A question was recently posted on my Facebook page about whether the pattern was available for buttons I had made in 2016. I had to do a bit of review on which buttons and if there was a pattern for them. The post was about tatting for International Tatting Day and the decorated buttons I had made to give away. There are actually several posts about them, but I never posted about the patterns.
Buttons from 2016
Most of the buttons from that time were variations of the same pattern. Looking through my patterns I see that I had never posted these buttons. I had written a pattern, which I found after I remade it. As someone asked about these, I have added the pattern on My Patterns page as Buttons From 2016.
I seem to be falling behind on writing out my patterns. There are also at least two patterns that I started writing out that I can’t find where I put them (what file they are in). While looking through older patterns I see where some could be improved. I’ve also got a few that I’ve written out but not shared.
Hmm, I need to get busy! How about you?
“The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.” Jonas Salk
I am still working on emptying a few shuttles. I’ve had fun deciding what to do with the thread that I have to work with.
Decorated button in a turquoise blue
The picture doesn’t show the true color of this thread, it has more green to it. I’m not sure how many shades of blue/turquoise I have, but a lot, so this is hard to match. I had enough to go around this 7/16th inch button (11 mm). The longest measurement of the finished button is 1 1/2 inches (about 4 cm). I’m sure the thread is Lizbeth size 20.
Decorated button in pink cocoa
This one looks to be made in size 40 thread. I think it is Lizbeth #166 Pink Cocoa. I started off with one idea and transitioned into something else when it wasn’t going to work out as expected. It still came out kinda cute. It also measures about 1 1/2 inches (about 4 cm) long. The button is also 7/16th inch (11 mm).
This medallion was not made emptying shuttles. I was trying out a new ball of thread, Liz Metalic #325 Gem Stone. I used a metal ring about 15/16th inch across (23m mm) that I found at JoAnn’s last week. I think the thread would look a bit richer with a gold center, but I like how this looks. Especially with the right background. The Metallic thread does not show up in pictures as pretty as it is in person.
Decorated ring in Gem Stone
The finished medallion is about 3 inches across (75 mm). Originally I planned on another round but decided against it – at least this time – when I finished the second round. I like how it looks just like this.
I’ve been happy with my thread endeavors recently, even though they start out with few intentions other than to tat. Lately that has been enough.
“If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.”Elon Musk
I’ve had a bit more time to tat lately, a couple of unplanned evenings at home. Not a bad thing. I listened to a couple of audio books while I tatted, which made them very nice evenings.
Metallic thread coaster
I started the individual medallions of this coaster a week or so ago, with three of the medallions joined. I was just playing around with the thread, no pattern in mind. I decided to add a fourth, which looked a bit unfinished, so I added the round of silver. It’s not quite three inches (75 mm) across. I’ve been debating whether to add a silver ring, or rings, to the center, but haven’t tried that yet. What do you think?
I used Lizbeth #320 Steel Blue Metallic and #190 Silver Ice Metallic for this. The pictures just don’t show up that metallic look very well.
I was thinking of Easter and Easter eggs when I tatted around this button. I was aiming for an egg shape. It kind of looks egg shaped, doesn’t it?
Hints of Easter decorated button
Whatever the shape, I enjoyed making this. It is in Lizbeth #632 Purple Medium size 20 and about 2 1/2 inches (65 mm) across. If I do it again I’ll do the top just a bit differently using either a SCMR or a ring below the clover.
For a while, I had not had much enthusiasm for tatting, reading and web surfing instead. I’m happy that I’ve gotten back into the swing of it.
“One thought driven home is better than three left on base” Fortune cookie
I don’t actually have a shuttle aisle, but I have a messy craft room that needs to be cleaned up. While going through things in my craft room I came across a bag that had a lot of miscellaneous itmes in it, including a bunch of shuttles. I need to “clean up” all of these so I can use them for other things!
Shuttles and other stuff
Almost all of these shuttles were partially wound. Some of the threads I recognize and can match, but others are shades that are not so easily done. So what to do with them?
