Buyer beware

I bought these silver seed beads, added some turquoise beads from my stash and made this bracelet.  This is actually one of two.  The second was a gift to a friend.

I didn't realize until later that these are galvanized beads and that they're known to lose their finish.  I tried spraying them with acrylic coating to keep the finish.  My friend (the recipient of the second bracelet) told me that the finish peeled off a bit on hers.  I felt really bad and apologized, but she told me it's OK.  She just takes it off when doing housework so it will last longer.

So I've learned two lessons here.  First, it's nice to have understanding friends.  Second, if I'm going to do more beadwork, I need to learn more about my materials.  Buyer beware.

Tatted edging

The Malaysian Tatter's group has a monthly challenge.  The March challenge was to attach tatting to fabric.  I was feeling very old-fashioned so I made this little lace mat.

The pattern is Edging 15 from Anne Orr's Classic Tatting, done in DMC Cebelia 30.  Here's a closeup.

 

I was feeling too lazy to sew the edging on, so I punched holes along the edge with my sewing machine and a wing needle.  As a result, there are small unused holes along the edge.  It's not perfect, but I think it looks acceptable.  Now I'm itching to make another one with a crochet edging.