Questions

You still have one more day to enter the giveaway by comments on yesterday's post, but today I thought I'd address some of the questions and comments I have already received. First of all thank you for all the lovely compliments of both me and my work. Yes, it managed to mostly cheer me up, though I confess, the malaise is still hanging about. It'll pass soon enough, now onto the comments.

Let's see first my hair, it is currently blue and purple and it has been for quite some time. The inconsistencies in the shades are due to the natural fading of the vegetable dyes I use. When freshly dyed both colors are so dark they seem the same. I was also asked about the bridal veil I made. It was not edged in tatting I'm afraid though. The tatting was the clip or fascinator bit of the design and it was added to a simple birdcage veil. I though that way, the tatting would be more of the focus. You can see it here.

I got a couple of questions about needle tatting too. First, yes, it tends to be faster than shuttle tatting at least in the beginning. I call it an Othello craft after the game from the 90's with the tag line, 'a minute to learn, an a lifetime to master'. I think there's a greater learning curve with the shuttle, but once both crafts are mastered, I imagine one can hardly tell the difference in speed. That being said, speed is relative to the person and the amount of practice. I tat everyday, sometimes for many hours, so I better be fast. On a related note, I was asked if I recommend any books to learn. I only bought one, Learn Needle Tatting Step By Step by Barbara Foster. It was exactly what I needed. After I devoured that, it was just me and the Internet as my teacher. Of course nowadays there are a plethora of online tutorials including my own at Instructables.

One last thing was a recommendation by two different people to tackle a small bag or reticule. Now, let's be honest there are dozens of vintage and antique patterns for those, but where's the challenge in doing what's been done. I was going to do one, changed my mind since there were so many and then changed it back after looking at tons of patterns and not seeing one like I would make. Most of the design are either a rectangle folded upon itself or two motifs sewn together at the sides. What I saw in my mind was a drawstring pouch that was basically a circle drawn up to a gather. I did realize that it might be a little much so I compromised and started making a bit a bowl shape.

A few things are immediately clear about this piece. One, it is going to take some time and the first one is likely going to bother me something fierce with it's inaccurate proportions. Second, if I do get the piece past prototype, lined and ready to sell, it's going to be one pricey little bag because this is a lot of work. Don't worry though, I will at the very least finish the prototype and get it lined so you can see if it works. I even have some ideas for some possibly interesting embellishments for it.

I hope I addressed everything I wanted to, I do have a nasty habit of forgetting to respond to people if I don't do it straight away. So, remember one more day to enter the giveaway in yesterday's comments and the winner will be pulled tomorrow morning. I guess I'll be working on the reticule today unless something else strikes my fancy and this was a rather longer post than I had initially intended, sorry.