Sunday 20 January 2013

More on Vintage Patterns

I will still tat the square from the previous post again but (as is often the case) I was side-tracked by another vintage pattern from a book I've had a long time called "Tatting Patterns" by Julia Sanders.  Now I don't know what the link is with Julia Sanders (perhaps she's the editor?) because this is, in fact, an unabridged republication of "The Priscilla Tatting Book no. 2" (1915).

Luckily for all of us, this is now available for free on the web.  See this link.  The doily is on page 16.  This is a great book with many interesting patterns and well worth having in your collection I think.

I had seen this doily tatted before over at In Tatters and I thought it looked really pretty and unusual with its liberal use of Victorian sets.  In fact Victorian sets are used altogether a lot in the Priscilla Tatting book.

However, I was struggling to decipher the pattern.  I kept ending up with my chains facing the wrong way.  After a few false starts, I asked Monedido (the In Tatters member who had made this doily before and who tats beautifully) and she kindly gave me some help to get to grips with the nice lattice first round of this doily.  Thank you so much Monedido!

Here it is:



What's interesting is that this round is completely made of chains.  So although there is a lot of tatting, you don't even empty one shuttle as you are working with a shuttle and ball and nearly all the thread comes from the ball.  I like that.

The lattice is very stretchy but will be set into place by the next round which places more Victorian sets around the large rings.

I'm slightly tempted to throw some blue in there... or should I stick to the classic ecru?...

Victorian sets, for those who don't know, are a number of first halves of the double stitch followed by the same number of the second half of the double stitch.  For example, in this case, 4 first halves followed by 4 second halves which gives a "frilly" effect to the chain.

Best wishes,
Frivole

17 comments:

  1. I like it when the thread comes mostly from the ball as well :) What a beautiful doily this will be - I would stick with the ecru. But that's boring old practical me . . .

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  2. Blue, blue, blue-don't tell Cindy!

    Those Victorian sets are gorgeous! I too like when the ball thread is the majority!

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  3. I like the lattice work. In my previous existence as a tatter, I did a lot of work from the Julia Sanders book, including the collar that consists mainly of this lattice work. I haven't got the book here, so I'm glad to hear of a link on the internet, thanks very much!

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    1. Hi Jane, that collar is amazing! What did you do with it? Did you wear it?

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    2. No, I made it for a friend. I did make and wear the elaborate collar on net. I have it in the cupboard here, I must dig it out. I made two, one exactly like the book for another friend and a second one where I changed things a bit for me.

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    3. If you do dig it out, I'd love to see a photo of it Jane! And you made two! I'd forgotten how much I loved that book (one of my very first tatting books), it's got many wonderful things in it. I started on the collar on page 44 when I was younger but sadly never got to the end and now I don't know where it is.

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    4. It is a beautiful book. It's a shame that it's one people tend to drool over and not actually use. I've only used a fraction of it. Imagine making that table cloth! I hope your Victorian doily will inspire others to really use the book.

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  4. I love that pattern and your tatting is beautiful
    Margaret

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  5. That is a wonderful design!! :)

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  6. I too have this book, and have done some lattice work over the years. I may have to pull out my UFO's I have some started concept work in there using lattices.
    Thanks for the online link. Much appreciated.

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  7. I definitely give you high marks for following this pattern, written in a very old style! I don't think I could have interpreted it! Am I correct that all the rings are mock rings? I admit I'm confused! Why wouldn't they just do rings! This is quite a project to undertake, and I'll be very interested to see how you attach it to the center cloth. But that's still a lot of tatting ahead. Of course, you're not intmidated by large projects!

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  8. Hermoso trabajo, felicitaciones!!

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  9. Nice work and enjoyed your explanation make me want to do this I saw a lady on you-tube do this same pattern and hers is in ecru too. I so want to try this. Check out my blog when you get a chance to it's called Carollyn's tatting blog.

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  10. Hi Madtatter,

    I'd like to see the youtube video you mention... or was it mine? Because I did make a video with this doily. It's a great pattern I think and I particularly like that you don't have to fill your shuttles so often!

    Thanks for the visit, I'll go see yours! :-)

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