Sunday, February 10, 2013

Off the Shuttle: Handkerchief Edging

I tatted this edging for one of my vintage handkerchiefs. The pattern is from The 3rd Tatting Book by Kirstine Nikolajsen and Inge Lisa Nikolajsen (Akacia, 1999, pg. 85). The thread is Omega, size 50, color #850. Like a lot of threads from my stash, this brand is being/has been discontinued.
Posted by Carolyn Kotlas at 2:41 PM

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi! I wanted to know if you tatted to the hanky or if you created it first and then attached it to the cloth? If the second, how did you attach it? Thanks so much!
Danielle. cleio_18@yahoo.com

June 24, 2014 at 1:58 PM
Carolyn Kotlas said...

Hi, Danielle,
I never tat directly onto the hanky. Most of my handkerchiefs are vintage and the fabric is not very strong so the tatting will probably outlast the hanky. If I don't tat directly to the fabric, then I could easily remove the tatting and reuse it later.

I sew the picots on the edging onto the hanky with a whip stitch using a color of sewing thread that be as inconspicuous as possible. If the picots are widely spaced apart, I run the thread under the hem to hide it and then come out at the next picot to be sewn down.

One of the things I've learned through trial and error is to start sewing on the edging before I finish the tatting. This allows me to adjust the length more accurately. I used to finish the tatting and close the ends of the edging before sewing. Sometimes I found that the edging was too long for the hanky and I had to bunch up the slack. Sometimes the edging was too short and I had to pull the tatting to fit the sides of the hanky. By starting the sewing early on, I get a better idea of how the length is working out and whether I need more or fewer repeats before I reach a corner. Another plus of this method is that when you finish the tatting, the sewing on is almost finished as well. This is great since sewing on is not my favorite part of the project.

Hope this answers your questions. Putting tatted edgings on handkerchiefs is a great way to showcase your tatting. I don't use the hankies to blow my nose, but I do use them in displays when my tatting group does public demos. And I can carry one or two to show people what tatting looks like.

June 24, 2014 at 2:27 PM

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