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.

Metallic butterflies

My latest bit of tatting is an embellished card, made for the Malaysian Tatter's monthly challenge.  The group is lead by Jon Yusoff and she works hard to reach out and share her tatting knowledge.

The heart is one I had already (Susan Fuller's Heart's Desire).  The edging is from Yusai Shokoin's "Tatting" book.  The butterfly is the Birte butterfly from "Tatted Butterflies" by Adelheid Dangela.

It took me a few tries to get a butterfly the right size, so I had some extras.

This is the Mia butterfly also from "Tatted Butterflies.  A friend of mine saw me making this and liked it.  So this is the last picture I got before it flew away with her.

I liked the Birte butterfly enough to make it again.  The thread is Oren Bayan metallic thread.  I'd love a few more of these (I think they'd look great hanging on a mobile), but my hands need to recover first.  Does anyone know of a metallic thread that doesn't feel like tatting barbed wire?

Fancy enough?

I made a dress for the little lady last month.  She chose the cloth.  She's wears it happily, but tells me that it's not 'fancy' enough.

And here I thought 3 full yards of ruffly lace was already pretty fancy.  The little lady is my sweetheart, so I added a tatted heart as a 'badge'.  You can somewhat see it in the picture above.  Here's a close-up.  The pattern is from Georgia Seitz.

Been tatting

I've been tatting. I was following along with Jane Eborall's Tat-it-and-see, and feeling so pleased for keeping up this year. Then, I completely missed the last two days and am finishing late, as usual.  Ah well, it's done now, and you couldn't ask for a cuter pattern.

I'm also working on a doily (from Sumi Fujishege's 'Tatting Lace' book). I don't use doilies. I'm not even sure I like doilies. So why am I making one?  It's those intertwined chains. They are charming. There is a 4 row and a 6 row version. I think I'm opting for 6 rows. Let's hope I still find this charming after that last long row.

Last is a pair of earrings from Marilee Rockley's 'Boutique Tatting' book. I'm really unhappy with my choice of bead colours and sizes, but I thought I'd take a picture before cutting everything up and starting over.

So-so soutache

Soutache jewelry is on my list of things to learn this year.  I'm waiting for this book and this book to come out.  While I wait, I'm googling for tutorials.  The best way to learn is to try.  So here's my second attempt, loosely based on a tutorial by Anneta Valious.

I'm trying to keep my enthusiasm in check, so I'm sticking to what's in the stash.  There's still much room for improvement.  Still, it got a compliment from an unusual source.  My little guy (aged 8) thinks it looks nice.  It's always nice to get compliments from the opposite sex.

New Year 100th post

It's a new year, it's my 100th post and I don't know what I'm going to do with the blog this year. Ah well, perhaps I'll do a crafty roundup.

This is step 1 in Jane Eborall's 2013 TIAS.

Next is, Susan Fuller's Heart's Desire, done in response to the Malaysian Tatters January challenge.  It's a lovely pattern, marred by my careless joining.

This is a little snake knot bracelet done with satin cord.  I'm still trying to figure out how to finish the ends neatly.

Here's a soutache hairclip.  I'm planning to learn soutache jewelry making this year. There are some new books coming out. I like it because it reminds me of the Chinese frog closures my mother used to put on the baju kurung she made me as a kid.

Here's more jewelry. This is a spiral rope chain.  I nearly went mad with boredom trying to make 60cm (2 feet) of it.  I kept at it because it used up the stash and will go well with one of my favourite tops.

Next is another necklace.  It's a crochet chain, with plastic beads and metallic thread.

Here are some more stash busters; a knit garter stitch bag and some stackable cats from Mochimochi Land.

The cats were meant for my baby niece, but the big cat is super squishy, so now my kids fight over it.  Sigh.