How to finish tatting

 As the Fair gets closer, it’s time to finish entries. Logically, I know the item will be judged on technique of stitching, tatting, or similar technique. But how you finish it makes a difference. By finish I mean mount on fabric, starch, frame, or otherwise prepare for display.

So, tatted lace. How to “finish” a tatted item?????

First off: blocking. Here's a video that I mostly follow.

Let me say most of the time all I do is block with plain water. No pins, no ironing, no starching. I've found these grids from Stephanie Cervi Designs handy. If the lace has a lot of beads, I may block it twice. If picots are a part of the design I may spend time adjusting picots with a pin while damp. If I do starch my lace, I wash the starch out before storing. But for the most part, I don’t “finish” my tatting.

And most of what I’ve learned about finishing has been at the EGA chapter meetings. I’ve learned to mount my lace on fabric, lace that fabric over a piece of foam core, and attach a cord to the edge to complete a project. I don’t trust myself to frame anything. I’ve never been able to cut a straight line. I ask for help with that! I value a good “finisher” for my big projects. It does make a difference.

Are you a deadline tatter?

I am.

I can’t seem to get projects done unless there’s a deadline. Usually, those deadlines need to be made by someone other than me. Current Deadline: County Fair entries. Due in 10 days.

Most of the tatting is done. Just need to finish the lace and get 4 projects ready for judging.

Dreaming of beads

I’ve finished Round 6 of Wiosna 2025 by Renulek. I’m a bit embarrassed at how long I’ve been tatting this piece. But now, I’d like to begin adding beads. I’ll be getting out my colored pencils, printing another copy of the picture of the complete doily. And dreaming……

Not quite what I need

I started sewing stars on my flag yesterday. I’ve never been able to just “eyeball” things. I have to measure and calculate everything. So, I grabbed my ruler and did the math. Stitched some stars on and discovered I miscalculated. Sigh!

I’ll be grabbing my scissors and ruler and pencil and needle and THEN sew on the stars. It may turn out to look a bit like this:

Not always the best

I tried out one more earring idea. I decided this isn’t the best idea. I like some facets, but it just isn't jelling for me.

It went into the bag of trial samples. I plan to use them when teaching to stimulate discussion of how to choose thread and beads for your take on a design.

Not at idle

My shuttles are back in motion. Here’s what came off them:

Earrings for Kelly designed by Nina Libin

I tweaked the bead placement just a bit for this pair:

Idling

I feel like my shuttles are idling. I’ve enjoyed all the concerts, talks and masterclasses. I have so many good design ideas. It’s been fun talking to people about my Art of Music piece. But I really haven’t been tatting much. Just projects I can work on without thinking too much.

I did finish a bootie that I would like to enter into the Fair. Just have to get the second one started now. I’m still working on getting a pair of earrings finished. I keep making silly mistakes. Ones that I can’t really correct. Between 5 or 6 earrings I should have a pair I can wear! I have added a couple of squares to my shawl in bamboo.

The Festival ends the day after tomorrow. I should be able to get back into a better schedule next week. Idling will be turned into production.

Inspiration

 How do you seek inspiration? I confess that I seek inspiration in many ways. Sometimes I find new ways to tat by just tatting. Sometimes I discover new designs by tatting published patterns. Sometimes I think up new designs by experiencing nature and music.

Just yesterday I was listening to someone else play an organ piece I’ve played many, many times. There is a pattern in the harmony that occurs over and over again. I thought of how the notes look on the page.  I thought of a way to represent those patterns in beads. And a new pattern took shape in my mind, I sketched out an idea in my sketchbook, now I can’t wait to put into thread.

Right after I finish my Fair entries, complete some earrings, get a pattern written down, and manage those chores!

In the Gallery

The Festival has begun. The music is filling the air. I’m so excited!!

I hope lots of tickets end up in the box under my piece Melody in Mauve.

Which one to choose

Most of these are made using patterns by Nina Libin. I enjoy how she combines thread and beads in her designs. Once I understood the principles she uses, I could understand how to tat the patterns. Now comes the hard part. Choosing which pattern to use.

 You can easily spot me at a concert. I’m the one scribbling in the journal as the music inspires design ideas. 

Here’s a few I’ve had recently:

I’m excited for the Carmel Bach Festival main concerts to begin this weekend. The Music Director, Grete Pedersen, was quoted in an article that appeared in our local paper. She always thinks about what color music is. I think about how to put music into shapes in lace.

Come to the party!

 Tonight’s the night!! Starting at 5:30 PM and finishing when the open rehearsal starts.

