Peter Pan Collars

Early Friday I decided that I was going to put all the remaking on hold and move forward with at least one of the new ideas floating about in my head. The one I chose was a tatted peter pan collar necklace. These things in leather, lace and other materials were featured in one of the etsy emails not too long ago and I kept thinking I should do that in hand made lace. I didn't need to start from scratch because I had already run across a vintage pattern that had the right basic shape to exploit.

Then came the countless adjustments to get it the way I wanted it. First I got rid of the thread space by replacing it with a chain. Then I redid the center flower bit to give me a wider and more stable base. I felt the collar bits should be more oval than the original design. This change was followed by changing the chains to zigzags. I think they give an older design a more modern feel...or maybe I just like them.

Next was connecting the prototypes to see if they would in fact resemble a collar at all. Then there were more adjustments to make them curve up at the outside edges and still more when I wanted the center motif to feel more joined to the outside row so I used some long picots and crossed them when joining.

In the end I think there were at least four different prototype pieces made before I busted out the white and black threads to make the actual collars. See, sometimes when I say I adapted a pattern, I mean I changed the length and slapped on a clasp and other times I mean I spent hours adjusting and tweaking until it's a different beast entirely. I made two and added silver thread so they would hand high on the neck. I think they look pretty much the way I imagined them and since they're done, I should get some proper photos today and get both a white and black one listed. I thought about embellishing them, you know hang something from the center, but I think they probably make a big enough impression as they are.

After I get these listed, it's back to remaking. I do feel completely revitalized by the new pieces. It really is amazing how taking a break to be creative gets me back to work. I do, after all, have a pretty awesome job.

Thread

Again, I managed to have a day where I was fairly productive and boring all at the same time. I started off with the pile of things that need remaking and got a whole piece done before noon. This is when I decided that I really needed to buckle down and go through my thread like I keep saying I should. I went and pulled out my three big thread tubs and went through both them and the two other storage boxes that hold thread in the living room. Then, and I know this is shocking to hear two days in a row, I wrote everything down. Okay, not everything. I do still have tons of, we'll go with lower quality thread that I generally don't use unless the color is required and I don't have it in Lizbeth. Those I didn't count since I don't plan on ever replacing them if I run out. Then I made a thread order, a large, unwieldy thread order.

At lunch I went out to get the mail and was pleasantly surprised to have received the order of veiling I made on Monday. This meant I could indeed finish the veil I had promised to have done and in the mail by the end of the week. It really does pay to under promise and over deliver. These little supply setbacks can't hurt you if you plan for their possibility. So that is now done and in the mail this morning leaving my order queue empty and just the remaking on my plate. Speaking of the remaking, I also got my finding order in yesterday as well. Of course as soon as it did arrive I realized that I had in fact forgotten to order one thing that I will need shortly and so I'll probably be making another order sooner than I'd really like, but that's life.

I still have quite a few pieces to remake and then I swear I'm getting to the idea I had the other day. It's not terribly awesome or anything, but it's new to me and that's all that really matters. I've been so absent in my other online haunts lately because I have to little to share. A new piece always gives me something to talk about that people with engage with me over and that's really overdue. So hopefully by Monday there will be something to talk about.

I Wrote It Down

Well I was slightly more useful yesterday than the previous day. I got straight to work on measuring the chain lengths of the sold back drop necklace. Then...I wrote them down. I even went so far as to note the number of chains of each length as well as the number of beads, their locations and type. In fact I was thorough enough that I packed up the sold necklace and had it out the door by noon and recreated the necklace without it here. I realize this may not seem like an actual achievement, but I'm still pretty proud of myself. Of course I have literally dozens of other pieces that I remake by copying prototypes and looking at my old pictures and I keep saying that one day I'll write them all down. I know that I won't. It will take a separate necessitating event for each one to be done, but at least I know I can when I need to.

