Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Tatting -- A Doily Edging from 1952


Another Christmas project from the December, 1952 issue of Workbasket -- a wild rose edging for doilies.  Three pages of instructions are on my Flickr account.

10 comments:

Sam said...

Hurray! More tatting!!!!

Shay said...

I want photos of the finished project, Sam ;-)

Bunnykins said...

I know doilies are supposed to be for grannies, but I like them. So pretty! I don't know about anyone else, but if I see many more grey/beige/plum coloured rooms, I'm going to go buy a can of chartreuse paint and slap it on something big.

Sam said...

Bunnykins - slap some deep navy along with the chartreuse. Shay - once I finish Bunnykins' tatted cross, this is next. Of course I have to open my H.S. play first (11/3-5) which can not come soon enough. Teaching H.S. kids to sew is tough enough but I had to do a play set in 1948 and use Vogue patterns. I must be nuts!

Bunnykins said...

Sam - I learned to sew using Vogue patterns (back in the dark ages.) Back then, they had pictures and instructions that should you what things like pad stitching collars or putting in a waist stay looked like, and told you how to do them.
Look for one of the old 60s/70s Vogue Sewing hardcover books as all those and a whole lot more that you'd have to buy a few new fitting/sewing books to get. The new Vogue Sewing book is light on detail by comparison.
My condolences on teaching kids to sew. Tape (painters' tape) down the tension adjustments if you can and teach them which way (back/front) the needle goes in the machine. Oh, and stitch length. Those are the things, besides racing the motor, that mine used to muck up and then wonder why the machine was broken. Oh, and put on the seam guide to help them stay straight. And, no, I wouldn't give them electronic machines if you could help it.

Sam said...

We have lovely cheap non-electric machines. I use painters tape to help the kids line up the seam allowances and attempt to sew a straight seam. I prefer McCall's or Simplicity for beginners. Eases them into the world of sewing. I will tape over the tension wheel now that I saw one of my boys fiddling with it while waiting for me to help him. Looking at a frustrating hour to get it back. Mostly i teach them about their new favorite tool - the seam ripper!!!

Shay said...

My best friend from high school/college made her own clothes (with a bit of help from her mother). She only used Vogue patterns and told me that Vogue instructions were so detailed that it was actually easier than using a cheaper, simpler pattern.

Shay said...

Sam -- sounds like a t-shirt ("As ye sew, so shall ye rip").

Bunnykins said...

Sam - And when they complain about the seam ripper, tell them that back in the day, it was picking stitches out one by one with a strong needle or large pin, or, for the brave, cutting them with a straight edged razor blade.
Ribbet, ribbet.

Sam said...

They don't complain about the seam ripper - it is their most used tool. As for Vouge, yes VERY detailed. But that assumes one is willing to read the pattern thru and then follow it. What I have is a generation used to finding the quick answer on Google or Youtube. So working thru a problem is not in their vocabulary. Instead we have the medal for "Most Needles Broken" - the winner gets to wear a 3' sombereo on Opening Night.