Another project

A neighbour asked me if she could borrow my sewing machine a couple of weeks ago.  Well, as any crafter knows a person’s ‘tools of the trade’ are very personal and the answer was a ‘no’.  I did enquire why she wanted to borrow it and then found myself offering to do the sewing for her.

This is one of two sun lounger ‘pads’ she’d bought to put on her chairs and they came with elastic to hook over the chairs to keep them in place.  She’d got some pretty old curtains which she wanted to cover the plain ‘pads’ with so it didn’t seem too big a task.  

Well it took longer than I thought it would - about five hours.  First the elastic had to come off and then careful measurements and ‘guesstimates’ made of how wide to make the curtain covers as I had to allow for the ‘dip in the middle’.  Not easy ‘wrestling’ the pads into the covers but the job got done with the elastic in place on the outside too!!!

Nichole’s offering!

This is a message I had from Nichole who said

”My friend Julie encouraged me to send you pics of the rats I made with her.   It’s very interesting to see the difference between hers and mine because I tatted them inside out.”

Ah, I noticed they were ‘inside out’, Nichole but they are allowed into the Excluive club as you’ve made SUCH a great effort.

A New Member - part 2

This is the next part of Julie’s email (part 1 is here) and you will NOT want to miss this - especially the pictures.

“The bauble creations keep coming. I now have a frilled dragon to add to my menagerie.

One of them asked me if I could make a turtle, now I had only just begun and I had made a mouse and the bee from the book, but I thought sure I will give it a try and low and behold a turtle was born. While making the turtle, I kept thinking to myself, mom likes elephants, can I make an elephant? ,so I made an elephant. Then another co-worker asked for a giraffe and it took me a little while to figure him out but I made a giraffe, actually 3 of them one to figure out the shape and then one to figure out the spots and a final one for my co-worker. Then I thought about a zebra having seen a billboard for the zoo featuring a zebra on my way to work. I started the Zebra in July 2021 and then I got covid the first time and it got put aside for some time, until Jan 2022 when I finally got motivated to finish him, however I have not had time to figure out my notes to write down the pattern for the zebra. Meanwhile I should be getting started on the rats for April will be upon me before I know it and along comes Jan 2022 and I get covid again. This time though, not as bad as the first, so I was able to work on the rats and other projects while quarantined at home. Now I have the rats made I can work on my card making skills and presentation for lab professionals week April 24-29, 2022."

Update on the tatting tale. The lab rats were well received. I have encouraged my co-worker to submit her mice pictures to you to join the fun tatting club. I hope she will. She is amazing, doing very well in such a short amount of time.

The bauble creations keep coming. I now have a frilled dragon to add to my menagerie.”

All I can say is WOW to all of Julie’s work and a big thank you as well.

A new member - part 1

Now I really think that Julie should have her own Exclusively Exclusive Tatting Club all to herself.  I really, really was stuck for words when I saw her work.  This is some of what she said - part two tomorrow,

"My tatting project,

It has been almost a year in the making. It started last April. I noticed a flyer on the door of the phlebotomy room at work announcing Lab professionals week. Unfortunately I did not see it or hear about it until Thursday of that week. It got my creative juices flowing and I wanted to do something special to honor the lab professionals at our facility. They all are great co-workers and friends. They like to laugh and joke so I wanted to make something with a play on the word lab. I decided I would look for a pattern of a labrador dog and make a card for them. It took me a while that evening to find a pattern. Thanks to Jane Eborall's website "Tatting and not a lot else!" janeeborallblogspot.com, I found a puppy pattern that I thought if I did it in black thread would be a suitable lab puppy. Since it was Thursday evening, meaning Friday would be the last day to celebrate during lab professionals week, I did not have much time so I could only make one instead of the 6 I was envisioning, one for each person in the lab. When I finished it though, it did not look much like a puppy to me so I was a little disappointed and almost abandoned my idea to make them a card. In a rush the next morning I hastily wrote "happy lab professionals week" on a piece of paper and attached the tatting to the paper with a paperclip. I then went to the girls and presented them with the paper. I had to explain that it was supposed to be a lab puppy, everyone thought it was a lamb instead. They loved it so much the lab supervisor went right out and bought a frame and put it on the table in the lab for all to see. I was awed by their response and vowed to myself I would do a better job next year. 