Some shuttles had more thread than others. There was enough on most to do more than single ring flowers and four ring butterflies, which are my go-to for snippets of thread left on shuttles. The little flowers and butterflies can easily be added to cards and notes. I did finish off a couple of shuttles with these.
Flowers and butterfly tail ends
But the ones with a bit more thread I put on buttons. The two small buttons are just doodles, simple things just to get around the button. These work well as accents on bags and collars. Or just to do with no purpose other than the joy of making them.
Buttons and doodle
The two-color button is trying to recreate the decorated grey button that I did a couple of weeks ago. I made a couple of changes that seem to change the overall look of it, not what I had in mind. But I ran out of one of the blues. And I have a lot of threads that are shades of blue. It may be hard to match it and finish it.
The metallic doodle was not started with shuttles found in the bag. This was an idea that I got when I found the doodad in the middle as I was looking through other things in my craft room. I started it before I made last week’s decorated button. I haven’t decided if this is done or not.
I really need to do more cleanup in my craft room than I need to with the shuttles. But the shuttles are more fun!
“You never know what you have until you clean your room”
I like how this turned out! I also like how it was done in one pass. Much improved from the original.
When I finished the coaster I needed to empty a few shuttles of leftover thread. I’m not sure what the color is so I couldn’t get more thread for a chain thread or anything other than a small project. I pulled some thread off of the shuttle for the chain thread, which limited the size of whatever I finally made. I’ve been seeing a lot of decorated buttons on the Facebook page which inspired me to do a little something,
Decorated shank button
This came out very simple, but it didn’t take much thread. I’ve never used a shank button before and I didn’t do a great job on it. I know I’ve seen instructions on how to join to a shank button somewhere online but I didn’t take the time to look it over, I just gave it a try.
Speaking of buttons, when I recently visited my mother I got to go through a few of hers. I found a couple of cards with buttons that I like. I also recently got a shipment of thread from Tatting Corner, a couple of which I think will go well with one of the buttons.
A button and threads
I’m debating with myself about what I could do with this combination. What do you think?
“Every project is an opportunity to learn, to figure out problems and challenges, to invent and reinvent.” David Rockwell
I have several tatting projects I want to be working on, but for some reason, I’m having a hard time spending my time on them. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to or am not tatting, I’m just doing other things. Easy things, like tatting around buttons. These take little thought, mostly it’s “does the thread color compliment the button color?” They are easy to carry and easy to make. Add a pin on the back or maybe sew them to one end of a ribbon and, wah-lah! a fun little gift.
Working on more tatted buttons
While at my daughter’s a few weeks ago I took thread and buttons to tat with in the evenings or quiet times. One afternoon while working on one my grandson asked me about them; how long did it take to make one, was it hard? Can I have one? How could I say no to that? He admired the one with the red button. I just had to put a safety pin on the back before giving it to him. He proudly wore it on his T-shirt when we went out that evening and on the T-shirt he wore to school the next morning.
Granddaughter’s tatted birthday button
I was visiting my daughter to help celebrate my granddaughter’s birthday. She had already opened her birthday gifts when she saw that her brother had a tatted button. Of course, she wanted one, too. She is very much into pinks and purples and I happened to have just the button and thread to make the perfect one for her. She was quite pleased with it.
Everyone, where I work, is supposed to wear their ID badge out where it can be seen. The office furnishes badge reels to make this easy. I decorated mine with a tatted doodad, which has been known to draw a few eyes. Recently, when a friend of mine at work celebrated her birthday, I mentioned I would make her a badge reel decoration if she would like one. She enthusiastically said yes. Her color of choice was purple.
My badge reel not-quite-button
I used a button for hers instead of a doodad. I didn’t have beads that would work with the thread so I added a bigger bead to the center for a bit more bling. I thought I had it all worked out by taking glue to work with me to attach it to her badge reel. I was wrong. The glue I took didn’t hold at all. She knew of someone that had glue that might work.
Birthday badge reel tatted button
The glue worked. It also added a little extra bling to the tatting as well. You can see the original thread color on the button while the outside is all dark and glittery. Yes, this is what it looked like after it dried. My friend was very happy with the result.
