clover mat

Pin It now!

Question - Is there a specialised tatting term for a fabric made by repeatedly joining multiple tatted motifs? Or were they simply called doilies and mats, and the like? Tessellation and/or tiling are terms that could be applied but I'd like to know what this arrangement was called historically ....

This is a portion of Jon Yusoff's Clover Mat/Doily/Runner. This free pattern can be found here - https://tatsaway.blogspot.com/2008/11/clover-matdoilyrunner.html It is made up of 3 different motifs, attached in a regular pattern. It is a diagram-only presentation, which I prefer!

Worked in Anchor Pearl Cotton size 8 (equi to Lizbeth size 20).

Motif A worked in blue shade - 00131 

Made a few wrong joins between the trefoils in the beginning and even untatted back to rectify the error.

Future - I had decided to use two colours - one for rings and other for chains, but totally forgot when I wound my shuttle CTM with the ball. Hopefully somebody will give it a go since they would outline some nice shapes when joined.

You might notice that the picots are not perfect. Dr Downplay was dancing on my shoulder and urging me to just let go and have fun and that's what I did - no picot gauge - sheer unadulterated pleasure of the shuttle moving back and forth!

Didn't realise the amount of thread this was consuming, LOL. For fear of running out of this shade I switched to a lighter blue - 00130.

12 Motif A joined.

Next I chose to add Motif C because the outer unattached motifs made the piece floppy. Also, being a single shuttle motif, I took it to my doc's appointment where I could finish 5 motifs. 

The florets that are joined to 3 motifs should actually have been filled with Motif B. However this small motif not only fit the space perfectly; it also left me the option of enlarging the fabric at a later date by snipping them off.

Motif C is a much darker shade of blue - 00133

When working with multiple colours or shades in frontside/backside tatting, one has to be mindful of colour blips at the joins. This time I used Lark's Head Join (the 2nd method) throughout and it is truly quite easy and quick! It has become my go-to. Watch Karen Cabrera's Lesson #101.

Motif B fills in the negative spaces. After some deliberation I chose two shades of purple - dark 00106 and light in the center 00104.

The final mat measures 20.5 cms or 8 inches length and breadth. It is already in use!

Background Options -

Being of different values, it was very difficult for all shades to show up. The best was against this wooden board. I usually brighten the image and increase the contrast. Which is when I noticed the options in the top bar of Photos .... Is it a new AI option put in by Windows 11 or was I just blind all this time?! Anyways, here is what I did ....

Open pic in Photos and click on Edit.

Next click on the last icon. (The last two icons are AI features, I think)

This is the window that opens on the side with 3 options. I chose to remove the background, hence clicked on the center option. Then Save your image.

TIP - The image might save as .png which is heavier. Choose 'Save as' and select .jpg or the format of your choice from the drop down menu.

Before and After versions of the same pic. All colours and values are better visible against the white background.

 

NOTE - I used the other two options (blur and remove background) in a pic each of 2 other projects. While I haven't played with it much, I believe some distortion can occur especially in close-up pics. Hence use judiciously.

Many many thanks to Jon for sharing this lovely pattern and to Karen for her clear demo of the LHJ!

3D solid tatting

Pin It now!

 Who knew these cute little birds would be the cause to anger some people who then went on to make them an extinct species in their ecosystem! This pertains to only one specific FB group from which many of us have been booted out while others have left voluntarily. We now have a new group started by Vicki Clarke, called 3-D Tatting. All birds wiped out from that one group are now flocking together in this group, LOL, and others as well.

Bluebird in solid tatting

Continuing from my last post about flat solid tatting, see how wonderfully it can be applied to tatted amigurumi models!!! All pics in this post belong to Carolyn Craig who is the experimenter, designer, and tatter. I will quote some of what she shared with me privately with permission to use whatever was needed.

What is Amigurumi - Amigurumi is the Japanese art of crocheting or knitting small, stuffed yarn creatures or objects. The word combines "ami" (meaning knitted or crocheted) and "nuigurumi" (meaning stuffed doll). Amigurumi are typically worked in spiral rounds using basic crochet stitches like single crochet and invisible decrease. They can now add tatting to the list for amigurumi. CRAIG

Solid Tatting by CAROLYN CRAIG - is the same as amigurumi. It is continuous rounds instead of joined rounds in a spiral, but it can also do flat solid tatting which is continuous. 

