New Snowflake 2025!

That's it, it's the time of year... to start working on a new snowflake design!  This time I asked one of my daughters to make a pre-selection of a few snowflakes she liked from my favourite book "Snowflakes in Photographs" by Wilson A. Bentley.  Out of her selection, I chose this one.

I always first do a rough sketch to see how I'd produce the shape in one pass because that's always my preferred option wherever possible.  So with my pencil I'll draw the shape and see how it would flow and also start thinking about the number of stitches I think I'll need for each element.

Then I worked on how I'd make the tips:

Then I went ahead and started tatting the whole thing,

this is my first version:

A bit rough but not too bad though it's all a bit too tight

(and only looks ok because I've pinned it down for the photo!)

I'm still experimenting with different tips on this version

So that's where I'm at so far, I will continue work on it today.  I think I may need to make either the centre bigger or the tips smaller as the proportions are not quite right (compared to photo of real snowflake) and it's all a bit too congested at the moment.  It doesn't lie flat without a bit of help!  

See you soon for the next versions!

Best wishes,

Frivole

Vintage Oeillet Edging

I've been working on a one-shuttle edging by Mlle. Riego de la Branchardière.  I even made a video about it. Although it's absolutely fine and lovely in its original version, there were a couple of little things that I felt could be improved on so I decided to make tiny adjustments.  Really minimal!

If you look on the left, the two rings at the bottom of the edging end up being a bit on top of each other even when I try to make the joining picot a bit longer.  So I decided to add a picot to join them on the side instead of at the top.  I also added two stitches to the ring shown by an arrow to space things out a bit as I felt the edging was little bit "congested".

So here's what it looks like with those small mods:

So then I decided I needed to figure out a corner for it as I thought it would make a lovely handkerchief edging.

I tried different options, joining and chopping on my little sample.

Yes, this one seems to work out well!

Here's the handkerchief I'll use.

It will be a gift for mother-in-law.

I'm struggling to find nice ladies' handkerchieves nowadays.

This one was in my stash but I can't find any shops that stock them.

Maybe nobody buys them anymore...

I'll make another video with the modifications and how to make the corner.  I like vintage edgings and enjoy one-shuttle ones and I think this one is really pretty.  I hope some of you might enjoy this pattern too.

Best wishes,

Frivole

First Commission!

I wrote this blogpost back in February but seemingly forgot to post it!  So here it is, more than 6 months later...

Last week I delivered my first commission for a lace lamp.  Very exciting.  It's not installed in place yet so I can only show it to you balanced on top of a floor lamp in my father's living room but it will eventually be installed in my customer's dining room.  She said she'll send me photos when it's done so I look forward to seeing it "in situ".  I had explored different patterns and colours for her lamp but in the end, she decided she liked the same colour and design as the large lamp I had made for a gallery a little while ago, only just a bit smaller.  I used a large 3D-printed tatting shuttle to work with much larger "string/rope" than what is normally used for tatting.

It is based on a square from a 100 year old collar which was given to Ninetta by a family member and the pattern of which she kindly shared. I've always had a soft spot for squares in tatting so when I was looking for a design for my large lace, I found this one hit the spot.  I modified it a bit so that the holes were not quite so big when working at a large scale.

I really like seeing the light shine through the lace and at certain angles, you can also see the lace reflected on the walls around it.  I'm happy with how it turned out!

Best wishes,

Frivole

Bag Making

It's summer!  I have been making a few pairs of tatted earrings lately (nothing new I'm afraid, just a favourite pattern I keep using) but I also enjoyed making a couple more bags.  

My tatting friend who loves making bags invited me for a bag-making day a while ago and on another occasion more recently.  The first time I made this nice toiletry bag:

(the bag is symmetrical, it's my photo that's wonky!)

And more recently I made this unusual travel bag with triple zip:

My friend's bag on the right and mine on the left.

The pattern is "Triple Sling" by Country Cow Designs.

The only change I made is that I rounded the corners at the bottom of my bag more than the original design.  And if I was making it again, I think I would add a side to the bag (it's flat) so that it would be a bit roomier.  Otherwise it's a really interesting design.

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful summer!

Best wishes,

Frivole

Vintage Galoon Pillow Case

I decided to go ahead and use my vintage galoon straight away (my auto-correct tells me I should spell galoon with two lls as in "galloons" but it is definitely spelled with just one l in the Th. de Dillmont book!) and decorate a pillowcase.

It makes for a simple and discreet decoration on a plain pillowcase but it was nice to put my lace on something that will get used in our daily lives.  

I first unpicked the sides of my pillowcase just enough to fit the width of my lace,

I then marked two lines for where I wanted to sew the lace

and sewed with a stitch length so that the needle fell into the picots.

I then cut straight down the middle and turned under the small edge on both side

and sewed it down.  That's it!

Best wishes,

Frivole

Clamshell Bag

I recently visited a friend who is really enjoying making bags at the moment.  She inspired me and I decided to make this clamshell bag by SewCanShe.  The fabric needed to be quilted before being made into a bag and I must admit I spent a crazy amount of time following the printed shapes on the fabric to quilt it rather than going for straight lines across!

My corners are also less rounded than in the pattern as I'm away from home at the moment and couldn't print the guide so I just winged it with a lid to trace the corners so I guess my bag is a bit less of a "clamshell" than the original pattern.

Taking my time and sewing around all those shells in the fabric

in the sunshiny garden.

I made some piping with the lining fabric

and then sewed it around the zipper piece.

(Sorry evening photo, not so good lighting)

The quilted and piped zipper piece (made of 6 parts)

and the quilted main body piece of the bag ready to put together.

I realised, after cutting my main piece, that I meant to have the shells facing the other way!

Ah well, too late.

They will now go sideways on the front and back of the bag.

TADA!  The finished bag which will be used to store all my sewing bits.

A fun and satisfying project.

P.S.:  I added a permanent link to the Antique Pattern Library's Tatting Patterns Section as I feel it's such a good resource and I wanted to make sure it's easily available to everyone (and to me!).  The link is in the right side bar.

Best wishes,

Frivole

Vintage Bunny Edging - Happy Easter!

Many years ago I tatted a bunny edging but sadly the link to the pattern doesn't work anymore.  As it's Easter, I looked to see if I could find another bunny edging to share.  This vintage one dates back to 1928 and is by Bessie Barker.  The information was on the BellaOnline website (article by Georgia Seitz) but the images don't come up anymore.

I found those two images but the links to follow to get to their original pages do not function.  I think they were both linking back to the BellaOnline site.

Update (21.04.25):  I was kindly contacted by Tamie of the OnlineTattingClass and she was able to restore the information onto a page of their website and give me a link for you to access.  Thank you Tamie!

Working from the diagram, I tatted the edging and it looks pretty but the elements are not joined which makes it a bit floppy as you can see in the left of the image below, if I don't "arrange" the edging.  So I started attaching the arms of the rabbits to the "cabbages" (right side of edging in photo below).

Oh, and I just realised I misread the pattern and made three picots in the bottom chains instead of just two!  But as can often be the case, tension in samples of old patterns is often not the same as mine (it tends to be looser) so the chains would have been too short with just two picots.  You can see also that the chain that makes the bunny is looser in the original too so that the space between the "tail" in the centre and the body is much bigger than in my version.  Perhaps I should make another sample and add a few stitches to my bunny body?

So there it is, a rather cute bunny edging for Easter.

Happy Easter everyone!

Best wishes,

Frivole