I was reading a fellow crafter’s blog when I saw a pretty butterfly she tatted. I’ve never heard about tatting before so I browsed and read through whatever I could find online about tatting.
First of all, you need to have a tatting shuttle. So a trip to Art Friend the other day made me bought a shuttle by DMC. Later I found out that there is another shuttle brand Clover sold at Maycraft. The shop is located in Taipan USJ. Will be visiting the shop one of these days..heh!
The funny part was once I bought the shuttle and a ball of thread, I have no idea how to wind the thread onto the bobbin. It took me the whole night to figure out that you can actually push the bobbin from the middle of the shuttle out, wind the thread and push it back inside the shuttle..huhu!
And it took me another 2 days to figure out how to do the basic of double stitch, a picot and a ring.
Somehow it is harder when you are self taught. I usually will go for a basic class for any new art and craft that I want to learn. It is easier when you have an instructor to ask every time some doubt or confusion arises.
Despite that I am thankful that there are many tatters out there who are willing to share via blog and videos on Youtube. I hope once I have mastered the basic techniques of tatting, I would be able to share in this blog so that other beginners in tatting will not waste so much time like I did learning the basic.
In only 2 days you figured it out? Fabulous! I think you will like just about any shuttle better than the one you have. If you get a Clover, make a slip knot and slide it over the post in the center. Hold onto the tail end until you get a few winds in then you can let go. That way, when you get to the end of the thread while tatting, you can just pull and it will come off. If you tie a knot, you have to stop and cut it. If you have the chance to get a book, get Learn to Tat by Janette Baker, it has a DVD which is excellent and there are all the basic techniques plus a few advanced ones in it. The most important thing is to use as good quality of a thread as you can afford and practice a little bit every day. You’ll soon develop a rhythm and improved tension and spacing if you do.
la hai cik farah… dah start bertatting rupanya… nape tak cakap, iren boleh share buku rebecca jones. iren suka tutorial kak faizon. terang gitu.. iren tak berapa suka shuttle dmc.. lebih prefer clover punya. kat haby&wool (ampang park) pun ada. cepat2le tayang hasil tatting mu itew…
Thanks Gina for the tips. I have checked out the book you mention, waiting for some money to be in my PayPal to buy the book 🙂 And I have bought the clover shutter.
iren, tu la telah terjebak pulak..tgk butterfly iren la ni..pastu baru buat skit misplaced plak the shutter..jenuh cari tak jumpa2..baru je beli shutter Clover last weekend, belum sempat nak test lagi..nanti email la buku2 tu..boleh jugak dibelek2..thank you in advanced 🙂