I wish I had remembered to take a picture of it before it was glued down. Not that it doesn’t look okay now, but a before and after picture would have been nice. I didn’t get pictures of the buttons with my grandchildren, either. As many pictures as I take you’d think I’d remember to do this. The import thing is that all the recipients are happy with their buttons.
It makes me happy when I can make others happy. Isn’t the point of giving gifts to bring happiness to others?
“We all get so caught up in the moment of what we’re doing every day, it’s hard to hit that reset button and get pulled away from all that and see life from a different perspective.” Tony Stewart brainyquote.com
Back in May I made a couple of denim wrist cuffs for my daughters for Mother’s Day. I was so delighted by how they came out that I decided to make one for myself.
Of course, it had to be a little different. Instead of tatting around buttons I edged a small piece of material instead. I planned the material to be white with white tatting. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find my white thread. (Can you believe I couldn’t find white thread???) My solution was using Lizbeth #602 Natural in size 20, sewed to a corner of an old tea towel, then stained in coffee. The lace bits I had were different shades of white/off white which worked well with the material piece.
Denim cuff with buttons and tatting
I have a jar of old buttons that I sorted through to find accents for the cuff. I tried newer buttons as well, trying to find just the right ones for the look I was after. It’s amazing how hard it is to find just the right buttons and just the right places to put them. I also added randomly placed seed beads over the whole thing.
You might notice that the ends don’t have the obvious stitching like my daughter’s had. I used invisible thread this time. It gives a nicer, finished look to the cuff, but it’s a lot harder to use than regular thread. Instead of using a hair band for the closure I braided thread to make the loop.
Wearing my denim cuff
I’m tickled pink at how it came out. I probably won’t wear it much until the weather cools off, but I’m already planning what I’ll wear it with this fall.
I’m still working on my clunies, but also a few other techniques that I don’t use often, like split chains. I’ve done split chains before though only rarely. I had to go on-line and refresh my memory. I have a very strange-looking piece of tatting where I practiced this over and over. Maybe, maybe, I have this down a little better.
My biggest concern right now is not what I need to know at Tat Days but what tatting should I take with me to do on the plane? Something not too complicated, without beads, and easy to put down and pick up. Hmmm.
What do you take with you to do when you fly?
“Denim has always been an everyday symbol for style” Ritu Kumar
I put tatted buttons on denim with a little lace and made cuffs for my daughters for Mother’s Day.
My original idea for my daughters did not work out, so I scrapped it and looked for something else. While on Pinterest, where I spend way too much time, I came across decorated material cuffs. They sparked an idea that had a chance to get done in the time left before Mother’s Day.
I started with a known favorite color – purple – and tatted the buttons. These could be done in the car going back and forth to work as the passenger. The easy part.
At home I found an old pair of jeans to cut up for the base. At first it was going to be one piece of denim for each cuff. It didn’t take long to decide there needed to be a backing to cover up all my stitching and keep the back pretty. I collected odds and ends of lace, ribbons, and buttons to play with, laying them out on the denim with the buttons in different ways.
I had recently purchased some leftover pieces of lace material from a local second hand shop which made a nice base for the other decorations. It didn’t take long to notice the buttons could be flowers. And what are flowers without leaves? A few leaves of green material – didn’t quite look right. They were very plain and boring. A few simple stitches with embroidery floss helped them look much more like leaves.
It took longer than expected to put the first one together. Mostly because I couldn’t make up my mind how to place things or what, exactly, I wanted. But, at last, the first one was done.
The second one didn’t take as long. Other than changing the thread colors to blues on the buttons it was pretty much the same. Except – the green material used for the leaves didn’t look as good with the blues. I had to find a different shade of green material and thread for them. I also added silver beads as I stitched everything down.
My sewing machine is not accessible at the moment so I stitched the ends down by hand. Which would have looked much better in something other than white, especially I as I can’t sew straight. I purposely left the sides frayed-looking but it won’t fray far. The two layers of denim are glued together.
