taking a lighter to singe the scraps, making it literally rise from the ashes, lol. The "Leave Her, Johnny" sheet music background is because I'm starting to think of leaving this mess, giving up on the small Phoenix design. I have the large Phoenix done, and that went surprisingly well, but I really want a small, pendant style version with shorter wings retaining the essence of the original. A "baby Phoenix" as it would seem. 

Well, I won't give up. Once I have figured it out, I'll get to writing it up, including how to tat an excellent spiral from both front and back sides. Yay!!!

Just saying, I "waste" a lot of thread. Cotton biodegrades and more plants grow. Support designers.

5 comments:

erin said...

Hee! Raymond and I refer to those remains as "tatting carnage".

God's Kid said...

I think we all need to see what really goes into designing because I believe most people have no real clue the time and effort involved. ;)
Thank you for sharing!!! :)

Cassandra R. said...

I think your "scraps" are pretty too. Since I can't see what you have in mind your tatting is elegant even if it isn't what you envisioned. I hope the beads aren't going the way of the recycling bin ;) The work you put into your designs is humbling..

StringyDogs said...

I've done only a couple of designs. My answer to that question is much like yours: idea > drawing > waste thread.
A suggestion on the scraps: When people ask me what I'm doing, "Tatting", I tell them. Then I hand them a small flower, butterfly, or part of a discarded pattern. It gets a good reception and (I hope) inspires more interest.
Keep up the good work. I love your designs.
LindaR

Margarets designer cards said...

Very interesting post, I do draw out my thoughts and then tat and play with stitches and numbers, we all have different ways of designing, but I do wish some people would write a pattern so you could understand it, and add pictures that you can see, perhaps as I get older I get fed up with the modern ways. I never knew cotton with bio disintegrate interesting