So I started with the beginning and made a few baubles. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this technique is once I figured it out. It helps to work it while reading the instructions, it makes more sense that way. So I showed it to my co-workers, not the lab girls. I am trying to make it a surprise for them, and they loved the idea.”

More tomorrow - don’t miss it as you’ll be blown away.  

Monday moan

Sorry I missed posting last week but life got in the way of EVERYTHING!!!  Not helped by being one of the organisers of the road’s Jubilee party/parties!!  See my outfit below - yes I was mainly serving teas, coffees and washing up which is my favourite job.

Anyway, on to today’s Monday moan.

Today it’s about Facebook (this is my page).  It’s not a place I use or go to a lot.  Yes I post a link to this blog and pictures I take on my walks but never anything personal as you’ve probably noticed.  

Now I belong to lots of tatting groups on Facebook and sometimes, sometimes I feel I can add to a thread. Usually I do a ‘turn on notifications’ and then wait for others to answer the problem but I do go straight in with a comment occasionally.  Mostly I just look at email notifications in my inbox and delete from there without going onto the platform itself.  

What annoys me is the amount of ‘selling pattern’ adverts that are put on the groups by people.  They advertise in every group so I have sometimes up to ten to delete in a row.  Fortunately nowadays I recognise the names and so just select them all in my inbox and delete straight from there.  There’s one group that I love - Just-Tatting as no advertising is allowed except for two or three days a month.  Lily, the administrator, is ACE at making sure this happens too.  I wish all these groups were the same as day after day I delete, delete, delete.  In fact there’s one group for tatting designers which I thought I’d join as I may learn something or be able to help but all this seems to be is yet another group of adverts.  I’m out of there now so that’ll save the delete button a bit.

A new project

A friend along the road has a lovely old table and we were chatting the other day and she said she'd like a tatted cloth for it.

I took along the selection of green balls of thread that I have and she chose what would fit in well with her kitchen.  

As the table is rectangular that's the shape she asked for and so I've returned to an old favourite of mine - the Fandango doily  This is pretty straightforward to do when out and about and chatting.  

First picture of progress below.

Finally the final skirt post

Well I wore the skirt and found that I wasn't happy with the pocket.  It was too big and slightly in the wrong place so when I got home out came the scissors!!!

Now I can assure you I had enough fabric to make matching pockets but (as you know by now) that's not the 'Jane way'!!!!  So here is the final pocketed skirt along with a photo to prove it really does have a lining too!!!

The finished Coats doily

Here it is in all it's 'glory'.  Actually before anybody asks I will tell you where it is now - yes, in a box in a cupboard never to see the light of day again!!!!

Some details.  The cloth was made in size 40 Coats thread (old balls that have been hanging around for years) and measures around 23" in diameter.  The pattern is in a Coats leaflet (number 684) which can still be found occasionally online.

I do have another project on the go to take with me to craft groups etc and will show you that another day. 

The penultimate skirt post

Well here it is in all it's 'glory'.  Made for nothing except what I had lying around the house and some lining fabric I found in a charity shop.

Everything I have in the way of clothes has to have pockets so the skirt had to have one too!!!

Starting in on the new skirt

Having got a design that I like and that fits  (see Wednesday's post), I have decided to make a new skirt in that style - well, almost that style.  

First I needed a pattern.  Patterns are so expensive nowadays so I visited our chicken coop where we store a few old newspapers to line the nesting box of our last remaining chuck.  Please don’t tell Lady B (the last chicken left) or she might be cross.  

Then I measured and worried about cutting a pattern out of the old newspaper.  I’ve still got a lot of fabric in my stash so knew roughly what I was aiming for.  

These pictures show work in progress!  Well, BC3 thinking hard about it all!!

The story of a denim skirt!

I have a skirt!!!  Just an ordinary skirt which I bought many, many years ago (between 15 and 20 at a guess).  

When I bought it it was almost ankle length and was plain with a flair insert (see picture below).  Made of denim it quickly became a favourite.  

A few years later it wasn’t fashionable anymore as it was too long.  Out came the scissors and several inches were cut off and again it regained the status of ‘favourite’.  

Another few years on and it was again at the back of the wardrobe.  Why didn’t I like it anymore?  

Several hours of thought went into that question and I decided it was the now ‘out of date’ with the big buttons down the front.  So, off they came and the buttonholes were covered with a denim strip.  