3-D Lips

After her 2D solid tatting in 2020, Carolyn tried these lips, working them in continuous rounds and stuffing them before sewing them closed

The Lips became the body of the birds. I am a retired art teacher. I have used basic shapes in clay, paper, and other materials to make different objects for class projects. I see how some can be made with the solid tatting, I just have not mastered all the ways it can be used. CRAIG

3-D Mouse Family

"The mouse family in solid tatting with jute... continuous spirally circle of tatting"

3-D Robin

This Robin is worked in yarn. 

You can see how she is experimenting with different threads/yarns as well as sizes to get the desired result.

The collage shows how the body is being worked as a single entity, a continuous round which includes the head in a different colour. Before the body is closed completely, it is stuffed. The tail, wings, beak, eyes are added later.

Below we see the assembly parts of a solid tatted Sparrow. 

3-D Sparrow

"This sparrow was done in 4 ply acrylic yarn with a Moonlit shuttle. The sparrow is continuous solid tatting in a spiral to form body and head. The spine and tail are solid flat tatting in one piece. The wings are regular tatting."

The second image is the parts of sparrow solid tatting in a continuous spiral - body and head, Flat solid tatting which is continuous - spine and tail, and regular tatting - wings with moonlit shuttle in background. 

If you look close at the flat spine and tail, one of the two stitches used to create SOLID TATTING can be seen in the top and bottom row……. CRAIG

TIP: Carolyn uses two types of lock join to achieve her compact 3D solid tatting. For the most part the lock join made through the wasitband of a double stitch which she calls LFW (LJ through front waistband). It is the horizontal bar of a DS when the DS is facing us; the LJ is made within the stitch, between two half-stitches. The 2nd is when the LJ is made through the back waistband - LBW. This is simply like joining between two DS. Since 3D model is tatted all from the front, the LFW is used much more. LBW is used for increases/decreases to shape the model. 

3-D Bluebird

"The blue bird is with size 3 tatting thread (but tail and wings are still in size 3 thread instead of size 10)"

 

A closer look at these beauties!

These are but 3 solid birds designs. Her aviary consists of 7 or 8 different birds and you can see them in her FB timeline or the 3-D Tatting group (besides a few other groups). There are many active preservationists who stepped in to prevent extinction! Carolyn will be sharing her process and experiments in detail in future.

🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦

3D in Tatting - There are numerous ways to tat 3D models with or without stuffing. Some are worked continuously (as in the listing below) while others can include joining motifs, bowl shapes, covering a balloon or ornament, etc.  These could include in no particular order ....

• Bobby Demmer's bauble tatting (which the Shuttle Brothers used to tat mice, etc.) (https://janeeborall.blogspot.com/p/exclusive-tatting-club.html), 
• Richard Embrey's helix tatting (2019) (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/01/helix-tatting-pictorials.html), 
• Rhoda Auld's bobble tatting 1974 (which Ninetta Caruso used to make hollow tubes/ropes), to name but a few. (https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/search/label/stacking)
• Angeline Crichlow self-published a booklet titled Solid 3D Tatting (1995) where she mostly used block tatted segments to create numerous shapes and creatures. She has several models, but no birds. (https://www.somethingunderthebed.com/CURTAIN/REVIEWStat/REVIEWS_AtoD/Crichlow/CRICHLOW8.html) 
• 3-Dimensional from Endrucks directory (https://docs.google.com/document/d/10F9PdUIL_GcOelRsk5vKhaXXZnDQjaoJstaJU8ZPEJ8/view) displaying a range of 3D models derived from Endrucks' (1920) patterns. Also check out the eye candy section to see many many more models and ideas in the FB albums and roundups from games involving 3D tatting in #Endrucks1920Project. 
• Therese Dillmont's layered rings (1886) adapted & stacked for a 3D hollow for a tree trunk or a bangle, etc. (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2016/12/miniature-conifer.html)
• Patty Dowden's hyperbolic tatting (http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/6194296/hyperbolic-tatting-pdf-698k?da=y in Jane McLellan's blog)  
• To de Haan-van Beek's (1998) inverted tatting (https://www.somethingunderthebed.com/CURTAIN/REVIEWStat/REVIEWS_EtoH/HAANVANBEEK1.html) and Judith Connor's exquisite pieces in her album in Craftree.com
• Carolyn Craig's books on 3D tatted fairies, angels, flowers, etc. (https://www.somethingunderthebed.com/CURTAIN/TATTINGbiblio.html#C)
• Inserting or tatting over wire to shape and stabilise the model. Linda Davies has used this frequently in her tatted flowers (https://toptattyhead.blogspot.com/)

