Hello Fellow Tatty addicts, I promised several months ago to show you how I evolved my first bracelet exploits. The initial pattern was taken from a lovely and easy to follow video by "onevirtuouswoman" via YouTube, and was done in DMC no 5 cotton pearle colour variations thread which was easy to see with my not so perfect eyesight and gave a lovely finish to the bracelet. I mentioned that I planned to evolve the pattern and produce several variations of the bracelet for friends as Christmas approached and I did just that including making some matching earrings to go with them.
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| My very first Tatted Bracelet |
Once I was confident with the pattern I explored different threads and the addition of beads and crystals, and I loved the results as did the lucky recipients.I liked this pattern but thought it could look a little more delicate, and so I added four picots to each chain between the rings and also of course a girl needs a bit of bling at Christmas and s I added a crystal bead between each ring by threading each on onto the picot joining them together. The cotton became a little more delicate with Babyglo 10 in navy blue that I love to work with, the darker colour stands out well against the wrist, All in all I was very pleased with the result and a couple of these went out before I began to get more adventurous.
The bracelet was an improvement on the original pattern I thought and much more delicate but in the finer cotton it also became quite narrow and so I wanted to try increasing the width of the bracelet, and therefore instead of the simple chain finish I decided to duplicate the rings so adding extra width and intricacy but also allowing for extra bling with a second row of crystals....and what girl doesn't want extra bling! I matched this bracelet with some simple daisy earrings with a single crystal in the center to match the bracelet but would you know it I forgot to photograph them...... I will add them later when I get an hour or two to tat another pair.
We need to talk a little about starching at this point as I have had a few issues with this subject as have a few people I've seen writing about the subject. I tried using a recipe I found using PVA glue as a long time crafting mum you can imagine that I have plenty of PVA about the house, and thought it would be good to be a more permanent stiffener for jewelry, but when I tried it with the pearle cotton it darkened the colour and took out the pearle effect completely...I was left with a dark and matte finish that I really wasn't happy with and it seamed to take out some of the intricacy in the work too. I am certain it was partly down to my technique and need to practice with some scraps of tatting that we accumulate when things go wrong.......or is that just me.
Sooooo I have been using "Crisp" a spray laundry starch and the effects have been very good, although of course I have lost the waterproof effect and longevity of the PVA. Its easy to use and quick to dry....especially on a hot summer day here.
I have bought a lace stiffening product from Lincraft to try and will let you know the results, and the sugar water method I have avoided as living in Western Australia means living with several million ants who regularly troop through the old house we rent and I figured they might just eat my hard work!
Fingers crossed we will be moving into our own brand new house very soon and once that happens I may try the sugar water technique. If anyone has thoughts or experience with stiffening I would love to hear them.
I use cardboard and baking paper to prick out my work and find a clip board is great for providing a hard surface (rather than my leg) to pin to as its far less painful if you are heavy handed, and holds the cardboard and paper together well.
I hope you like the results of my little experiments......I'm working on a few more patterns at present, including plans for my very first craft room......I can hardly believe it's going to happen as its every crafter's dream but the new house has a spare bedroom and a cinema room, and my names one those doors for a craft room.....fingers crossed!!!
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