Off the Shuttle: Pink & Lavender Tatted Carnation Boutonniere

Here's the second boutonniere I made using the Carnation pattern. This one is tatted with Lizbeth size 20 thread in color #114, Sea Shells. I paired it with a stick pin from my costume jewelry collection.

Off the Shuttle: Tatted Carnation w/Beads

I saw a white version of this on the Tatting Facebook page, and since I owned the book that held the pattern, I was inspired to make one of my own. The pattern is "Carnation Boutonniere" from New Things Happen to Tatting, Book 159 (The Spool Cotton Company, 1941). I used Lizbeth thread, size 20, color 652 Royal Blue. The beads are Czech seed beads in pearl blue. The button is silver plastic with a rhinestone from JHB International. The completed project in that size thread is 3.5 inches (nearly 9 mm). I sewed a small piece of felt on the back to accommodate a bar pin.

Off the Shuttle: Tatted Button Bracelet

Recently, I've been buying buttons that I thought might be fun to combine with tatting. I thought these little white flowers would look good with yellow thread. I didn't really have a pattern to follow. After several starts that didn't work out and much un-tatting, I started again with a trefoil edging (cribbed from Lyn Morton's Tatting Patterns, p. 43) to connect the buttons. The ends were pretty much trial and error (again, much un-tatting) till I got something that worked fairly well. I think if I were to start this project again, I might have planned it out better so the result would be more symmetrical. But I tend to be a more just-plunge-in and fix-it-later kind of gal...not necessarily a recipe for success.

The thread is Lizbeth size 20 in color 170 (Pineapple Parfait) and the buttons are Belle Buttons by Dritz, Item # BB445 ($2.95 US for a card of 4 from Joann's). The closure is a gold-tone lobster claw clasp and a gold-tone split ring (NOT the same as a split ring in tatting).

Off the Hook: T-Shirt Yarn Bowl

Once again, I'll be displaying and demonstrating how to use recycled materials in fiber crafts at the annual Carolina Fiber Fest. I made this to show what you can do with old clothing. I crocheted this bowl from strips cut from old white t-shirts. I then dyed the bowl a tan color by soaking it in black tea. I dried the bowl over a plastic bowl of the same size to retain the crocheted shape.