Please note that the above list is by no means exhaustive! Feel free to remind me of any I might've missed.

🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦

I wasn't going to, but this is adorably cheeky to not share! Here's what some veteran masters of tatting are doing in the above FB group .... Anita posted this yesterday and then left the group and told me I could share after several other tatters expressed their desire to copy/paste. 

Please note that this is the vintage edging (recreated by Anita) that inspired my threader holder motif here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2026/04/literally-out-of-box.html

And now I am told Martha Ess has also posted something similar listing all our greats who inspired her 3D design using block tatting and it reads like a true historical timeline. 

Cheeky but civilised and disciplined and following all rules! 

🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦

Many thanks to Carolyn for allowing me to share her lovely work and details and to ALL others mentioned who allow us to use their ideas and techniques so that we do not have to reinvent the wheel.

2D solid tatting

Pin It now!

 Carolyn Craig's journey of 3D solid tatting started with a flat 2D fabric which she first made and shared publicly in 2020.

This was the piece. In her words -

"My first piece of solid tatting was for a tapestry purse in 2020. I tatted a flat piece of solid tatting for tube at the bottom of the purse for a scarf or umbrella."

This is what the 2D solid tatting fabric looks like without the appliqued tatted letters. It is worked continuously in to and fro rows with a shuttle and ball. Thus we work from the front from left to right, turn work and go back from right to left in continuous succession and repetition.

💟

Above is my first attempt when she privately discussed her process with me. I chose to start with a ring and worked in continuous chains around it.  It is worked all from the front and the joins are made through the waistband of each double stitch (she calls this LFW - lock join front waistband) of the previous round.

My mistake was to use knitting cotton size 10. This is not as firm as crochet cotton. Also I couldn't always make out the joining point and probably fudged.

Nevertheless it gave me enough of an idea of how Carolyn worked her solid tatting.

One can continue this piece and end up with a 3D model but more on that in the next post.

💟

Meanwhile Carolyn has created a PDF with her pictorial on flat or 2D solid tatting. She graciouslygave me permission to share her work here. I like the applications she included towards the end. 

2-D Solid Tatting with Carolyn Craig April, 2026 PDF - 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12-ti9Ut7j9KXvrubxncW1mK3lnhvRnFE/view

The tutorial starts with a foundation chain rather than a ring and I followed along ....

 

Her tip about using a marker or pin is Really helpful. 

This time I used Anchor crochet cotton size 20 in single colour and worked off a ball with single shuttle.There were some errors and I had to re-tat the 3rd row ... practice will make it neater.

This is how it looks from the back - like knitting!!! Seed stitch as some members said.

TIP: In a square or rectangular piece where we alternate between working rows from the front and the back, all joins are made through the 'hidden picot' since we are not deliberately making any picot.  Carolyn terms this the LBW (Lock join to back waistband), 

💟

Carolyn pointed out that while some pinholes are fine in a flat piece, if we wish to use it for 3D, the space should be as minimal as possible to avoid any stuffing from being visible. So I continued with tighter stitches ....

You can see the difference between the upper and lower halves. 

Texturally, too, the upper half is stiff. Although I do like the lower one - it feels more cloth-like when handled. Each has its use.

The same sampler from the back. The seed stitch pattern is more obvious in the lower half than the upper one, though it could be my own fault.

At present this is set aside. Oh by the way, I used 7 double stitches per row and am certain there was some fudging at some of the turns.  

💟

So far, when worked in ROWS of 1DS chains, it is nothing different than Dora Young's patterns. The difference is merely in design; in the combination of dense and open areas. And she deliberately made 'picots' at each lock join. 

