Designer of many tatting patterns. Simple method of beaded tatting. Flowers are my inspiration!

Tuesday 24 March 2009

Books & CDs for sale!

Last year Handy Hands ordered 50 of my books "From Petals To Pearls" and I have just received notification from Barbara Foster that all the books have sold and she wants to stock more! Not only that, she is also going to stock my CDs that have all my books on (5) in PDF format plus bonus patterns!

This has really delighted me! I will never become a millionaire with the sale of my books and CDs but to be able to get my patterns out into the great wide world is extremely satisfying! I feel really honoured that other tatters want to try my patterns and that, in my own small way, I am promoting this wonderful age-old art!

Thursday 19 March 2009

Doilies under glass!







I thought I would show all you tatters what I do with most of my doilies.

I usually display them on my wooden furniture under glass. This protects both the tops of the furniture and the doilies!

Wednesday 18 March 2009

Design-Tat Lesson 3


This is my contribution to the tatting design course of lesson 3. Sharon Briggs asked us to do the next row after giving us a pattern for the first row.

The one on the left is my first attempt which I was not satisfied with. Not enough stitches for it to lie properly. The one on the right sits much better and my aim was to give a lot of negative space to comply with Sharon's direction.
I haven't actually blocked the tatting yet and it will look better when I do!

Mother's Day Card



With Mother's Day coming up this Sunday I thought you would all like to see the card that I have made for my Mum. I have decorated it with roses as her name is Rose and her favourite colour is red. I have also used the wired clunies I posted about previously!

Monday 9 March 2009

First Cluny Doily Completed


Well it's done! My first attempt at designing a doily incorporating clunies! Don't look too closely, the clunies at the end are quite a bit better than those at the start! But I have been bitten by the cluny bug - I am already in the process of using clunies in a new flower!

Saturday 7 March 2009

Iris Niebach's TIAS


This is my interpretation of Iris's Tat It And See (TIAS), I hope I have done it right! I think that I have got it and when the repeats are completed it will be a lovely doily! I am a little bit behind a lot of people as I have had to spend time in hospital this week and in too much pain to tat! But, thankfully, back in tatting action now!

Wednesday 4 March 2009

Wiring the cluny

I have been asked by several tatters to give more information on how I wired the cluny, so here it is!

All I did was to lay a length (longer than the required length) of 24 gauge paper-coated green wire alongside the centre thread of the loom over my fingers, bending a section of it to hold in the pinch with the loom. It is a bit awkward at first until you get a couple of wraps completed and then it gets much easier. You simply weave the cluny in exactly the same way although, if using a shuttle like me, you have to make the weaving action more deliberate. You just have to take a little more care when closing the cluny, but it is done in exactly the same way. The only extra that I do is to straighten the wire again before drawing up the threads. I fix the end of the cluny, at both ends, with PVA craft glue, which secures the cluny from unwrapping and also making sure it adheres to the wire. I then snip the excess wire and bend it in any way to make the shape I want. Job done!

The thread I used for these clunies was quite a thick shiny rayon. Mine was from a Brasilian company called Circulo and the thread is "Susi" and comes in an array of fabulous colours. My supplier was from Ebay and she only had this one thickness, which is about the same as a size 10 crochet cotton, maybe even slightly thicker. It's too thick for most tatting projects but for these wired clunies it is aboslutely perfect!

Monday 2 March 2009

Wired Clunies!


As many of you will know, my latest projects have been to include clunies. I have decided to enter the Ring of Tatters 2009 competition which is to design a card. My entry, of course, will remain a secret, but I thought I would share one little bit with you.


Cluny leaves look really stunning but I wanted my leaves to be wired and so I thought I would try to incorporate wire into the weaving of the cluny and hey presto! I have a wired cluny that I can bend into a natural leaf shape!

Birthday cake


Here is the little cake I did for my Mum's 82nd birthday. I took it to the residential home, where she now resides, so that she could share it with her new pals!