So, what is the point of the story?  Well I decided that I liked the style and length of it but it's now feeling a little dated again.  More another day!

More pouches

Well I've made two more pouches and have another few 'on the go'!!!  I think I'll soon be weary of these now.  You know my attention span isn't that good but they are now very enjoyable to make - IF I read my own instructions carefully!!!

Monday moan!

Yes another Monday moan. Bored with them?  Let me know and I’ll stop.  Well, if BC3 will allow me to!!!

This is back to one I’ve moaned about before and which I think is now becoming quite dangerous.  Dangerous for those who sell patterns online or hold copyrights on in books etc - just be aware not to use mine without permission!

Another tatter pointed out to me last week that there was a YouTuber who was publishing videos of patterns which were copyrighted to another.  Now some copyright laws seem to suggest that if this is being done in another ‘format’ it’s OK to do it.  BUT what about intellectual property?

Please REMEMBER that the original written (whether digital or printed) pattern involved a LOT of work which isn’t needed when transferring to a video.  

Firstly the person I was alerted to (on YouTube) was using a pattern that was originally published in written form in a book.  

Secondly I’d like to know if she had permission.

Thirdly another thought- this is actually damaging to our craft as working out a pattern in text and diagrams is part of the learning curve which is essential to any craft.  If a person isn’t ‘forced’ to learn the craft from practically nothing then there will be no in depth skill.  A brain has to be made to work for it’s ‘keep’.  

I’m lucky as I had to learn from ‘word of mouth’ from somebody who was also learning so BC3 was forced to really concentrate on the knot.  

A picture to cheer you up!!!

Kitchen towel

When I was wandering through Poundland some months ago I spotted they were selling cotton yarn.  Only £1.50 for a decent sized ball.  

Obviously you know what happened next!!!  One (no, two!) fell into my basket and that was the end of that!!!

About 15/20 years ago we were visiting Nick's son and family in Cincinnati and in the kitchens people had small 'finger towels' hanging from their oven handles.  We decided that was a splendid idea and we bought some from a family member who made them out of regular towering and crocheted a top for the hanging part.  

These have now finally worn out!!!  I've made two replacements in the past and have made this new one as a gift (don't know who will get it) and as an excuse to try out the yarn.  I'm really, really pleased with the quality of the yarn and one ball made this towel.  

Two more lost patterns!

Thanks to Sue. In fact MANY thanks to Sue who's found two more escaped patterns! 

I've no idea what or when these went missing but they certainly did. 

The Tattysaurus was designed back in 2000 and although another person copied the idea this one is the original and hers is a mere shadow!!! Based on what we know here as 'Indian bracelets/bangles' the Tattysaurus took many many hours to design.  I’d better give you the link!!! 

The other missing pattern which Sue found too is a Christmas tree which was designed in 2008. This pattern can be an earring or a brooch.  Again here’s the link for that one.

                                        

Two free patterns today

What I'm NOT good at is keeping track of stuff.  A comment was made on a Facebook group the other day by somebody looking for any 3D patterns.  I've got the flower fairy here, flowers here and here with another one here too.

There are baskets and boxes here as well!!!  There are probably more too but the only one I really wanted to share seemed to have disappeared from sight on the link pages!!!  No IDEA where the 3D teddybear had got to over the years!!!  He's an old chap now but I really loved this guy when I did him.  I found him lurking around on the internet and the only thing missing was his link on the Odds and Ends page.  He's now back but I've no idea who to thank for nudging BC3's cells into finding him again.

I've given up waiting for dragons to arrive from the TIAS!!!  More would be very welcome but I'm a patient person.  Here's the link to the full pattern.

May 8th 2006

Yesterday was my anniversary.  Back in 2006 I made my first post and that was quite a big adventure for me.  

Thanks to the folks who take the time to read my ramblings and who click on the adverts which generate a small amount of money.  That money funds the pattern pages which are here.

Just out of curiosity I looked at the stats on the site last week and was surprised to find that I'd been so busy!!!

I tend to blog rather than 'do' Facebook as stuff on that platform gets lost in the morass.  If I put things on the blog I can look back and find what I did and when I did it.  Not that I need to often but it's good when I need to.

It works!!

My notes and pictures worked for the little pouch. Thank goodness!!!