The cuffs are finished off with a button on each end and an elastic hair band in the same color as the flower buttons. They are easy to put on.
I gave the cuffs to my daughters the week after Mother’s Day. One was completed on time but not the other. Gotta be fair, right?
I’m thinking about making one for myself. Will I continue with flowers or try something else?
I would hate to be cuffed to only one idea.
Okay, I’m done now.
“Don’t let your habits become handcuffs.” Elizabeth Berg
I put tatted buttons on denim with a little lace and made cuffs for my daughters for Mother's Day.
My original idea for my daughters did not work out, so I scrapped it and looked for something else. While on Pinterest, where I spend way too much time, I came across decorated material cuffs. They sparked an idea that had a chance to get done in the time left before Mother's Day.
I started with a known favorite color - purple - and tatted the buttons. These could be done in the car going back and forth to work as the passenger. The easy part.
At home I found an old pair of jeans to cut up for the base. At first it was going to be one piece of denim for each cuff. It didn't take long to decide there needed to be a backing to cover up all my stitching and keep the back pretty. I collected odds and ends of lace, ribbons, and buttons to play with, laying them out on the denim with the buttons in different ways.
I had recently purchased some leftover pieces of lace material from a local second hand shop which made a nice base for the other decorations. It didn't take long to notice the buttons could be flowers. And what are flowers without leaves? A few leaves of green material - didn't quite look right. They were very plain and boring. A few simple stitches with embroidery floss helped them look much more like leaves.
It took longer than expected to put the first one together. Mostly because I couldn't make up my mind how to place things or what, exactly, I wanted. But, at last, the first one was done.
The second one didn't take as long. Other than changing the thread colors to blues on the buttons it was pretty much the same. Except - the green material used for the leaves didn't look as good with the blues. I had to find a different shade of green material and thread for them. I also added silver beads as I stitched everything down.
My sewing machine is not accessible at the moment so I stitched the ends down by hand. Which would have looked much better in something other than white, especially I as I can't sew straight. I purposely left the sides frayed-looking but it won't fray far. The two layers of denim are glued together.
The cuffs are finished off with a button on each end and an elastic hair band in the same color as the flower buttons. They are easy to put on.
I gave the cuffs to my daughters the week after Mother's Day. One was completed on time but not the other. Gotta be fair, right?
I'm thinking about making one for myself. Will I continue with flowers or try something else?
I would hate to be cuffed to only one idea.
Okay, I'm done now.
"Don't let your habits become handcuffs." Elizabeth Berg
I had a lot of fun today celebrating International Tatting Day.
Becky, Sherry, and me at Montana Mike's Steakhouse
( I should have moved over with the others so the window wasn't directly behind us)
Had lunch with two ladies that are my students. We get together once a month to tat and this month it was in public with tatting and chocolate. I brought Hershey's kisses in several varieties, something for everyone.
Becky and Sherry
I put the tatted buttons I've been working on in a teacup. The other teacup has the chocolate. I also had a candy bowl with several shuttles wound with a yard of size 10 red thread and card stock wrapped with 2 yards of size 10 white thread. These were to be given away if anyone was interested in trying and wanted them. I demonstrated for one interested person but she didn't take a shuttle. We had several people stop and ask questions about what we were doing and were very impressed. No-one turned down the buttons when offered one.
Sherry was having a little trouble and Becky helped her out. Nothing ensures you know what your doing as much as having to demonstrate and help someone else.
I think I gave out about 10 buttons while we were out today. At work I gave out the other 15 I had, along with a Hershey kiss.
I guess I need to make more buttons :-)
I hope all of you enjoyed International Tatting Day where-ever you were.
With all the dust and disruptions at the house due to the remodel I've not gotten much tatting done. I can still do a bit in the car so I've continued to decorate buttons for International Tatting Day.
I did give away a few green ones last week to be worn for St. Patrick's Day.
And one to an aunt who thought it was pretty.
And one to a co-working who really liked it.
The grandchildren like them, too. And their mothers.
