Hand-Tatted Teal Daisy Necklace

I'm beginning to make more necklaces to match the earrings I have been making now for over a year. So this is the newest necklace. I like the way it lays in an asymmetrical pattern. Then also, I am playing with different colors ways for the daisies. It's exciting to try something new and different. I never in a million years would have thought my love of lace making would lead to this. 

Teaching Maggie to Tat

In this short video above I am introducing my daughter to the movements of tatting. I think it's important to feel the movements and how relaxed one is when tatting. We are making double stitches which involves tatting two parts of the double stitch.

In the video above I am tatting a ring. You wont be able to see the actual tatting very well, but it shows you how I work & the motions. I describe it as I go.

It's been fun playing with video a bit. I may just do more and find a friend with a camera that could really zoom in and see the delicate lace I make. 

The Crown

So, yes, I made that. It is a hand-tatted lace crown with Schwartz chrystals. It was a huge project for me that actually made it into my very own accessory show. And in keeping up with my procrastinating tradition I finished it 6 hours before show time! Wawhooooo! Ha ha! 


Okay, but hey it was the first time I did a tatting project that was in the round. It was also one in which I had beads on the shuttle and on the ball. That means I was dealing with learning as I went along tatting. I began it on I think a Monday, maybe Tuesday and finished up on a Friday. A lot of people asked me how long it took. My estimate is 40 hours, but I will go a little faster the more I make. I worked 12 hours one day I know and most days I worked 8 hours. Overall, I made a lot of mistakes, but I learned so very much that it was completely worth it!


One thing I want to really share with you is the way tatting is like weaving and knitting for me. I tend to get lost in the pattern and repitition of it all. I enjoy the process of creating. Not necessaily the beginning or the finishing of it, but the middle bits. The part where you are comfortable enough to know the pattern without looking to the book and the movements just naturally flow. Like it's a part of you and you are making this unique piece of art come to life. That's my favorite part. And I do believe it is what keeps me coming back. 


I will share photos of the crown on my princess in the accessory show when the photographer gets a chance to edit the hundreds of shots he made in two days. 


In the meantime, I am working on another design for a crown I have thought of adapted from this one. Enjoy the rest of the photos! 

One Day at a Time... Working out of a Rut!

I've been in a funky rut. Yep, a rut. Something overwhelmed me and I just couldn't focus on my art! Not good for me and I felt a little lost for a bit. But honestly, every day isn't always the best is it? There are those ups and downs in life. I just didn't expect my rut to hit so hard!

I'm happy to say I have new energy and I am loving it! I've started tatting again and really thinking about what I want to do. What can I leave behind in my life? Why do I tend to repeat self-defeating patterns and how to solve that? I mean...really!? So, I turned to some help to get me focused and really pin point what I could do so I don't fall into this again. I have a long road, but step by step I'm getting there.  That reminds me of Eddie Rabbit's song, "Step by Step". Hmmm, now I am showing my age! haha

Hand-tatted heart with red glass seed beads necklace

But good things are on the horizon. I am tackling how to go about tatting bridal crowns, some with crystals and some without. Then I was thinking about small crowns for babies...like ones that photographers could use in photo shoots. Who doesn't have a baby girl who thinks she's as sweet as a princess? Really!?

Also, over the holidays I was commissioned to create a custom pair of panties for a gift. I incorporated hand-tatted lace into the design. And honestly, I think they are super cute! Some of my friends were like...will you make more? How much are they? Then I started making more lace for more pantie designs and I am starting to work through those now. It's just going to take time to get through my ideas and make it into a process I can work with!

Prototype X Lace Panties with Hand-Tatted Lace insert

I'm also preparing for festivals and art expos on the horizon. Which means my production of products are getting to be in full swing. I am happy to have so much variety in what I do - weaving, tatting, knitting. Creating things with fabric, paper and thread. It's really limitless and honestly I am my own boss and I like the idea that I can change gears and do something different.

Enjoy the leaping forward this weekend! Longer days equals more time to create! Right?

Close-up of my tag, a new line of intimate and bridal apparel - embrace.

Close-up of the hand-tatted lace insert

Packaged up for the customer, ready to send!

Design presented to the customer for the concept for the custom panties.

                               

Rat-A-Tat-Tat

I have had the best time learning to tat over this past summer. Now I am working on creating lace for garments and some holiday snowflakes to either be worked into an outfit, used as jewelry or simply an ornament.

Double Five Spoke Tatted Snowflake

I got into this because my great grandmothers use to tat long ago. When they both passed away I inherited their tools and over the years it added up to a lot! So, I decided I would take it upon myself to give it a whirl. It was not easy! It took me basically a week following detailed instructions from books and only 1 or 2 videos on You Tube were helpful.

Close-up

At first, as typical when I am learning something new in fibers, I was so tense I made the double stitches very tight! And I did not figure out "The Flip" for a while. "The Flip" is the KEY to tatting.

Look here to get a pretty good instruction on how to tat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as2gXQ-RYeQ&feature=related

Detail of a lace pattern I am creating.

After I learned & mastered "The Flip" for the double stitches and then how to make a picot I was on my way. I loosened up and it is such a comfortable relaxing activity now. It's slow going and really does take a long time, but for me it is very rewarding.

I am going to quit writing for now and go sit down in my favorite rose chair by the window, watch the snow fall and work on a custom order for snowflakes I need to get done by the 14th! Happy Tatting!