Art of Music Opening Reception

Sunset Center

Carmel, CA

Be there!!!

Listening time

It’s that time of year. I’ll be spending quite a bit of time listening over the next month. The Carmel Bach Festival started yesterday with a free concert. Today is another Masterclass. Tomorrow is more Masterclass discoveries. I’ll be the one tatting in the corner with my idea book open to a fresh page to capture thoughts for future designs.

Experimenting

Every once in awhile I let myself experiment. I’m always imagining how a thread or yarn will tat up. Recently, I was given a bit of “yarn” leftover from an amigurumi project. Just enough to create a flower using the tatting hooks. It came out OK. I disliked working with the “yarn” as it is a polyester sleeve over polyester core. Softish and spongy and just not pleasant. The flower turned out well enough to use as a patch or embellishment. The color reminds me of Cheetos snack. I think I’ll pass on tatting more with it.

Turn in time

I always get excited when it comes to turning in my pieces. Whether it’s the Fair, a Show, or a Fundraiser. Tomorrow, I turn in Melody in Mauve to the Carmel Bach Festival for their Art of Music raffle. I can’t wait to see what other artists have created! I hope people buy lots of tickets!!

Shawl questions

I started out wanting to tat a shawl. I’ve experimented with yarn. I found some bamboo yarn I like. Browsing through the books I have gave me plenty of ideas. Here’s what a square of 4 motifs looks like. 

I think this will do. Now to figure out the edging. It’ll be a heavy shawl. Just perfect for when the fog rolls in!

Getting to the final round

No, not a sports tournament. My latest hair bun holder!!

I like how it’s shaping up. I’ll be able to finish this soon.

I hope you find something to enjoy today!

Another find

Most of my tatting projects are in the not-ready-for-camera-lens stage. My piece for the Carmel Bach Festival Art of Music fundraiser is at the framer’s. My hair bun lace is close to being done, but not quite. My booties are still in the 2^nd sock syndrome stage. I’m in the process of tatting the Revers piece in a smaller thread.

I spent some time recently looking through all my WIP and deciding which ones I needed to work on first. Then, I went on a hike and saw this:

We were on the trail at Ano Nuevo State Park. Yes, there were seals. Yes, there were small lizards sunning themselves and birds galore. At one point, we were watching a flock of brown pelicans. There must have been 50 or so in the meadow! There were turkey vultures doing their thing keeping the beach clear of carrion. It wasn’t until a friend trained his rather professional type of camera at the tree that we realized the bird in the picture above wasn’t a hawk or turkey vulture. Those white feathers really are that dramatic. Even against the foggy sky. We were thrilled to see a Bald Eagle up close! We were able to get within a few feet of the tree (staying on the trail) and were so in awe. You never know what you will see in our parks around here. It makes walking for exercise that much more thrilling!

I was able to finish the last of the stars I've been tatting for Starfish Fibers. Whew! What will today hold????

A Treasure completed

 This is a project the EGA chapter worked on. It’s taken me a while to get the stitching done. I think it was designed by Elizabeth Almond. I like her designs. Now I must decide how to finish it. I don’t think I’ll frame it. I think I’ll back it so that I can use it on a table. Some place that needs a bit of brightening.

Lacing time

 I’ve reached the point in my Melody in Mauve piece where I’m lacing the fabric around the foam core for framing. This is an easier task in my mind. I could ask the framing shop to do the lacing. But, I always fear the piece will end up upside down in the frame. Or the fabric will be pulled too tight for how I’ve tacked down around beads. 

So, I’m threading up my needle with a long, long, long length of thread that I’ll spend quite a bit of time adjusting before pronouncing it good. I may even leave things overnight to let the fabric settle.

I'm taking more time

 Sewing the beaded frame onto the fabric is taking longer than I thought. That’s OK because I want it to look good for a long time. I’ve also been working in walks each day. Yesterday’s walk was nice. Until I made it to the beach where the harbor seals pup. (NB This post shows a beach to the South of where I walk.) There were no seals. Odd. Then, I noticed there was a beached whale in the shallows. No wonder. I’m sad but understand such is way of nature.

I’ll finish the sewing today and get the piece to the framers.

I answered the call

 The siren call of the outdoors.

Yesterday I didn’t spend the day working on inside tasks. I spent most of the day outdoors. It wasn’t particularly sunny. I just decided I needed a day moving around the yard, walking by the sea, enjoying watching the waves.

Now back to work!

Still working

I finished the yellow star. I think. I’ve paused before hiding ends and clipping just to make sure there isn’t another mistake. In the light of a rainy day, I’ll take care of that.

