The Antique Tatted Collar

One day while browsing through antique shops about 14 years ago I happened upon a lovely piece of tatted lace. Since tatted lace isn't the most common thing to find in an antique shop I was quite excited to take it home with me. I paid my money and carried my lovely piece of lace home with me.

It was a tatted collar.

~*~

This tatted collar, to be exact!

The unusual thing about this piece was the
beautiful round tatted lace motifs filled with
their lovely webs of needle lace!

So very fine and beautiful!

The collar was edged with a beautiful
cloverleaf edging all around the collar.

Upon closer examination I noticed something unusual
about the joinings of the picots.

These were no ordinary picot joins!

They were tied together one by one.

Like this:

Ah! I am soooo glad we don't have
to do that anymore in tatting.

I'm grateful for the classic picot join in tatting!

This technique wasn't published
until sometime after 1851
(Some reports say 1852, others say 1853).

So, the next time you are joining your picots
whisper a little thanks to the French lady,
Mademoiselle Eleonore Riego de la Branchardiere!
"Thank you, Mlle. Riego!"


You see, Mlle. Riego made the way
we join picots today very famous so all
tatters could enjoy the convenience of joining picots
as we tat away instead of sewing the
individual picots together later one by one.

The interesting part is the cloverleaf edging
which is joined with a classic join to itself,
but sewn to the actual collar!

I often wonder just how many people
worked on this piece?

Here in lies the mystery:

just how old is this tatted work of art?

~*~

The truth is we will never know the exact age of this tatted collar. Information didn't travel then as quickly across the globe as it does now. If it was tatted in America it may have been years, even decades before the tatter learned of the classic picot join.

Regardless of the age of this tatted mystery, I'm glad I am able to share it here with you! It is one of my little treasures and I wouldn't share it with just anyone, you know!

Love,

XOXO

Don't forget to enter the giveaway
if you haven't already!
The deadline is 7/31/09 at MN PST

All Dressed Up For Tatting!

What exactly does one wear in order to tat? What do you wear when you tat or if you were to tat? For me, the answer isn't pretty. It's usually sweats or a T-shirt. Why, you could even tat in your underwear if you wanted to!

***GASP***

For those of you who tend to dress up for tatting (i.e., jeans and a T-shirt) you may find my version of getting "dressed up for tatting" a little too casual, LOL! Some of you may even be a little more formal about it (i.e., slacks and a blouse). Regardless of your choice of dress for tatting (or if you were to tat) I think we will all agree that the following dress with tatting is pretty!

~*~

May I present to you

A dress with tatting: Isn't it precious? It's a baby dress I rescued from

an antique store many years ago.

Right now, I've got it hanging on my bedroom door

on an ornate wreath hanger.

***

It has been embellished lovingly by

hand with bits of hand tatted lace.

***

Here, let's take a closer look, shall we?

Here's the neckline.
Closer...
(If you click on the above photos they will enlarge)

As you can see it is embellished with little round

tatted medallions that are sewn into circles

that are cut into the fabric. Amazing!

The neckline, itself, is trimmed with a simple

tatted edging of rings.

***

Next, we have a better look at a sleeve.

It is also trimmed with a simple tatted edging

and embellished with cutwork filled with

tatted medallions.

***

AMAZING!

***

What's even more amazing is

that the edges of the sleeve are scalloped!

Here's a close up so you

can see what I mean!

I think it's sweet and very pretty!

***

Here are some close ups of the hem of the

skirt on the dress.

(The following pictures will also enlarge if you click on them)

Front of dress hemline.
Here's is the hemline inside out:

I showed both front and inside-out so that you

can compare by enlarging and see

that it is really hand-stitched.

***

I love that scalloped edge on the hemline!

***

I think about the time it took whoever must've

made this to tat the pieces and cut the fabric

and hand stitch all the edges and attach

all the tatted trims and medallions onto the dress

***

Here's a close up of one of the medallions.

Simple, and yet so beautiful!

***

Here's a close up of the sweet tatted
edging of simple rings on the scalloped
hemline of the dress.

As you can plainly see this old

little baby dress is tattered and torn.

Time is beginning to take it's toll on

the aging fabric and tatted trim.

The baby this was made for has probably grown

and perhaps has children or even grand-children

of their own by now!

The dress is long forgotten, from a time long ago.

However, the sentiments that

were sewn into this dress by loving hands,

full of love and hope,

are timeless!

~*~

The time you took today to come and visit and let me share this precious dress with you is valuable. I appreciate you spending it with me just for a moment.

I hope that you can see that beautiful things can be made with very simple tatted edgings and medallions. One doesn't have to be an expert at tatting or even know fancy tatting techniques to make something absolutely exquisite with tatted lace.

I also wanted to thank everyone who took the time to go and welcome my niece to blog land with her new blog Enlightened By Angels! You really made her feel welcome in blogland! Thanks a bunch! You guys are the bestest bloggy buddies EVER!!!

