Guest Author - Beverly Elrod
I can remember back to when I was a young child and some of the ‘in’ things at the time. It seems that a lot of those things are ‘in’ again! And, I’ve noticed that about every twenty years, or so, fashions change. Today’s article is about how to do one of those changes with a tatted twist.
Just thinking about trimming clothing, bedding, coats and scarves, I’m reminded of a decorative braiding that used to be very popular. Sometimes it was flat and various widths and sometimes it was more of a rounded cording. And, what’s so decorative about something so plain and ordinary? It was the way in which it was laid out on the fabric. It could be striped over the seam of a bedspread where the ruffle was attached. Two simple stripes could accent the bottom of a little girl’s winter coat. Placed on a diagonal, one to three stripes could accent a winter scarf. It could trim a collar. It could even be placed over the top of a ruffled lace which is sewn on a skirt/edge of a sleeve, shoulder of a jacket or a number of other places. Used alone, the braiding could have repetitive loops around a full skirt, bedspread or another garment. The ideas just go on and on.
But, if you’ve looked at cording, in the fabric/craft stores, lately, you might have noticed that this can get pretty expensive, especially if you’ll be using quite a bit of it. There is another alternative! Why not tat your own cording? Tatting thread is relatively inexpensive and comes in various sizes so it would be easy enough to get the width you’d like just by changing the size of your thread. You can even tat yarn if you have the big yarn shuttle or use one of the alternative tatting needles. Even those, who are new to tatting can do this. No measuring gauge for picots is needed; since all you do are ds (double stitch) chains. You can even tat as you go so that you won’t have to worry about making too little or too much. If trimming or decorating on a pillow case, you can make it a portable project.
By using multiple colors you can even design flowers or animals to put on a child’s bibbed over-alls/jacket or other clothing. Make a long cord to outline a flower on the front of a play dress or shirt. Cord-draw stick figures onto a child’s travel bag. As usual, the ideas are limited only to what you are willing to try.
Won’t your friends be amazed and consider how clever you are when you say, “Yes, I designed and made that!"