I plan to spend a good bit of time sewing the frame onto my Melody in Mauve piece. I can’t wait to see the reaction at the show!

Stages of pattern familiarity

 When I’m teaching music, I do talk about stages of learning. I see several distinct stages to learning a piece well:

Mastering the technical demands of the composition.

Understanding how the piece fits into the literature and what the composer intended with the composition.

Polishing the piece for use in the future.

Performing the piece.

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The same consideration can be given to tatting.

To create lace, we must go through a similar process as musicians do with music. We must master a technique the designer, even if that’s ourselves, calls for. We must consider the use of the lace. We tat and finish the pattern to create lace.

Right now, I’ve made quite a few of these Star Snowflakes by Vida Sunderman. I can execute the individual techniques used in the pattern. I have a clear idea of how the finished lace will look and how I will use it. I’ve even tatted a couple of stars that turned out quite nice. I’m now in the phase of polishing the tatting.

This can be a frustrating phase. I make silly mistakes. My concentration lapses. I’ll often take twice as long tatting due to un-tatting every few rings or chains. I know I will get there. I just need to do the thing.

Without more mistakes, please!

Derailed a bit

I caught a nasty cold earlier this week. I’m spending all my energy getting healthy. I hope to be back by the end of the weekend.

Here’s what I got so far

The Revers pattern was fairly straight forward. It uses 5 different starts. That's a lot of ends to hide. It also uses a downward picot between chains used for joins to 2 rings. Not necessarily tricky as the photo is clear. 

I used up bits of thread from other projects. The white is Aunt Lydia cotton size 20 and the beige and multi- variegated is Lizbeth size 20.

Next try is in size 80 thread.

Que peux tu revers?

 That’s a poor translation into French of what I think it says. In the current Handy Hands Newsletter there is a pattern for a Rever; a piece of lace intended to decorate a lapel of a jacket or dress. I see an earring. With beads……lots of beads…….

Ready to block

I finished the tatting of the frame. Now to block.

I do not pin or starch to block my lace. Especially if I’ll be mounting the lace on fabric to frame behind glass. I don’t pin the picots. I don’t use a rolling pin to flatten the lace. I just give a good soak for a few minutes in plain water and then lay it out on a clean napkin or tea towel. Occasionally, I'll finger press things in place to dry. 

For this piece, I chose to move it to the grid once it dried for a few minutes. Then I gently pressed all the beads into place so that everything will lay flat for sewing it on the fabric. 

Turning a ..........

Corner.

Like many new tatters, I tackled edgings. I found patterns that were easier to follow. Then, I tried to come up with my own edging pattern. I thought I would be clever and adapt a bookmark pattern I enjoyed tatting. That worked until the corner.

That proved a bit more difficult than I expected. So, I did what I always do in music and asked more experienced tatters for tips. The best tip: consider how the straight part of the edging looks with a mirror set at a 45-degree angle. Most of the time, I could come up with a suitable solution. Most of the time.

Sometimes a browse through vintage books will solve the problem. Sometimes you just gotta sample, sample, sample.

Kinda like practice, practice, practice.

Fortunately for the frame I’m working on, the pattern is pretty easy to turn a corner with.

Both are good options

 Work on the frame is continuing. I’ve completed a round using this:

Plan is to build on that idea for this:

No progress can be good

I didn’t make a bit of progress on any of my projects. I went for a challenging hike instead. That took 5 hours of my time, but it was so worth it. I’m very hopeful that I have recovered from my brush with cardiac issues. I’ve learned how to adjust, and I have had a great deal of help.

Now back to the projects……

Continuing with projects

I have another star on the shuttles. This one is green in size 5. The last one I completed was in size 80. A huge difference in how I hold the shuttle, how I set up the thread for rings. Etc. I hope to have a photo of the set soon.

Another sample finished

 This is tatted in a popular colorway. I seldom reach for it as the patterns I like to use for snowflakes don’t always work for variegated thread. This pattern works nicely. I like the way the colors pool.

Sampling done

 

Ready to load beads. Lots and lots of beads. The frame will need to be no more than 7 inches square at the outer edge. We’ll see how that works out.

How much thread to use?

That question comes up a lot. With just about every pattern I do, I try to estimate how much thread I’ll need to wind on the shuttle, if I should use a ball or wind thread on a second shuttle. And if I’m using a needle or the hooks, there’s more questions: what size to use and how much thread to reserve for chains and such.