I guess if I don't give them all away on ITD I'll still be able to do something with them eventually.
"Who gives from the mind is great
Who gives from the heart is truly blessed."
Marinela Reka Shortly after I posted this we went out for lunch. We met a nice lady in another booth that recognized that I was tatting and had a nice visit. Before she left I gave her a button and my card. Do you think I'll have any left for ITD?
There are so many things going on lately I've not really gotten into any projects even though I have several in mind. Instead I've been working on little things to give away (I hope) on International Tatting Day April 1st.
Tatting around buttons is easy and quick and people really like them when they see them, making them ideal as small give-a-ways. I've done a few in green because, hey, St. Patrick's day is coming up - never hurts to have a little green on you.
Instead of sewing in the ends on these I've used them to sew on a small safety pin. I have a whole jar of safety pins of different sizes, thought this would be a good place to use the smaller ones.
I think I'll move on to other colors now and maybe make a few into Easter eggs like I have the last couple of years; a few on paperclips and a few on safety pins.
I really need to keep a few of these handy all the time, not just for ITD. I've had several opportunities to give something like this away to an interested by-stander but didn't have any with me that were finished. Okay, I'd already given the finished ones away... So I need to keep more on hand.
Still haven't gotten my drawing program fixed. Now that I can't I really want to work on some patterns. I hope I keep up the enthusiasm for when I have a working program again.
While I wait I might as well do another button.
"You gotta try your luck at least once a day, because you could be going around lucky all day and not even know it."
In honor of the 4th of July I thought I'd tat something in red, white and blue. This started out to be a bracelet with three white buttons, each decorated with a different color thread. The red and blue threads worked great but the white thread kept breaking. I finally gave up on trying to tat around the button and went around the other two buttons instead. I'm still deciding how to make a bracelet out of this.
I'm not giving up, just changing the plan a bit :-)
Enjoy a safe, happy and red, white and blue Independence Day!
William Faulkner: “We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.”
I took two balls of thread, Lizbeth #130 Island Breeze and #122 Caribbean in size 20, and a handful of buttons to decorate with me when we left for Alaska. I figured that buttons are small, easy to do, don't take a lot of thought and would be easy to give away if the opportunity came up. These four, plus the one I mentioned a few weeks ago, are the buttons (okay, and one doodad) that I made while we were on the cruise. The ones on the top and the left I made first using only one shuttle. The one on the right didn't come out like I was hoping but I may find a place to use it. The bottom one was very frilly until I blocked it. I'm not sure how it has eleven points but I like it and am not worried about it. If I try it again I'll probably figure it out :-)
The rest of today's pictures are from our stop in Juneau. I thought I was going to have a few pictures from the ship, too, but somehow they didn't make it. Probably next week.
If you're ever in the Juneau area I highly recommend visiting Glacier Gardens, they are absolutely gorgeous! There are these lovely dead trees (yes, dead trees) that are in the ground upside down with beautiful plants in the root systems.
Everywhere you look are lush plants. It is a rain forest.
A lovely, lovely place to visit.
Just outside of Juneau is the Juneau Icefield, the start of Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls, which is fed by the glacier. We didn't think we had time to make it to the falls, which was a mile hike both ways (we didn't want the bus to leave without us).
The glacier as seen through the long lens of our camera. It is several miles away from where we were. There is nothing over there that you can compare it to for size.
But you can see how large Nugget Falls is when you see the people at the foot. This picture is with the long lens of our camera.
We visited so many places and there were so many things to see and do that I didn't get a chance to tat at all of them, but I did remember here. It was a bit chilly and damp so it really was only a few stitches.
The ship was only in Juneau for a few hours so there were many things we didn't get to see. We'd really like to go back, but it will have to be a few years down the road. If you get the chance to visit, DO IT!
"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not"
My husband and I stopped at a local flea market/antique shop the other day. We didn't find what we stopped in looking for, but I found a few things that I ended up bringing home.
Check out these buttons! Someone took the time to cut them off of the clothes they were on and saved them. There are some interesting buttons in here. I'm already thinking of where and how to use them.