I still have half a dozen pieces to remake for the shop and of course they are all good sized pieces so I seem to be getting them done one a day, which is frustrating since I want to be doing something else. I'd stop remaking, but they all all pieces that sell fairly well and it is in my best interest to have them listed again as soon as possible. It's funny, as much as I enjoy making one of a kind pieces, they sell so slowly compared to my more repeatable pieces. I'm starting to think I might have to stop making so many of them and make the ones I do list, limited listings that just disappear after a time if they don't sell. I'm just thinking out loud here though, none of this has been thought out and is unlikely to become an actual plan.

I think that's it for me this morning. I'll likely be boring as long as I'm still remaking unless some outside force causes something interesting to happen that I want to share. So until that happens, I apologize for the dullness.

Useless

Another Useless Gift(revisited) by Luke Cheh

I was next to useless yesterday for no apparent reason. Sure, I got schooling done and I even managed a little cleaning, but I only managed to tat up one thing...one. The first piece I wanted to remake sent me digging through my supplies for gears and when I didn't find enough in my stash, I spent a half an hour looking online for some so I could remake it. Of course they need to be a certain size which I was lucky to find as a set once, but no longer. Once I did find an assortment that would serve my needs I'd already wasted much time in the pursuit.

This was the point where I finally decided on a piece to remake and got some work done, but I was hopelessly distracted by another idea. Of course I still have too many things to get done before I can settle down and work on said idea, so I'm running it over in my head to make sure it's a solid idea and won't fade away before I get time to work on it. Yes, I am aware I could just write it down. You should know by now that I won't do that. I am lazy and a wee bit stubborn.

So today starts with getting a backdrop necklace made up so that I can ship one that just sold. I should really make two so I can stop the panicked copying that I do when one sells. I have prototypes on hand of the lace, but I haven't written down any of the chain measurements so they can easily be remade. Yes, I see we're back to my 'writing things down' problem already. Okay, just this once, I will write down the measurements before I ship the piece. Oh, I fear it's going to be another useless day.

Size Matters

Completely against trend the person who said they were going to make a large order actually did so and in a timely fashion to boot. I know I shouldn't be shocked, but things rarely work out that way. Usually after several conversations the customers fall off the face of the earth without so much as a never mind, but I'm rambling now, back to the point. I was working on a bridal veil yesterday when I inspected the veiling  I had on hand and found several flaws in it, so I had to put that on hold to order more. This put me right to the next task of remaking the pieces that just sold.

You all know that I rarely write down patterns, but I do like to keep track of details, like how many repeats are needed for a particular choker or bracelet and as I was looking that up for one, I noted that I had changed the number on this one not too long ago. The truth is I've had to make several pattern adjustments over the years. Were they wrong in the first place? Nope, I've changed...or at least my tatting has. I've noticed bracelets that are somehow shorter than they were meant to be and whole designs smaller. It's become quite an issue for me. I've always had a pretty good handle on tension, it's the main reason I think my work turns out so uniform and not loose like most people assume needle tatting to be, but over the years it's gotten even better or at least tighter. Thus the stitches are smaller and patterns that were suppose to work up a certain size are now too small.

In most tatted work, size isn't terribly important, but in worn pieces, particularly ones that are worn around, like bracelets, chokers, ankle pieces and to a lesser degree, masks, it matters a lot. In the back of my head I'm worrying that I'm going to have to rework many of my designs the very next time I make them. For now I'm doing some measuring as I'm making to try and make small adjustments to keep things the right size. I bet you're asking why couldn't I just adjust my tension a bit looser. Well honestly the work looks better this way and the change was so natural and gradual, it would be hard to consciously step backwards. So in moving forward, I must make changes to those old favorites that I made up so long ago. Luckily this will only affect those pieces I've been making since the beginning as more recently designed pieces were make in my current tension. I just thought it was an interesting thing to note so I wanted to share. If anyone else has any insights or observations on the subject I'd love to hear them.

So today I am remaking and that will likely spill over into most of the week. I even had to quit stalling and make a supply order yesterday as I was out of the clasps I need to remake a few of the sold pieces. Next I need to actually sit down and go through all my thread to make that thread order I wanted to make the other day. I'm not sure when that one will happen though. Probably not until a custom order forces me to get a new color. Yep, it's going to be a long week.