The newest issue of Il Lavoro Chiacchierino has finally arrived. I just love this series of tatting magazines. And issue #18 published in 2015 is as gorgeous a publication as you can get. The full color photographs are fantastic. There is a varied group of patterns. Bridal accessories, gloves, ring pillow, tatted hair piece, boutonniere, gift or sachet bag are all delicate looking but will tat up easily. Household linens are always the mainstay of this booklet. This time we also have curtain embellishments, tablecloth insertions and doilies of all styles.

This long-running series of tatting books produced by Mani di Fata has been a treasure trove of traditional tatting patterns. Some vintage patterns have been used or adapted over the last two decades and some of the work is original tatting designs also in the traditional style. Free-form tatting such as 3-d flowers have been appearing in more recent years.

Intended for the European market, the books always include tatting embellished table linens and bed linens. The tatting is photographed in a dressed table setting or similar environment and the photos are in beautiful color. The text is in Italian but sometimes close up detailed photos of the projects may allow the tatter to follow the pattern.

Please note that although I enjoy this series very much, it does have flaws. Some issues have included mass-produced poorly tatted doilies that are tatted by three different workers and then crocheted together by a fourth. Other items were so poorly tatted that they should not have been samples. And, my greatest disappointment has always been that the text is all written out long-hand and no diagrams were given.

I am happy to say that issue #18 shows improvements. Pgs 66-75 contain several patterns for tatted jewelry which all have numbered diagrams! And, there is more. #18 contains needle tatting directions. Pgs 76-82 show basic tutorial and includes joining, beads over a picot and beads on a chain.

ED's note: I acquired all these books for my personal reference library. G. Seitz

Here's the latest article from the Tatting site at BellaOnline.com.

Beaded Tatting by Bernadette Baldelli Bernadette Baldelli's new book, "Frivolité avec des perles." Altho written in French, the photos and diagrams with the double stitch count make these pattern available to all of us.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art301543.asp

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Georgia Seitz, Tatting Editor http://tatting.bellaonline.com One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com