Back to the Challenge

You may recall that my current personal 25 Motif Challenge is to complete motifs from vintage patterns from prior to 1925, so here are some more.  When I made that quilt block for Georgia, I had some pieces left over. The top 3 are all from Priscilla Tatting Book No. 2.  (You can get a free download from Georgia, or the Antique Pattern Library.) 

The top one is from another of the elaborate collars in that book.  The next two are from a handbag.  The bottom one is a part of an edging in Buttericks Tatting and Netting (1896).  It was to have gotten a bit of a stem to make a nice flower.  It looks rather too unfinished in its current state though.  Maybe I shouldn't count it as one of my motifs yet.  (Free downloads of that book also available from Georgia and the Antique Pattern Library on the same pages linked above.)

All the thread ends are left loose, since I had planned to pull them to the back of the quilt block.  That's one of the nice things about tatting for applique projects.

Here is my current vintage WIP.  Can you recognize it yet?  I hope I have the fortitude to finish.  Working with size 100 thread periodically is good for the soul, if not the eyesight.

Meanwhile, registration for the Palmetto TatDays will open sometime soon.  They've been adding more pictures and more information every few days, so keep checking back.

Dainty Antique Treasures

My sister came to visit, and had on loan for the day some dainty bits of lace.  She thought they were tatting, but they are crochet, of course.  This is very tiny, delicate work, which I would estimate used a size 13 or 14 steel hook.

Here is a bit of rick-rack lace with a penny to show how tiny it is.  

These were made in the early 1900's by our great-grandfather's second wife.  These were her display samples for taking orders to sell lace.  the rick-rack edging above was 10 cents per yard, can you imagine!

I am glad I got to see them. I recognize some of the patterns from antique publications, but I don't know if I have them all.

Joining Long Picots, Butterfly Bookmark

Recently, there have been discussions in the Facebook Tatting Group asking how to join long picots to each other .  I remembered I had done this years ago with the bookmark pictured above.

I used Ball Thread Joins to attach to picots tip to tip so they wouldn't overlap.  Pretty cool, huh?  In fact, I did this so long ago, that I thought I had invented the ball thread join, silly me.

I thought I had given this pattern to Georgia for the Online Class at the time, but maybe I never got around to it since I can't find it in the old lesson index.

I've added the pattern to the Free Pattern Page of this blog, see the link at the top of the page. (Note to self, the new website is way behind schedule, get back to work.)

The butterflies are based on a pattern from Butterick's Tatting and Netting from 1896.  Free downloads are available from Georgia's Archive of Tatting Books in the Public Domain (scroll down about halfway), and from the Antique Pattern Library's Tatting list (scroll almost to the bottom of the page).  I think it was also reprinted by Lacis under a different title, but I can't verify that right now.

Update: I originally did not have the pattern file properly set to share publicly, sorry.  It should work now.

2 More from Priscilla 2

Here are two more antique motifs from a different collar in Priscilla No. 2. (See previous post for links to download the book.)  Again these are chain-only designs with lots of picots. These use lots of Victorian sets, also called rickrack tatting, made by making several of the first half stitches followed by several second half stitches.  It makes a nice texture.  I had to pull my rickrack chains very tight to make them fit the space to match the illustration.  Perhaps this was because I used the same weight thread for both the shuttle and ball threads, though the original pattern called for size 40 core thread and size 60 ball thread.

PS.  The Palmetto TatDays call for teachers and logo designs is now out.  Don't worry, there's lots of time before the deadlines.  Click Here for details.

Three from Priscilla No. 2 -- A New Challenge

I'm starting my new Challenge with 3 motifs from the Priscilla Tatting Book, No. 2 of 1915.  These pieces are actually part of a very ornate collar, but I am using just parts of it to make flowers.

These are all chain-only designs, which meant I could use one shuttle and the ball thread and not have to reload, even with all those picots.

The pattern said to join the chains only on the side that would curve inward, but that led to an unruly mess with this purple motif.

With the dark pink motif, I joined the chains on both sides and was still able to block it to curve gently.







I'll show you what I'm doing with these later.










You can easily get your own copy of this vintage book.  It is available as a reprint from Dover Books as this book:

Even better, you can download it for free from the Antique Pattern Library. Click HERE for a list of their recent additions to their collection, including this one.  You can also get it from Georgia's Archive of Tatting Books in the Public Domain, but note that she has a later edition that has fewer pages (and horrors, cost 10 cents more).


Thanks for the advice on the free patterns last time.  I'll quit worrying about standardizing the notation and put the abbreviations back in.  Whenever I find time to work on it again....

An Amazing Discovery

Lots of amazing things always happen at Palmetto Tat Days, but here is something special to me. Late one night, I wandered to the back of the gathering room where various items were on display, including Pam F's notebook about Mary Konior. It included photographs of Mary's work and her collection of antique tatting -- the pieces that Sue Hanson showed one year before returning them to the family. Here is a photograph of one of the photographs:


It stopped me cold, because here is a photograph of the handkerchief I bought on ebay a few months ago, which had come from an estate sale in Ohio.

Here they are together.

Here is Mary's own note describing the handkerchief as early 19th century.

It was late, and there were very few people left in the room, but I made each and every one of them come look. The pattern of the handkerchiefs is exactly the same, down to the way the fabric is slightly curved at the corners, though I know of no published patterns this old. A few people whispered, could it be the same one? But no, the photograph shows a rip in the lace where mine is whole. I have read that there was cottage industry in England and Ireland making tatting in the 1800's. I believe the two pieces were made by the same hand, or by the hands of two women in the same village way back then, and one of the pieces found its way to America. Amazing.

Yes, I Did...

Yes, I did. I bought the antique hanky we've been talking about on Here-Be-Tatters. I just couldn't help myself. I don't know how often this sort of thing comes available, so I didn't want to pass up a chance to own a piece of pre-1850 style tatting. You'll be hearing more about my obsession with antique tatting.

The mailbox also held the current issue of Tatting Times, and it's a really great one. I think I want to make everything in this issue. It starts with a butterfly that really caught my eye, and then there's a really fascinating Lotus Pod pattern. And then a thistle with woven picots on the inside of a Maltese Ring. Looks like I'm not the only one playing with picots.

And to round out an excellent day, I had thought the new book needed one more pattern, and I think the design phase is done. I'll be sure once I've sewn in the ends and blocked it, but I think this will do.