Since I last posted, this is how far my Dora Young's Round Pinwheel Doily from her 'All New Knotless Tatting Designs' (2nd ed) has reached.  As of 5th Oct 2025, it is 14 cms or 5.5 inches in diameter. The dense pinwheel is complete and only the open chain rounds are left. However, I ran out of thread and couldn't decide on how to proceed. 

💟

To recap, 

Solid Tatting is simply dense area(s) in any tatted lace. Usually the dense is interspersed with lighter/airier portions in interesting designs. Solid tatting also includes tatted formations such as blocks, coils, tallies, onion rings, etc. Remember how many of Eleonore Endrucks'  patterns have broad and diversely shaped blocks interspersed with more open areas? Die Schiffchen-Spitzen, 1920 -https://docs.google.com/document/d/17LEVftXweztBIOWh4sL4BB7bX65ssoOsOn4oXIgCepY/view. The difference is that she uses longer chain segments as well as segmented blocks rather than single DS chains. Even before Endrucks. we come across a couple of projects in Lady Hoare's book (1910) where continuous rounds of tiered chains provide a dense highlight to patterns.

UPDATE: Double Chains also offer a solid design option, however they require a minimum of Three threads - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/09/pleasure-and-pondering.html

However solid tatting can also be applied to 3D models as we shall see in the next post. 

Many many thanks to Carolyn .... the best is yet to come! 

new blooms

Pin It now!

I have a lot of tatting to share, but this simply couldn't wait!

 It took a month and half for this orange jasmine or madhukamini plant to flourish in this way! We got a flower here a flower there, but not in such glory. A quick count today revealed at least 15 flowers, not to mention their lovely fragrance. 

And I wonder if you can see there are several more buds waiting to open in the next few days. Sadly the flowers remain open for only a day but they do spread so much joy. Gardening requires patience and perseverance.

Here's how the plant looked when I first posted pics here https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2026/03/spring-magic.html

literally out of the box

Pin It now!

and functioning as a threader holder! Why didn't I think of this solution ages ago?! Here's the full story ...

Going back a few weeks, Anita showed me a vintage edging she had picked up at a thrift store. A single shuttle trefoil/clover edging with a curious way of joining the rings. It looked so good, too. Thought I'd work a sample but somehow I let my shuttle take over and ended up with this medallion.

Now I wasn't in the mood to use a picot gauge despite having a few handmade folded picot gauges, which is why the bare thread spaces are not perfect.

Nevertheless the highlight of this medallion is the little twist at the base of each ring. 

All I am doing is attempting to make a 1st half-stitch (ie. bringing the thread from Under the previous thread) without actually transferring or flipping it. This leads to all that twisting. One has to be careful with it. As you can see, the stitch is not tensioned and snugged completely since I wanted a loose twist. 

There is ample scope to play around with the effect, adding more half-stitches, etc.

It then reminded me of something that Ninetta had done. Turns out she used a lock join to simulate a twist in this vintage motif here - https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2020/08/locked-in-old-corner.html - from Emmy Liebert's 1916 book.

So coming back to the problem that was awaiting a solution. I whip stitch tail ends using tapestry needles and a threader to thread the needle. The latter is kept in a different box within the larger project box. I wanted a way to have both the needle container and the threader to be together - pick them up in one go. Didn't want to use tape; couldn't use a magnet; couldn't glue it down for obvious reasons. 

This medallion which happened to lie over the circular box struck me as the perfect solution. I glued it down with a spot of glue at 3 points, that's it! 

Being so open and airy, the threader easily slips through any space yet stays put! And no fear of the wire being bent or getting caught anywhere. A safe haven!

Anita called this the Threader Keeper!!! Now she's one to think out of the box and guess it is rubbing off on me, LOL.

Oh, and I am submitting this BTS medallion (my 5th submission) for Natalie Rogers' Picot Bingo 2026 Level 2, crossing out one box -  

• Use Bare Thread Space. 

(Details here - https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-new-year-147124370)

too clever by half

Pin It now!

or too lazy ... take your pick, LOL. So I actually completed a motif from scratch today as celebration of the International Tatting Day! Wanted to tat enough to upload to our Endrucks 1920 Project FB group and then continue tomorrow along with a blogpost. Wonder of wonders, my smart take meant I 'finished' the motif et al much before the end of the day! 

