Thursday, May 23, 2013

Questions

Row eight completed and four left :

I do most of my tatting very late at night - or rather early in the morning! This causes very problematic situations, probably because of poor light and tired eyes, let alone fried brain.

Last night I noticed, just as I was about to pack it in, that I had completed row #8 and skipped a picot join WAY back near the beginning of the round. Horrors.

This time, I acted in a rather rational way - for me.  I thought hard about my options, cut out split ring at the missed spot and tatted in the extra three split rings - all the while holding my breath and chanting: you can do it, over and over again. You get the picture, I am certain!

Luckily, I can find the spot with some difficulty, but this time, rather than pondering the visual issue, I wonder how the piece will hold up over time (though it will probably go under one of The Boss’s bedroom lamps and I am not that concerned.)

Also, I realized at the end of the night that I tatted the three little flowery rows on the back side, even though I checked repeatedly to make sure that I was on the front - too late; too dark; too tired. I almost cut back the rows, but then would definitely have to have purchased two more balls of thread, so I just shrugged and carried on.

Funnily enough, the little side picots kind of stick up because they are on the “wrong” side and look very appropriate for this pattern! Good bad luck!

But, it is questions I have. Do you have vintage tatting where you can see breaks in the thread where there were repairs? Do folks repair old tatting as they do crochet or knitting? Though tatting is generally washed in a delicate manner, do the fixed bits stay put because of the general knot construction of the stitches or can they loosen over repeated use or cleaning?

17 comments:

  1. Excellent questions! I have never had an occasion to repair vintage tatting, it has always been in good condition. Cannot wait to hear other people's experiences.

    Congratulations on your choices for correcting your Round 8 misstep. Especially if you were decided late at night. Well done.

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  2. Hi Fox

    I have several vintage pieces, I will not repair them, for one reason they must have been made around one hundred years ago, I don't have any thread that would match it, neither do I know what thread was used, we believe these pieces were made by my grandmother. They could even be older than we think, there are some bits that look as if they are coming apart, I won't use them and won't use them, I have put them on my blog some time ago and I think they are in my albums on intatters.

    Your doily is looking beautiful what a pity you missed a picot but I think you made the right choice. Well done.

    Love to Gian

    Margaret

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  3. Your doily looks excellent. I have some of my grandmothers tatting. The joins were done by tying the picots together. I do not wash them, or use them. They are used for display purposes sometimes. As for standing up, tatting is by definition made with knots, unless it is handled very roughly, and I would put it in a pillow case or lingerie bag to wash, it should stand up to normal usage.

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  4. Just wondering, rather than cut it out, if it's just a missed join, could you not just pass a needle and thread through to join it and then sew in the ends? Also a pain, but maybe a bit less painful? Not sure what size thread you said you're using, but it could work...

    Looks lovely! You've really made the move to large pieces, haven't you :)
    (sorry, bit of a lurker, but I always read your blog)

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    1. Nope! Not on this case, because I had to add two elements where the picot was missed; attaching the picot would not have fixed it, unfortunately.
      Fox

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  5. I don't have any vintage pieces, so I'm not sure how it would work. Since I wash my tatted pieces by hand and then lay them out to dry, I would think that a repaired piece would hold up just fine.

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  6. Well it looks great, Fox! Can't chime in on the questions-no experience with tatting repair.

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  7. Of all of Grandma's pieces, are there are MANY and they are USED all the time in our homes, I have only seen one of her pieces that had a knot come untied...and Grandma simply tied and cut, did not hide ends as is the modern practice. Some pieces have many many knots as they are done with small motifs of 2 or 3 rounds, each round cut and tied.

    Also, I enjoy searching out and/or bringing home vintage tatting...and have seen only damage caused by poor treatment or heavy use. Tatting is very very durable and seems to outlast any fabric it is attached to if treated decently and not abused.

    In my personal experience, it handles being washed in the washing machine and dried in the dryer (horrors, I know) quite well even...if carefully attached maintains its shape even. An accidental washing of a tatted bookmark with a load of jeans on a heavy duty cycle actually needed only wetting and blocking to reshape.

    My thought, from those observations, is that your repair will last and be perfectly fine. It is no more likely to cause and issue than any other point on the piece where new thread has been added in.

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    1. Julie, Thanks for this info.

      I too , have had stuff go through the washing machine by accident and it has survived as yours did - just fine - though anything I have washed intentionally has been by hand.

      Though I have heard that tatting is practically indestructible, I wanted to hear this from personal experience.

      Fox : )

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    2. I wash what is attached to my now 4 year old's clothing in the washing machine, out of strict necessity :-) It is fun to embellish her things with lace and she is so enthusiastic about it that it gives me great pleasure to tat for her. The tatting really is nearly indestructible...I have several tatted pieces that I need to take off clothing items that have become to well worn to wear, but the tatting is still in great shape.

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    3. I have tatted lots of borders for socks. The Boss wore many of them when she was small (I should make more for her as she is still young enough to enjoy them...).

      They got twisted and out of shape sometimes, but they did stay in very good shape.

      Thanks - I had forgotten about the socks and t-shirts, but they did not have the kind of more suspect mistake that I was thinking about tin the post - you know, the really BAD booboo!
      Fox : )

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  8. The only tatting I've done that fell apart was an earring, where I used a SSSR to hide ends, so I won't do that again. I don't know about indestructible, but I think tatting is pretty hardy.

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    1. FoxFriday, May 24, 2013 at 8:09:00 AM EDT
      Okay,Jane... I agree that it was a wee bit of hyperbole! Yes, hardy will certainly do if the mistakes stay intact .
      Fox : )

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  9. My only used vintage handwork is crochet edging to pillow cases... So I have no help there. BUT! I have a small suggestion: if you are doing FSBS tatting and having oopses, take a scrap of string and tie a bow on the front. Then there will be no question.

    Lady, even your booboos are lovely. You tat great.

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    1. Love this comment! Thanks!

      I have actually had the thought to try the string trick, as I did that when knitting lace. But I thought the string would flip to the other side and confuse me.

      Tying it with a bow makes better sense. I will definitely try it!
      Fox : )

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  10. This piece is so beautiful! I can't join the advice column but truly I love this one. I always work late at night, too.

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