If you can tat; you can design a pattern. There are only a few basic rules that need to be applied.

1) You have chains, rings and picots to work with.
2) The dimension of each chain, ring and picot can be changed.
3) You can join chains, rings and picots with other chains, rings and picots.


Basically, since you’re designing the pattern, anything goes. After all, that’s where the idea behind freeform came from.

Still afraid to give designing a try? Let me help get you started. I’ve decided that I’d like to tat a picture of a bouquet of flowers.
1) The first thing I’m going to do is to draw a basket (because that’s what I’ve decided to put my flowers into). 2) Next, I think of different flowers and keep in mind their shapes.
3) I lightly draw out the shape of these flowers above the basket and maybe let a few ‘spill over’ the sides of the basket.
4) Decide what parts of the flowers I’ll tat using either a chain, ring or picot. Typically the picots (different sizes and shapes) are used for the flower petals. Picots can also be used for making different types of greenery and clipping the center of the picot.
A) Example: With green thread (A long chain of *1ds, 4” picot*, repeat from * for ‘X’ amount of inches, ds for ‘X’ amount of inches and cut center of each picot) can represent a long grass stalk with “thread leaves” hanging down from the upper portion.
5) A tulip can be shaped from using chains with a pinch and more ‘pinched’ chains to create the pointed peeks of each flower.
6) A ring can be the center of a daisy.

My basket could be made up of rows and rows of chains and joined together by tiny picots (nearly invisible due to size), evenly spaced across the length of the basket. The rows of chain can be pinched at each end to go up to the next row. And, if I choose, I can entirely frame the basket with a row of chains. These rows of chains, done in a brown color) will help do a fair job of imitating a whicker basket.

In ‘spilling’ some flower ‘stems’ and/or greenery my tread fiber arrangement will more simulate a live bouquet. This can then be turned into a framed piece of artwork for my wall or as a gift. I can even do this in a smaller thread/miniature version for a note card. The only disadvantage of doing something this elaborate is that all of your friends will be wanted your next creation. Of course, this would be a great opportunity to teach your chosen craft to others and to explain how they, too, can create their own tatting designs.