Tag: lavender

A herd of tatted lavender bags

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tatted lavender bags

Do you think you could call them a herd? Not entirely sure, but they’re certainly gathering. Things have changed again work-wise for me, so I’m back to a regular commute. Even better, I’m back to a regular commute that more often than not affords me a seat, which is great news. It’s also exceptionally slow, due to engineering works, which is less great (but very British, to be honest). This means I have more time to tat.

Tatting on my leg

There you can see an over processed iPhone photo taken while I was tatting on the train. I’ve been working on my own patterns a lot, using the ANKARS technique of overlapping rings. I must admit, I’m really enjoying it.

Adding beads

This bit is always less fun – not sure why but the sewing drives me a little nuts. Some beads I add as I tat, others I’ve started sewing in at the end…

Waiting...

Last weekend I finally had enough time, and enough semi-complete pieces to get out the sewing machine. What I *didn’t* have is any fresh lavender. The stuff I have is getting on a bit now, and I was a little concerned. That said, it’s performed admirably, and the corner of the house where they’re currently all piled up smells amazing.

Envelope back

I decided to go for envelope backs on the bags – partly due to the concern of the lavender not being fresh and needing to be replaced, and partly because it gives me a higher chance of finishing the edges neatly. If you do it like this, there’s no need to hand finish the edges! They also look kinda cute – but I neglected to take a photo… sorry about that.

result

In the end I made six complete bags. I have another two that still need to be stitched on to fabric – and I got some new thread at the weekend, so there could be more to come. Not 100% sure what to do with them all right now, but… well… as I said, that corner of the house smells amazing.

collection

And there’s still more tatting knocking about that needs to be ‘dealt with’… But as it goes, there are worse things to worry about.

Rinse, repeat

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Since I last posted, I’ve been unable to break the habit of tatting the Posey pattern. It’s just the simplest easiest thing to do on the road. I did actually start, and complete over half, of Mary Konior’s ‘Hearts Desire’ – but managed to screw it up when I changed from the train to the bus and the man siting next to me started up a conversation. Now it’s a lacy 90degree angle, and no use to anyone.(Or does anyone need a lace set square? Let me know) so I finished off the shuttle with another posey, of course, that being the joy of a shuttle only pattern.

Posey pattern

I’ve made three of them into more lavender bags. Another posey – not made into a bag- is loitering on my desk, and one more is on the shuttle. Actually it IS getting kind of silly. Must find something else to do.

Crochet lavender bag

Ages ago I made this motif when I was testing out the linen thread. It’s really dense – so dense it looks like it’s machine made when you see it close up. As that’s just been hanging about too, I thought I’d use it on another lavender bag. Then I thought I’d try adding a border to see how that looked. I tried three different borders in the end, and this is the most basic. It looks ok, but I must admit, I don’t love it… I think this linen is a bit thick for this kind of work – but at least now I know. Next time maybe I’ll use DMC Perle or something. I did enjoy making it though – perhaps this is the ideal kind of project for someone who likes making lace (in various forms) but doesn’t know where she’d put a doily. Also, I have to say, i LOVE this ribbon. It’s so cute, and umm, so CHEAP.

Ele J

I’ve also been making another one of these. I must’ve made about 5 now! It’s a gift for a friend who’s having a bit of a rough time at the moment. I was wondering what to make her, and I went back through my flickr stream and noticed she’d commented on the first one I made, so I thought she might appreciate one. I really hope she likes it. It’s very similar to the one I made for myself – but I managed to fit on two wee buttons on her dress. It’s such a great pattern, probably the best, and most used pattern I’ve ever bought.

It’s chucking it down outside (hence crappy photos again). Oddly, it’s quite nice. I keep looking at my tomato and chilli plants and thinking how happy they look. It’s not been the best of weekends, but I feel a bit more cheerful now. Maybe it’s default aromatherapy. This room smells like a lavender farm 🙂