Off the Shuttle: Burgundy Tatted Handkerchief Edging

Here's my latest tatted edging added to a vintage handkerchief. The handkerchief appears to be nylon fabric. It still has a price tag attached with "The Bon Ton York, PA" printed on it. The original price is listed at 50 cents marked down to 25 cents. The thread is size 80 DMC tatting thread in color #917, a burgundy that matches the hemmed edge of the handkerchief.

The pattern is "Edging 11" from "  Embellishing with Edgings, edited by Barbara Foster (pgs.20-1).

Tatting Shuttle Embellished with Tatting

Here's my latest embellished shuttle. I decided to try adding tatting to an already decoupaged shuttle. The thread is size 80 DMC tatting thread. I attached it with a couple of coats of Mod Podge. I also brushed a final coat of Martha Stewart High Gloss Finish, a product designed for indoor/outdoor use which may make the thread on the surface more durable. 

Shuttles Embellished with Marbleized Paper

A friend suggested I use marbled paper to decoupage shuttles. I love the look of marbleized papers but I'm not inclined to make my own. Turns out I had in my stash the Dover Publications book Ready-to-Use Marbleized Papers by Judith B. Saurman and Judith A. Pierce (1979). Nothing to do but choose a design, cut out the size to fit a shuttle, and get going with the Mod Podge. After several coats of Mod Podge, it would be hard to tell that these were only reproductions rather than the real thing. 

The lavender shuttle is embellished with origami paper and sparkle Mod Podge. 

The 2 containers in the photo are wooden needle holders that I embellished with origami paper. I'm storing quilting needles in them. I find these needles work great for sewing in the ends in my tatting. The holes are large enough to accommodate size 20 thread and the needles are short which gets them in and out of the tatting efficiently. 

Off the Shuttle: Tatted Edging on Embroidered Mat

I bought this mat several years ago because of the embroiderd holly berry and leaf design. It had an edging of coarse machine-made lace in ecru which I removed. For the replacement edging, I picked a burgundy thread whose color matches the embroidered berries on the mat.

The edging pattern is "No. 2" on page 32 in Tatting Doilies & Edgings edited by Rita Weiss (Dover Publications, 1980). The thread is DMC Cebelia, size 20, color #816.

Off the Shuttle: Floral Tatted Edging

My latest handkerchief edging achieves a floral effect with green stems and multicolored petals. The green thread is size 20 Lizbeth in color #680 "Spring Green." The multicolored thread is size 20 Manuela in color #M202 that I bought several years ago. I believe that this thread is now discontinued. 

The vintage handkerchief is white linen with hemstitching from my stash. Although hemstitching provides holes that allow you to attach the edging directly onto the fabric as you tat, I always prefer to tat separately and then sew the tatting onto the hanky using sewing thread that matches the tatting thread.

The pattern is "Trees Edging" by Gosia Sokolowska. I bought it from her Etsy store. The original pattern didn't have corner motifs so, through some trial and error, I improvised a design that would work on the handkerchief corners without looking too unlike the rest of the design.

Off the Shuttle: Tatted Edging for Valentine Handkerchief

This is my latest tatted edging + vintage handkerchief project. The pattern is a two-row pattern called "Colorful Lace" from Aunt Ellen's Treasury Tatting Patterns by the staff of Workbasket magazine (1990, p. 73). I bought this book new years ago for $6, but now this out-of-print tatting book is selling online for more than $40 a copy. If it can't be found in used book stores, I think this pattern is also in the August 1985 issue of Workbasket. An index of tatting patterns in Workbasket has an edging pattern with the same name listed in that issue.

The threads are size 80 DMC tatting thread in a solid red (# 666) for row 1 and the rings on row 2 and in a variegated red (# 57) for the row 2 chains.

In this closeup you can see how the edging's heart-like shape complements the hearts printed on the fabric.

Off the Needles: Scarf for Amy

One of the places my daughter Amy and I visited during our trip to New York City was the Lion Brand Yarn Studio. While there Amy bought black and grey skeins of "Gold Leaf"  yarn. This is a super bulky yarn that looks as if someone took silver paint and dabbed dashes of it on the yarn. 

I used size 10 knitting needles and cast on 16 stitches. I knit one row of knit stitches then changed to a k2, p2 pattern, ending with a row of knit stitches and then cast off. I used 4 skeins of yarn, 2 of each color since the skeins are only 49 yards (45 meters) long. I started with the grey yarn and knitted till I ran out, then changed to the black yarn. Since the point of the yarn is the silver spots, I wanted as much of these to show on the scarf and not be buried inside stitches. So occasionally I had to give a strand a little twist to bring the silver spot to the outside of the stitch. 

When folded and looped, the scarf looks as if she is wearing two scarves. As you can see from the photo, she's pleased with the results. And as this yarn knits up really fast, I am pleased to have it in and out of my stash in just a couple of days.