Wednesday 24 February 2016

Vintage Square

I was leafing through some old tatting booklets sent to me as a gift (thank you MM!) and I saw this square.  As is frequently the case with old patterns, I found that the chains of the tatted sample were much looser than the way I like to make chains which means that the centre trefoils are quite crowded.  I would have needed to add a few extra stitches to the chains that go around that centre square of trefoils.  Also the original has trefoils on the corners after the last round (fiddly because they are added afterwards as free-standing elements) which I am not able to add as this pushes the corner in so much as to leave no space for the ring on the other side.





See what happens if I try to add the trefoils at the end?
 Although I do like the way that trefoil reshapes the chains
but you'd have to remove one of the rings to make it fit.






This square motif is from Tatting Book no. 13 by Ann Orr (sadly no date on the booklet).  Interestingly there is a paragraph in there about a "new method in tatting" which explains how to make a split ring with "reverse stitches".  The explanation says to make the first half of the ring, then take off the hand and turn over (luckily we found we don't need to do that), before making the second side with reverse stitches.  I wish there was a date in the book!

Best wishes,
Frivole

13 comments:

  1. I know how you love square motifs! This one is lovely. I also find that vintage patterns are somewhat looser than I like. Some day I hope to play with some of my favorites and adapt them as you have done.

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  2. That is so beautiful and elegant!!! :)

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  3. Your result with the square is beautiful! It seems that thread tension varies with each tatter, including contemporary designers. Totally a good idea to make adjustments as needed.

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  4. When I look at photos of vintage tatting (and Anne Orr designs in particular) I often notice a significant gaposis between the two chains at the base of a ring or trefoil, where the worker didn't pull the first half stitch of the chain tight enough. In many cases, I think this may account for their need for fewer stitches in the chains; to the modern eye it looks untidy and poorly executed, so we're careful to snug our chains up more.

    The motif looks very pretty and elegant as you have made it, so I'd call it a successful adaptation. If you wanted to square the corners off a little more, I think you could still do trefoils, but invert them; use a second shuttle on the last round and make the trefoils with it, so they point outward, and adjust the stitch count as needed. No extra ends to hide, either!

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    1. Oh yes Miranda, there are times when I've seen samples for old patterns... and I'd have been tempted to say the chains looked like spaghetti, so loose was the tatting! Chains often didn't have the graceful curve we are used to seeing nowadays.

      Thanks for the suggestion for the corners... but I think that would make the corner stick out too much... or still require the removal of one of the rings on the inside. It'd be interesting to try though.

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  5. Oh how pretty! I love it! How big is it?
    Wouldn't it have been fun to sit down with Ann Orr who seems to have so far ahead of her contemporaries? Or at least the most published. I am so fascinated whenever someone comes up with a new technique and the Internet allows so many of us the opportunity to learn from their creativity!

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    1. Hi Michelle, thank you - the square measures 2 3/4 across (or 7.5cm). Yes, we are certainly very lucky to be able to share techniques and info about tatting so easily nowadays. :-)

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  6. Your tatting is always a pleasure to see. This square has so many possibilities, wonderful adaptation.

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  7. This is a lovely, balanced-looking square - great colour too!

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  8. It's a lovely square pattern, I can understand how you changed it on the corner to fit, I think now it looks even better with your modifications
    Margaret

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  9. Lovely. I wonder - would one of the smaller trefoils from the center fit on the tips, pointing outward as Miranda mentioned? Then if you joined them side-to-side, it would duplicate the very dense center at each join corner, which might be nice.

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  10. Beautiful square ! It is so lovely as is, but if joined together, it will create so many interesting designs interweaving through the lace fabric. Hope you try it out :-)
    And this square is perfect as ism without the trefoils.

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  11. According to the Antique Pattern Library Anne Orr book 13 was published c1915. Anyone wanting the pattern its available for free.

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