So, as I tat up these samples for Starfish Fiber, I’m getting answers to the questions. Short answers: Use 2 shuttles and for size 10, I need 7 yards wound on each shuttle. If you look carefully, you can see where I had to add thread…..to both shuttles! (awkward!!)

I’ll be tatting the pattern using size 80 next. I doubt I’ll need 7 yards on either shuttle. Care to guess how much I will end up needing on either shuttle?

And for those that are sitting on the edge of their chair, I estimate by wrapping around my hand the number of times I’ll be tatting rings, then adding a bit more for chains and then 18” or so for comfortable movement of shuttle etc. Not scientific and when I’m doing a pattern repeatedly or for a class, I make more exact notes. The devil is in the details.

Exploring gift ideas

I belong to a chapter of the EGA. Most of the projects are a bit beyond my stitching skill level. I try, but I don’t produce heirloom quality stitching. I started getting involved so that I could learn how to add tatting to more things. I’ve learned a lot.

This is a little sachet with Cross-stitch and Stem stitch. I did my best, but I think I missed the mark. I didn’t get the chance to examine what other people did close up. I hope to see more of them in the future.

 I decided to tat something “thistley” up to sew on the back. I kludged together a couple of patterns. I think this hit the mark.

Taking time

 I have to remember to take time.

Take time to read the pattern all the way through (1 shuttle, 1 shuttle with ball, or 2 shuttles)

Take time to rest (walk along the Bay or through the woods)

Take time to untat that ring (Ok, the one 3 rings ago)

Take time to block and finish the lace (“there’s too many mistakes in this one”)

I have to remember to take time.

I did earlier this week. The sun was behind clouds, but here’s what I could capture of some wild irises:

More samples ready

 The next sample I tatted for Starfish Fibers.

The pattern is vintage. I haven’t really tweaked it except for using smaller picots to join things up. I do like the bright colors!

Pausing while a bit of shaking goes on

I had great plans to finish up some projects this morning. I may get to them, but first I must make sure everything is still OK with the house.

Early this morning, we experienced a jolt that woke us up. A quick peak around to make sure nothing was really broken, no wires down, or water gushing and back to sleep. You can go to the USGS website here to see the data, but you may need to change the settings to give you earthquakes that happened earlier than the default (1 day) or change the map to show more detail (Zoom in to the San Francisco Bay area with about 100 miles radius showing).

We live in a historic home. It was built around 1910. We live on granite and the house is sturdy. It’ll take The Big One to do significant damage, but by then our whole town will be at the bottom of the MontereyCanyon in the Bay. We did have a brief shake, but no rolling or anything. The house didn’t slip and no damage to the utilities. Later we’ll look around outside. Make sure there’s no cracks or trees down etc.

Then I’ll get to the projects. Today also starts the Triuum. As part of the music leadership, I’ll be busy the next 4 days. I’ll be prepared with some easy tatting I can do in the down time between the activity. Maybe I’ll finish a bootie.

Getting it together

 I’ve made a start on using all those beads. I think I’m on the right track. We’ll see if I can figure out a way to tie together the 3 motifs. Some way that makes sense together.

Ready or not, ...........

 Here I come!

It took a while to load all these beads. They are so close in size to the thread that I couldn’t use a needle at all. Not even with a helper thread*. So, I dipped the end of the thread in white glue and let it dry to “needle” the thread. That worked. This is explained well with pictures on Jane Eborall’sTechnique page about beads. There’s about 500-600 beads on my thread now. Ready to tat!

* I like to use beads close to the diameter of the thread. I feel they sit better on the thread and look a bit neater. To do that, I thread the needle with thin thread (Sliver metallic thread works well), pass the needle through the bead so that it rest on the thin thread, pass the needle back through the bead creating a loop of the thin thread, placing end of  the thread to tat with through this loop, transferring the bead onto the tatting thread (which makes a loop) and drawing the tatting thread end through the bead (which leaves the bead on the tatting thread. Wind up your shuttles or thread your needle and your ready to create lace with beads.

I decided to focus on unfinished business

 That phrase always made me nervous. Those words would start a practice session filled with meticulous work on tough sections. I have more success finishing unfinished tatting. My focus the last few days has been to make sure the notes I made for the vintage bootie are correct.

I did finish the pair for the baby in Herbal Garden. And I did make notes. I was able to puzzle out the corrections I made. I just didn’t trust myself.

For example, which ring to start with when attaching the toe medallion?

I didn’t help future self when I left a medallion attached using the old stitch count.

I only had to drag out the scissors once!

I’ll be taking a lot more pictures to use in classes and workshops.

It’s a good thing I really like this colorway.

What to tat next?