Well, whatever clothes you're wearing to tat or blog in (whether it's a sweats and slippers or Chanel couture) be sure and say hello before you say good~bye! There's no dress code on this blog, LOL!

Love,

XOXO

Please Mr Postman!

Have you ever waited in great suspense in the hope that something would soon arrive in the mail!? I have! I just did, infact. My highly anticipated package arrived on Saturday.

Yippee!!!

It all started back in April when I did a blogpost about a certain pink teapot. An artist by the name of Deborah McNutt of The Painted Nest mentioned she would like the teapot. After conversing via comments and emails a private swap ensued. So, off went my tatted teapot to live with Deborah on the other side of the country! I had requested a bird's nest with robin's eggs and a robin in exchange for my teapot and Deborah complied most willingly. I have been so excited about the arrival of this bird's nest.

Well, I have to say, Deborah did not disappoint.

She SPOILED me rotten!

I am about to show you a fabulous package! Hold on to your hats, friends! It's going to be a long one! For your blogging pleasure, I have provided some postman music that I thought would be fitting with the mail theme of this blog post to entertain you. I hope you enjoy the following Beatles video I found on YouTube.

Thank you, cotizados!

Ya know, sometimes I wonder if my postman knows I blog about him sometimes, LOL!

Nah!

Okay, friends, grab a refreshing drink, get comfortable, and crank up the music 'cuz here we go!

~*~

I couldn't wait to see what was inside this box! OMGoodness~

Looky at what was on TOP of the packaging!

A Vintage Workbasket Magazine!!!

It's from January 1957! I collect vintage Workbasket mags! Woo Hoo! Good call, Deborah!

It even has some tatting patterns in it!

***

Okay, now, what's underneath this?
Oh, look at this divine tag!

Look at all these little packages and the Robin!

I think the Robin was kind of hungry from being in that box for so long because she flew right over to my angel birdfeeder to get a bite to eat! Can you believe it?

Hee hee, I think she felt much better after filling up on some birdie food.

***

One of the little packages had this adorable altered notepad in it.

There is a little vintage rhinestone right on the center of that silk ribbon bow.

It's embellished so beautifully!

Just look at the little acorn fashioned out of a real acorn cap and a green pearlescent bead!
This just so happens to be the cutest notepad EVER!

It also just so happens that I adore acorns, hee hee!

See how it opens up?Cute!

***

Okay, next is this lovely mini canvas of

....what else...

but a painted nest!

As luck would have it~it's the perfect size to fit on my mini-easel! Hee hee!

***

Ya know what else looks cute on my mini-easel?

The divine tag!

See the little bit of tatting she used to embellish it?

***
Another little package held these inside:

The cutest little bird tags EVER!!!

***
Next, is this pretty pendant that says TAT on it!

Here's a closeup.

Notice the cute little angel with the crown on it!
I love it because I think that Tatting is the Lace of Angels!

I thought this was the sweetest thing ever. It brought tears to my eyes knowing that she would take the time to make a pendant dedicated to tatting and angels just for me!

***

Next are these artistically wrapped packages!
What could be inside?

The littlest package had the three little robin's eggs in them.

Deborah molded these herself out of a porcelain type clay!
So cute! I love robin's eggs!
*
The last package to be opened was the larger blue one.
*
You will not believe what was inside of it!
This BEAUTIFUL embellished bluebird box!

Here's a view of the front side of the box.
Look at the little birdy charm!
The top of the dangles is a real acorn cap!

When you open it up the inside is just as beatiful as the outside!

At the bottom of the box are three little eggs that have a 3-D like effect. The eggs are handpainted on top a nest of grass! So very pretty and very detailed!
*
If you like this bluebird boxes, Deborah is planning on making
a series of them and selling them on her other blog:
The~Bluebird's~Song, so stay tuned!
*
Thank you, Deborah! I love the box so much!
I thought it would look adorable in a little vignette
under a glass cloche on one of my bird's nest cake pedestals!

I thought it looked so sweet grouped with the bird tags and TAT charm.
What do you think?
The doily underneath is a vintage linen center doily with a tatted lace edging that I once rescued from an antique store.


***

And last, but certainly not least, a little nest lay gently nestled at the very bottom of the box.

Just look at this darling nesty with the robin's eggs and Mother Robin!

I thought it looked sweet atop one of my cake pedestals.

Mother Robin is watching so dutifully over her eggs.

I love how the word "Family" is intertwined into the nest.
Just like these robin's eggs families are precious.
They are fragile and need warmth and protection.
A Family needs to be handled with great care!

Of course, I noticed the bit of tatting tucked
lovingly into the nest! So sweet!

Isn't that precious? Such attention to detail.

Deborah built this nest herself!

***

Thank you so much Deb!

I am so touched at all the little tributes to tatting in your art pieces for me.

I love all of my gifts and will treasure them always!
Be sure to stop by The Painted Nest when you get a chance!