Now I have another problem - what to do with them when I've finished them.  I want to make a few more as I now enjoy doing them.

What tickles me about them is that even the smallest coin doesn't slip out into my pocket.  They're also ideal for a small tatting project as they easily take two shuttles.  If anybody wants one I'll charge £5.00 plus postage.  I doubt I'll make many more so I won't list on Etsy.  Well, I may do but they'll have to be more money to cover their charges too.

Again for those who missed the original link to the pattern - here it is.  

My own instructions worked fine but I'm going to stop making more for a few days so that BC3 has a chance to forget them and thus test the destructions again - when he's forgotten.  

Back to the pouch problem

Well I decided that I really needed to write this pouch pattern down in words and pictures for myself.  Obviously this isn't my pattern so I won't be publishing it in another format even though it's probably OK to do so. 

The adventure started with the pictures shown below (and trying to follow the video) and as I was putting such a lot of effort into it I decided that I'd 'involve' the velcro idea too.  

Now I have a 'thing' about velcro showing on the outside of a finished item so where to put the second velcro so that it wouldn't show when the pouch was closed was a BIG problem!!!  Poor BC3 took ages puzzling it all out. 

Here are the pictures that I took as I was making it.

Another little basket

This time one in cream.  I'm really going to have to give some of these away soon as they're taking up space.  I'll be looking for 'victims' so be warned!!!!  

I'm sure somebody will like them but I may have to resort to stopping people in the street and foisting them onto them!!  They keep me happy making them and that's all that counts!

A better looking visor?

I'm taking you on another trip down 'memory lane' but it's not that far to go this time!!!  

Remember what I thought was the ugliest visor ever seen?  Here it is.

Well - it was!!!!  Below is the new rendition of it.  I wanted something in more wintry colours and this fabric just happened to be in my stash.  It looks a big wrinkly on the band part but it isn't as bad as it looks on the photos.  Anyway, I'm a happy soul now that the ugly has gone!!!!

A new little pouch

Do you remember my Monday moan from last week about video patterns?  If not then here's the link.  

I really struggled to make this little pouch but got there in the end!!!  

I did this one exactly as the pattern showed but with one difference.  I used an old fashioned press stud to close it.  Here's the pattern I'm talking about.

Now I don't own one of those popper tools anymore as I could never get on with it.  I've decided that the next pouch I make will NOT have a press stud but velcro instead.  

Of course this will add to the problem so BC3 is going to have to have his thinking cap on for the next one!

A lavender basket.

Now after the success of the knitting basket which you can see here I decided to use some more of my finer threads to make a smaller ‘trinket’ basket.  

What I love about these is that you can make the base (which is a pretty standard ‘pattern’) and progress it until it’s the size you want.  Then you just carry on without increasing.

It’s ideal for BC3 when he’s in an ‘I can’t be bothered’ mood!!  

Another project

I wandered into an outdoor shop a week or so ago as I was looking for a visor to protect my eyes.  This is the only one they had and I think it’s probably the ugliest one I’ve ever seen.

It had one good thing going for it - it was cheap as nobody wanted it.  

I took it to the till and said to the young lady - ‘this is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen’!  She was surprised I was buying it but I assured her that it wouldn’t look like this in a few days!!!!

Time to get BC3 out for a bit of sewing, I think!

Monday moan

OK so today I’m going to be quite controversial and I know that a lot of you will totally disagree with me. 

I’m not talking about tatting videos but they do come under the same moan really.

My lovely friend Sandra sent me a link to a video on how to make a pouch - a sewing one.  I’ll show you another day.  Now this is ONLY on a video.  There are no written instructions.  No sound except music and not a lot of text either.

I am afraid that I’m of the ‘old school’ and I need written ‘destructions’.  Videos are fine for a technique but to do a pattern takes a lot more skill from the presenter.  With a video I miss being able to make my own notes on the pdf as I go along so poor old BC3 has to keep rewinding all the time.  GIMME proper written patterns with diagrams/pictures any day.  This constantly rewinding drives me MAD!!!  I suppose being an OG (old git) has got a lot to do with my problems but honestly ……..

I also am wondering if videos (now talking tatting) won’t make people ‘lazy’ and finally unable to read a written pattern.

Back off my soapbox and back to the wretched video.  Here’s a picture to cheer you up!