 That’s always a good question to ask!

I think I will be working on pieces inspired by my recent trip to Yosemite. It’s been sunny here. Working in bright colors will be fun!!

I sent in my application for a spot in the Art of Music show this summer. The theme is Nature. Perhaps I’ll come up with something as dramatic as the sunrises I’ve been enjoying.

Wrapping an egg

 Eggs are interesting. They are the beginning of life, sustain life, and can brighten our life. I’ve always liked eggs being in our world.

This egg is a wooden egg painted white. I was challenged to decorate the egg. Of course that means tatting!

Speaking of age

 

Tatting is old. So are the trees in Yosemite National Park. It takes 3+ hours to drive to the park from my house. I’ve done it in a day trip. It was exhausting. This time I stayed overnight close to the park. With 3 days to explore, we took our time. Here are some highlights:

We came in the South entrance. After a twisty, winding road, you drive through a tunnel. Now this tunnel was made in the early 20^th Century. It’s narrow, dark and very, very straight. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I wouldn’t want to take a truck or bus through the tunnel. I don’t think they allow it. Once you exit the tunnel, you can park and take in the view. You see Half Dome, El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls and Horsetail Falls. Here’s what I snapped with my phone:

As tourist attractions go, this park doesn’t have a lot. Mostly just nature. The park is developed with flush toilets and a 4 star hotel. We ate lunch in the restaurant there one day. I was inspired by the glass in the transom windows. Wouldn’t they make wonderful doily patterns?

We visited just after most of the snow melted. There was still some in the shaded parts amongst the trees. There was so much water in the streams. Lots of small waterfalls. This one will be dry next week. I'm sure someone has named it, but nothing noted on the website and no sign. The Yosemite Falls were flowing. Yes, when you hike the loop trail to close to the falls you get wet. We came prepared!

One of the trails we hiked was covered in snow and ice for a little bit. I was glad for the hiking poles I had. The trail ends up in a grove of Redwood trees. The tree in our neighborhood is quite young, it's only about 100 feet tall. The Park Service has done a great job adding signs that tell you what you’re looking at.

This brought home just how small we are. Here’s the photo of the roots. The sign is just visible in the bottom of the frame. I wondered who came up with the name Fallen Monarch? Given it was likely named around the turn of the 20th Century, it could be anyone. It was fun to imagine coming upon the tree when it was standing and how tall and big it was.

It’s always best to put ideas into thread

I’ve been adding to the motif for the Mauve piece. Nothing worth a picture. I have plenty of thread, plenty of beads, plenty of time…..

But…..

Do I have enough patience????

So here’s my first idea

 

This is a start. It’s a bit small. I’ll be adding to this I think.

Mauve

Mauve is one of those colors that isn’t well defined. (Search on the Pantone site for Mauve.) I have some beads I’ve used before for edging on a t-shirt. They are size 15 or smaller. Maybe even size 18 or 20. They look nice on sewing thread. Why would I try to tat something with these beads?

Because I have a luscious piece named Melody in Mauve by Richard Purvis.

I’ll be tatting up samples this week. Perhaps I’ll have something to show Thursday.

That's it for beads

I’ve finished round 9 of my current bun holder in bright colors. I’m not sure this will look good in my hair, but I’m wearing bright colors more often so at least I’ll look more together. This completes the part that shows the most with the beads, so from here on out, it’ll just be the lighter colors thread with no beads.

Stars for Samples

 It is my pleasure to tat up some samples for StarfishFibers. I like to support local small businesses when I can. Yes, the thread is not American made. If American thread worked as well as Lizbeth, I’d buy American. (Up your game!) I’ll continue to encourage higher quality thread. Any way I can.

Star-shaped Snowflake
by Vida Sunderman

The pattern is from Tatted Snowflakes by Vida Sunderman published in 1995 by Dover printed in 2014 in Canada. Not all the patterns are 6-pointed snowflakes. Star-Shaped Snowflake is one of those variations on the snowflake idea. I have 9 more samples to go!

Still raining

 I love that the rain has been slow and steady. We haven’t had high winds yet. So far, the only people who have lost power are those who live around the golf courses that were in the news last weekend. The area was developed in the 1930’s and is not an incorporated town or city but a corporation. ‘nuff said.

I’m still working on sewing the tatting onto the towel. There are quite a lot of floats in this structure, so my attempt to sew the blue elements without the thread showing on the wrong side of the cloth hasn’t been entirely successful.

I have 2 more repeats to sew on the other side of center after I finish this little bit. I like how it’s turning out, just haven’t had a lot of time to sew lately.