~*~

It's such a pleasure to share my birdie treasure with all of you! Thanks for letting me play show-and-tell with you today! It's so nice to receive a lovely, heartfelt, and artistic gift from a talented artist and new friend such as Deborah. You should know that the thing that makes it even more special is that I have some place to share it with fabulous bloggy friends like yourselves! If you've made it this far in the blog post I'd love to hear from you so feel free to comment. I love hearing from my blog buddies ~ new and old alike~ ! Newcomers are always welcome, too, so don't be shy!

Love,

xoxo

Happy Fourth of July!

I'm proud to be an American. Maybe I have my doubts sometimes with the war, but all in all I thank God for all the blessings that come from being a citizen of this great country. So to everyone celebrating the good ol' USA's birthday today...

"HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY"!!!

You know what I just gotta have every

fourth of July?

That's right!

WATERMELON!!!

...a good ol' juicy red piece of watermelon...

...yum.

I just LOVE watermelon, don't you?

I love it so much I tatted a heart of it

just for you!

SEE!!!

Motif #9 I Heart Watermelon!

I used Lady Shuttle Maker's
HDT (hand dyed thread) in Seaweed size 20

(I thought that her Seaweed variegated thread

kinda looked like a watermelon rind.

What do you think?)

and DMC's Cebelia Red size 20

(Someone has a sense of humor at DMC;
giving their bright red thread the catalog number of three sixes)

and some black plastic faceted beeds

for the watermelon seeds.

This is "The Wheel of Fortune Heart"
designed by Teri Dusenbury.

I'm adding it as part of my 25 Motif Challenge.

And for all you patriotic Americans out there

I have a picture of a

tatted liberty bell

that I rescued from an antique store a few years ago.

It's still on the same yellowed card with

the same rusty staple holding it in place.

What? No crack in the Liberty bell?

For all my wonderful international friends (and you know who you are). I hope you have a happy fourth of July today, too, even if you're too busy with other things to have a piece of watermelon.

;)

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Now go get some watermelon and think of me...LOL!

((Hugs)),

TattingChic

TattingChic Around the House, Part I

People have often asked me, "So, since you're really into crochet (yes they call tatting "crochet") you probably have lots of doilies all over your house, don't you?". I often respond with something like, "Doilies? Oh, NO, doilies are for grandma's." Not that there's ANYTHING wrong with being a grandma, mind you. "No, I don't have doilies all over my house, ewww." So, while I thought about what to post today as proof that I am a tatter and in going through my house I realized, "OH MY GOSH, I have doilies all over my house!" Just kidding, folks, I only have two laying out and about so that doesn't constitute ALL OVER the house, but it's enough to make me wonder, "Just how in touch with my "inner grandma" am I getting?" So, for now, let's put that depressing thought aside and get into the good stuff... the TATTING.

For instance, let's look at this beauty above to the left. That is a fabulous find I got at an antique store a few years ago. It was tagged "crochet doily $25.00". Can you believe it? I can't remember which I was more insulted over, the fact that it was labelled "crochet" or the fact that such a painstakingly, time consuming, rare, handmade beauty was being touted for sale so cheaply. I simply had to rescue it. On the other hand I jumped for joy at the rare find and after making the purchase let the shop owner know that not only was this not crochet, but she could have sold it for a lot more. Was that wrong, I ask? Don't answer that...

This is a very victorian pattern found in the book, "Tatting Designs from Victorian Lace Craft" Ed. by Jules & Kaethe Kliot. In the 2nd edition book it can be found on pg 9 entitled "Fig. 26 Centerpiece". (It's also in the first edition.) So let's take a look at it uncovered.

My Little Treasure

That book (1st edition) was the first tatting book I ever bought. I was 15 and I saved all my babysitting money for weeks to purchase it and I had to talk my mother into driving me to the next town ( the only town for miles with a needlework shop) to purchase it. I told myself "Someday, I'm gonna tat that doily." Heh heh heh, and now I don't have to, lucky me. It looks like it was done with size 30 ecru thread and measures 18 inches across from tip to tip. The interesting thing about this doily is that it is a doily that consists solely of rings. There is not a chain on the whole thing. Can you imagine all the work that went into this thing? Wow! It blows my mind. Let's take a closer look, shall we?

closeup of the doily's center

closeup of doily's edge

I often wonder about the person who made it and what she must have been like...and how did such a little treasure end up in an antique store? How could someone possibly let a gem like this slip out of their hands? Some unknowing relative who inherited it, perhaps? Maybe they thought it was just another one of "Aunt Emma's" silly doilies and took it to the antique store just to get rid of it. I'm sure glad they did, because I certainly get a lot of pleasure out of having this treasure in my home to enjoy. It certainly has been fun sharing it with all of you today. Stay tuned...as there is more to come on this multi-part series on "TattingChic around the house".

Thank you for stopping by my little blog today, your comments are always welcome and appreciated. Be sure to fill out the poll at the bottom of the page.

A pattern for this doily can also be found online here (Page 9, fig. 26)