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Monday, February 12, 2018

Tiny Tatting

I stopped by Jo-Ann Fabrics to look through their collection of sewing thread. They had some nice colors in the Gütermann Dekor embroidery thread, so I bought one to try it out for tatting. It's 100% viscose and color #9945. I used it to make a heart:


This is the first time I've tried tatting with something other than cotton. I was surprised because it was easier to work with than I thought. It's VERY tiny though. Smaller than size 100 tatting thread, and nearly impossible to see the stitches. The picots don't keep their shape very well (the thread unravels), but the heart pattern doesn't have any decorative picots so it worked out okay.

Here's a photo comparing the sizes. Size 40 Lizbeth on the left, Güterman Dekor in the middle, and size 20 Lizbeth on the right:


Overall a fun experiment, but I'm not sure how often I will make something so small. It's difficult on the hands because the stitches need to be snugged very tightly. The rings were hard to close at times and I couldn't really see what I was doing when I sewed in the ends. I do like how tiny it is though:


12 comments:

God's Kid said...

Gorgeous hearts and the tiny one is great!!! :)
I had bought some quilting thread when others had talked about it and I found out it was smaller than my size 100 thread also. I didn't like how it tatted up so I gave it to a friend who quilts. ;)

Anonymous said...

The 100 percent cotton threads are easier to work with than those pretty shiny ones. ;) Silk is kind of a pain to tat with, too - same reasons - slick, and the picots don't stay, they sort of slide back into the surrounding DSs. The 'heavy' (#12 weight) embroidery/quilting threads mostly are about a size 80. The smaller ones can be around size 100 or smaller. Still, it was a good experiment.
StephanieW

Robin Perfetti said...

Thank you Sue. Good thing I didn't buy too much of the thread, otherwise I wouldn't know what to do with it.

You're right Stephanie, the pretty shiny threads called out to me instead of the duller cotton ones :) I don't think I saw the brands you mentioned in previous emails, might have to find them online. Thanks for all the info about threads.

Cindy said...

Oooh, I’ve tatted with sewing thread also. It IS difficult to see and to close those rings - and there’s no hope of opening a ring if you make a mistake! It really is pretty though - tiny and delicate!

Madtatter80 said...

This is sweet and delicate I live using good sewing threat for tatting💖💜❤💕❤💜

Jane McLellan said...

Wow, it’s very delicate but seems like hard work.

Lace-lovin' Librarian ~ Diane said...

The thread is pretty, but sewing in the ends would be a horror! I do like tiny tatting. I just save it for when I'm on a roll with following patterns correctly. :-)

Lavinia said...

The heart is so pretty! I also tried sewing thread but apart from the problems you mentioned, it also broke too easily...

Robin Perfetti said...

Luckily, this thread was very strong and had no trouble with breakage. However, I did buy some metallic thread that broke very easily. The only way to work with the metallic thread was to combine it with tatting thread, and work with the two threads simultaneously.

Coretta of corettadeesign said...

What is this pattern? I love it!

Robin Perfetti said...

Coretta, this is my Classic Heart pattern, which can be found in my Etsy shop. Glad you like the design!

Coretta of corettadeesign said...

yup, thanks, I kept reading back on your blog and saw the post and the etsy shop on the side. I got too excited and asked before I'd really looked. I got it, thanks!