How to Make Lace Tatting

Tatting created many fine, durable lacy items such as doilies, curtain edges and dress collars.

With tatting, ladies of the 19th century made a strong, longlasting lace that was used to decorate furniture and clothing. Tatting created lacy collars for dresses, doilies for the backs of chairs and decorative edging for curtains, pillows and other household items. The tatter wraps thread around one hand and weaves the shuttle in and out of the loop with the other hand. Patterns of rings and chains make up the lacy patterns.

Things You'll Need

• Size 10 thread
• Tatting shuttle
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Push the thread through the hole in the shuttle, then tie a knot. Wind the thread onto the shuttle until the shuttle is full.

2. Hold the shuttle with the right hand, between the thumb and index finger. The shuttle should point toward the left hand, or away from you.

3. Pull about 15 inches of thread from the shuttle. Take the thread in the left hand. Spread the fingers of your left hand and wrap the thread around the back of the fingers to make a ring. Hold the ends of the ring between the thumb and index finger of your left hand in an OK gesture. The thread should form a circle around the left hand. The double stitch has two parts, both of which have the shuttle weaving around the loop in your left hand. Knots are formed as the shuttle goes in and around the thread in the left hand.

4. Move the right hand forward, with the shuttle pointing to the left, under the shuttle thread and then back, thus catching the shuttle thread over the back of the right hand. The shuttle thread is that which extends from the shuttle, while the hand thread is the thread looped around the left hand.

5. Move the shuttle under the hand thread between the forefinger and middle finger. Bring the shuttle back over the hand thread while keeping the shuttle facing left. As the shuttle hand moves back to its original position, let the thread around the back of the right hand slide off. The shuttle thread now forms a loop around the tighter, straighter hand thread.

6. Relax the raised fingers of the left hand so the tension is relaxed and give the shuttle a tug with the right hand. The stitch will flip, reversing the positions between the threads. The is the first half of the double stitch.

7. Allow the shuttle thread to droop into a U below the shuttle. Move the shuttle over the hand thread between your left forefinger and middle finger. Bring the shuttle under the hand thread and through the U. When you move the shuttle back to its original position, give it a little tug to flip the stitch. As you tighten the second half of the stitch, slide it closer to the first half of the stitch so they are side by side.

8. Continue making double stitches until the tatting pattern is complete or changes.

Tips & Warnings

• Check that your stitches slide after each double stitch. If a stitch doesn’t slide, it didn't flip properly; unpick the thread and try again.