I can see either a family picture or tatting in this pretty little heart-shaped frame. It looks to have never been used - the picture is the one that came with it when it was new.
I found two packages of hat/lapel pins. I snatched them up as I have been looking for this item for quite a while. I have several relatives that like hats and wearing these in lapels as well. And if they turn out well maybe I'll try selling a few of these at a craft show.
I do have to keep a tight reign on my purse at flea markets so I don't take home everything that strikes my fancy!
"Is it strange that I enjoy going to flea markets more than going to the mall?"
Adding tatting to buttons for brooches has really caught my imagination lately. I pull out different threads to compare which ones look the best with the different buttons and dream about what I'm going to do with each one.
I guess there are worse things to think about.
This is the latest button. On which I used another button as well as some tatting in Lizbeth Mocha Brown Dark #692 and Harvest Orange Med #694, both size 20. It does have a pin back on it as well. Now I just need the right color blouse or dress to wear it on. Or maybe a hat, or my purse...
I saw a neat idea over at Sew Many Ways awhile back that came to mind the other day. I had a few of these clips handy and thought I'd give it a try.
They came out kinda cute, don't you think? I suppose they could be used for paper like they are intended as well.
A Soggy Tatting Tea Tuesday
It rained yesterday.
One of the barn swallows that has made a house on the side of our house was out enjoying it. It was raining pretty heavy and he was out taking a bath. The post on our (decorative) hand pump is a favorite perch for the swallows all the time, even in the rain.
It rained yesterday.
This was later in the evening.
Did I mention it rained yesterday?
This is a picture the neighbor sent us looking out his front door to our back door. Those lighter stripes there are his driveway.
No, we don't live in the flood plain of a creek or pond or lake. We actually live on somewhat high ground - for the neighborhood.
We were very nervous about the water getting into the house but it didn't. It came up to the thresh holds of the doors but didn't come in.
The roads flooded as well. We had to take a detour to get home after work because of water over the roads. We thought we might have to wait awhile for the water to go down but the road we detoured to had only about an inch running over it, so we chanced it (after walking it to verify depth and speed) and made it home okay. This morning instead of tatting or blogging we drove around to see how much the water had gone down and if the roads were passable. They were.
We are still in a flood watch until Thursday morning though. It rained so hard farther north that the creeks and rivers close to us could still come up in the next few days.
I liked how the photo albums from last week came out so well that I did another one. This time using 'Joy's Heart' in Lizbeth #159 Easter Eggs size 20. With flowers and butterfly in random colors.
I think these albums are great gift ideas - inexpensive to buy the album and quick to decorate to match the person you are gifting or just to have on hand for "emergency" gifting. The hardest part was actually finding the background paper to match the thread colors. This one has a white background with dabs of green ink.
Remember the buttons I decorated a while back? These are something else that would make nice gifts, for certain people anyway. When Odd Balls Yarn Shop was closing they had quite the sale and I picked up a bunch of buttons before they were gone. For some reason I really like the idea of adding tatting and pin backs to these. Some of the buttons are in kind of odd colors, making them a bit harder to match threads to. This one is black so not that hard. I don't know if you can see the texture marks on the button in the photo or not.
The dragonfly is in Lizbeth #131 Vineyard Harvest size 20. One of the photo albums that I used had a drawing of flowers and a dragonfly on it originally which inspired me to make a small dragonfly. I just looked at the picture and came up with the pattern but I'm sure I've seen it out there, or something very close.
Has anyone out there been doing any of the Shuttlebirds' Weekly Challenges? I've done a couple, including #11 which was "Morgan Mouse". #12 is Nancy Tracy's "Clover Drop Heart" which is a cute little pattern and not very complicated. I thought it would look good on a photo album.
And I goofed it.
I made one chain a little too short.
This is what happens when you don't pay attention.
It's done in Lizbeth #117 Country Side size 20.
I guess I'll try it again - hopefully paying a little bit more attention the next time.
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." Ralph Waldo Emerson
