Mr. Herbert Birkett and her mother New Orleans Time-Picayune May 21, 1947 Is Tatting a Lost Art?
Two women "tatters" in the past week have informed "Up and Down the Street" tatting is practically a "lost art." "I doubt if more than 10 women in New Orleans 'tat' today," said one, and the other stated "You never see tatting advertised, nobody teaches it, and while there are thousands of crochet and knitting patterns, I've never seen a tatting pattern."
One "tatter" par excellence who still practices the art is Mrs. Herbert Birkett, Walnut 3436, and another is her 94-year-old mother who whiles away the time making cloverleaf tatting. Mrs. Birkett designed a tatting pattern for an evening jacket, took six months to create the jacket and now advertises it for sale. "It would be lovely to wear over a black evening dress, or a backless creation," Mrs. Birkett remarked.
Before the widespread use of the internet, it might have happened that tatting became a lost art. But no longer. Never again will we question whether or not tatting will survive as a respected lace making art as well as a pleasant pastime. With the internet connecting tatters around the world patterns and new techniques spreading daily, the day of the lone tatter making lace in isolation is long gone.
Here is a simple repeating cloverleaf and chain edging from Mrs. V. C. Fitzpatrick as published in the Jan. 27, 1918 Plain Dealer. It was described as a good edging for a child's pillowcase.
Begin at the asterisk at top right. However,you may wish to rotate the diagram the opposite direction to follow the line of progression more easily. Use one shuttle and ball thread or two shuttles or one needle and ball thread.
Start chain with a starter picot:
If you tat the chains in reverse order double stitch (RODS) then the cloverleaf rings will all show the front side up.
CH 6 - 6 - 6 - 6 reverse work (rw)
R 5 - 5 +(join to the starter picot)5 - 5 close ring (clr) do not rw Leave no bare thread showing.
**R 5 +(join to the last picot on previous ring) 5 - 5 - 5 clr dnrw Leave no bare thread showing.
R 5 +(join to the last picot on previous ring) 5 - 5 - 5 clr rw
CH 6 - 6 rw
R 5 +(join to last picot on previous ring)5 - 5 - 5 clr dnrw Leave no bare thread showing.
R 5 +(join to the last picot on previous ring) 5 - 5 - 5 clr dnrw Leave no bare thread showing.
R 5 +(join to the last picot on previous ring) 5 - 5 - 5 clr rw
CH 6 - 6 rw
R 5 +(join to last picot on previous ring)5 - 5 - 5 clr dnrw Leave no bare thread showing.
R 5 +(join to the last picot on previous ring) 5 - 5 - 5 clr dnrw Leave no bare thread showing.
R 5 +(join to the last picot on previous ring) 5 - 5 - 5 clr rw
CH 6 - 6 - 6 - 6 + (join to middle picot of last ring made) dnrw
Chain connecting the cloverleaf sections: CH 6 - 1 - 1 - 6 dnrw
Create an inward facing picot by simply hanging a space holder (paper clip or safety pin) on the core thread. The first ring of the next cloverleaf will join to this space.
CH 6 - 6 - 6 - 6 reverse work (rw)
R 5 - 5 +(join inward facing picot, the space held free with the paper clip )5 - 5 close ring (clr) do not rw Leave no bare thread showing.
Repeat from ** for the length desired.
Here's the latest article from the Tatting site at BellaOnline.com.
NH Youngburg Pattern #32 This design is worked with only one shuttle. The double stitch count is either 6 or 3. It is easy to master. It is good to take with you traveling.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art301081.asp
Perfect for Mother's Day! Rose Brooch by Jeanne Lugert
If you tatted the rose earrings by Jeanne Lugert, you will be pleased to find this matching brooch pattern, also from the files of the Online Tatting Class.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art301144.asp
Please visit tatting.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Tatting. To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Tatting located here -
http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=39
I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback! Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!
Georgia Seitz, Tatting Editor http://tatting.bellaonline.com
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