I had decided to tat a butterfly when I realised it would mean a line/row bingo as mentioned in my post here. And my first search was in the EP directory of butterfly derivatives. This was one motif I hadn't tatted, so mind made up. That it would happen so soon, well .... and that it had block tatting was something I hadn't planned on either.

This is the E16 Grazia Butterfly derived and designed by Pina Pinto for the #Endrucks1920Project; pictorial and written pattern by Ninetta Caruso. with a bit of input from me. Here is the direct link to the PDF - https://drive.google.com/file/d/10mqdUjIcdRADIuGt5il0C2PUvGn0HthK/view

And as you can see if you compare the models in the PDF to mine, this is in profile! After tatting two wings it looked pretty complete for a butterfly in profile! I think it looks good even though it is only Half the pattern. Folded the central (body) ring and added one more antenna and voila, it's ready to fly or alight.

The decision was possible because I followed my alternate path (diagram on page 9 of PDF) and tatted the wings separately. However, I also followed my own tip to tat the antenna in one pass which is why the first antenna is too long. Shortened the 2nd one at the end, though.

In Anchor and Red Rose pearl cotton size 8, the butterfly is 3cm high and 5.5cm wide (without antennae). In Lizbeth size 20, these measurements should hold true. I didn't want the ombre tinted colourway to overwhelm the pattern, hence paired it with ecru/cream.

And so I submit my 4th motif for Natalie Rogers' Picot Bingo 2026 Level 2, crossing out two boxes and one line, yay!

• Block Tatting
• Tat a Butterfly

Here's where I stand at present ... please note that I have a couple more motifs already tatted but not shared, which is why I did not cross out any of the respective boxes.

PICOT BINGO for the last row, teehee! (Details here - https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-new-year-147124370)

Hope you had or are having a great ITD. Ciao for now!

Happy Tatting

Pin It now!

A very happy International  Tatting Day to all tatters! 

While I will be tatting and also gobble up some chocolate today, what I am sharing here is a coaster or mat I worked on recently. It is a tessellation pattern by Karen Bovard from her 2013 book, 'MORE Fun With Split Ring Tatting'. 

It is made by joining individual houndstooth motifs on the go and there are slight differences in the motif depending on where it is positioned - whether in the main body or on a side, etc. The tails in the above piece are hidden but not trimmed. These acted as markers for my own comfort.

While the tatting itself is easy if you are comfortable with split rings, the arrangement of where each motif is attached needs careful attention. At least I needed that and had to cut off or retro-tat a few times.

The diagram was for a rectangle but I cut it short to a square. Which meant eliminating a row in the main body. To mark my place I marked the finished motifs in the diagram.

While I like the shape as is, it is not practical to use with all the arms sticking out. Hence I will be filling in the gaps, following Karen's pattern, but also outline it. Trouble is I can't decide the colour! Hubby suggested black or brown (the dark shade here is purple, not black) but I haven't made up my mind. Do you have any suggestions?
 

I had bought this book almost a decade back and so glad to have finally tatted something from it. The instructions at the beginning are very clear and detailed and make it easy to read the diagram-only patterns. There are myriad possible arrangements using some basic motifs as blocks or tiles and their niched arrangement in several patterns reminds one of MC Escher's tessellations. Of course, Karen has a lot of other designs, too as evident in the book covers. There are several I would love to try.

Karen even has a tip about making the split rings more circular. Huh, it just confirms why my own ring was circular too! (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2026/02/who-knew.html)

However, the spine of the book did not allow the book to remain open at the desired page. Hence I scanned and printed out the necessary pages and consulted them. 

UPDATE: (April 2, 2026) Karen has a new site which unfortunately does not show up in my feed. All the material from her old blog are also included in this new site. And she has some great tatting memes going ... looking forward to more. Here's the link - http://www.theshuttlesmith.com/

And I submit this as the 3rd piece for Natalie Rogers' PICOT Bingo 2026 Level 2 (https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-new-year-147124370). Only one box to cross this time, though this too is a rings-only pattern, viz.,

• Tat from a diagram