Just two more!

There's something so relaxing about making these large bead covers!  Must be because BC3 can work mainly on 'autopilot'!!!

I have two other design projects which have now been abandoned for a while and which I really ought to get back to now I've forgotten them so I can tweak and 'get rid' of them out of my aged brain.  BUT the appeal of the beads continues!!!  My apologies.

Today it's all about buttons!!

As you all know (least those who follow my blog or visit my website) I do suffer from a mild obsession with buttons!!!  My tatting cupboard overflows with them (well, not quite but I do have rather a lot) and my favourite are the tiny shirt buttons which I make into earrings or bracelets.  

So the silk shirt has (or rather, had) 12 buttons on it which included those on the cuffs too.  Now what to do with them!  Add them to the stash or use them instead.  I decided I'd use them and on the shirt too.  As they came off it they should then go back on!!!  There's logic in there somewhere but please don't ask me where!!!

Now I don't 'do' plain very often but I did want something very simple so that they don't deteriorate from the gorgeousness (wow, that's a real word!!) of the silk.  

Here's what I've come up with.  You'll see that I've used a slightly creamy thread in order to contrast with the whiteness of the silk.  BUT now what do I do with them?  Or rather, where do I put them?!?!?! All will be revealed!

Beads are 'in' at the moment!

Well with me they are!!

I seem to have got quite a collection of the large beads and if I'm not careful they're going to multiply even further and cause me more 'grief'.  I'm an odd sort of person.  I don't like too much in my stash as it sort of overwhelms me and I feel as if I ought to be using it or 'getting rid' of stuff.

After a couple of months of trying to downsize on the amount of things we've accumulated throughout the house I'm feeling the need for more decluttering so using up the beads is one way of dealing with it all.

Here are two more!!!  

The silk shirt progress

So the shirt is progressing slowly.  I'm showing you closeups of the neck today and the possible length of the sleeves.  

You can see that I've turned the buttonholes in and am about to add a facing to go down the front and round the neck.  I've scooped the neck out a bit too.  

I was really drop dead lucky in that I found a lovely piece of fine cotton fabric in my stash which is going to make the facings.  Well that's after I've made a pattern for them, of course!

Monday moan

Sorry if you're bored with these moans but they're probably useful to somebody somewhere in the great 'scheme of things'!!!!  

Today I'm moaning about abbreviations in patterns.  

When I started tatting in 1956 (yes it was shortly after the demise of the dinosaurs) everything was written in longhand which was a big struggle to follow.  No diagrams were in the leaflets and booklets I could afford with my pocket money.  

Nowadays we have excellent diagrams and shortened notation too.  Abbreviations are the 'normal' in patterns and are very welcome, believe me.  But there's one thing that I'm noticing more and more and that is new designers inventing new names for the simple things that we 'oldies' know by the original ones.

I was looking at a pattern yesterday and I saw tp.  Now what is tp?  I looked for the list of abbreviations and there wasn't one in that pattern!!!  I guess that tp is vsp (very small picot).  Or it could be 'talking point', 'top picot' or even 'try picking' (your nose!!!).  I had a guess in the end that it was vsp.  

I do wish new designers would check what the 'normal' method of notation is instead of inventing their own.  Don't ask me where I saw this pattern as I haven't a clue but there are many out there using 'new' names for what are already acceptable instructions.  

Thankfully the practice of calling 'abbreviations' 'legends' has on the whole been lost as that really did annoy this aged old git.  A legend is a story of olden times etc and not a list of abbreviations.  Still, that's history now in Tat Land!