Tatting Progress

[atherleisure]

Several months ago I tatted a sample of a lace edging. Then I stuck it in a drawer until I was a little closer to making a set of early Edwardian combinations that I've had in mind. Last week I was in the mood to pull it out and start working on it. Over two weekends I've done seven more repeats of the pattern so I now have eight repeats done, which equates to just shy of 12". I need about two yards.

I did just over two repeats during marianme's sewing circle Saturday morning - I was there for about an hour and a half before my internet threw me out for good. If I can do that every week, I should be done in about five months.



Knowing me, I'll go a little faster than my estimated five months, and when I get to the last ten repeats, I'll end up dropping everything and finishing them in about three days.

I am going to modify the pattern going forward. I don't like the little ring that connects the two chains at the top so I'm going to drop it from the rest of the edging. It pulls things askew and looks funny.

Comments

[marianme]

Tatting is another thing that is magic to me. I see how the little circle seems to pull the top left half circle, but have no idea how to fix it.

Knowing how long it takes to make makes me appreciate all the old lace even more.

[atherleisure]

I don't know enough about it to fix it other than by leaving out that ring. Unfortunately, the woman I know who might be able to tell me is in her eighties so I'm not going to be seeing her for awhile to come.

Lace was definitely expensive for a reason. I'll get faster as I get back into the hang of tatting and as I get the pattern memorized, but I doubt it will be less than half an hour to do each repeat. Each repeat is ~1.5" so it's never going to be fast.

[marianme]

Now, I kind of feel like I should buy up all the handmade lace at thrift shops. Except that even though the price is good, I can’t really buy *all* of it.

[mala_14]

So pretty! I always enjoy seeing your handwork.

[atherleisure]

Thank you.

[danabren]

This is astonishing. As modern sewers with access to machine-made lace, we have so little understanding of how much actually goes into tatting.

[atherleisure]

I think making any kind of lace helps you understand that there's a lot that goes into it. It really was a luxury good in a way we don't see now.