Women of times past were a bit more handy with the hand and needle than women of the 20th century. This was as much necessity as the mark of a genteel lady. The lack of ready-made clothing and household goods made it a must for women to learn their way with a needle and thread.
As the level of crafting skills was far superior to what most can do today this made for some beautiful works of art that still survive to this day.Tatting is one of those vintage crafts. Also known as frivolit
é in French and occhi in Italian if you’ve ever had a chance to look at some vintage women’s magazines you will see many patterns for making doilies, collars and the like using the vintage art of tatting.
A few years ago I tried my hand at learning to tat just for the fun of it. I purchased a book and taught myself. Made a few things and collected shuttles and thread. It’s a craft that looks harder than it is and is so dainty to do you can carry it just about anywhere. Unless you are making a fishing net but that seems to be for a select few.Tatting is great for making lace edgings to personalize gifts and clothing. The lovely well spun threads used to tat though are becoming more expensive and harder to find.
There is needle tatting and shuttle tatting. I learned to do the latter. I own a few collectible shuttles and have sold a few.
Ebay is a great place to find collectible tatting shuttles. Tatting Shuttles on Ebay
Tatting Lessons and Information
Isabella Beeton, so well known for her Victorian book Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, also published a great treatise on crafts. I have taken the liberty to provide you with the complete tatting section. And I do hope your enjoy. Isabella Beeton – Tatting
Beginning Tatting Instructions
Tatting Techniques
Online Tatting Classes
Vintage Craft Pattern
Here’s a nice historical tidbit
In Principles of Domestic Science by Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe the following were the basic guidelines for sewing skills to learn.
Every young girl should be taught to do the following kinds of stitch with propriety: Over-stitch, hemming, running, felling, stitching, back-stitch and run, buttonhole-stitch, chain-stitch, whipping, darning, gathering, and cross-stitch.
Next came your list of sewing necessities.
Work-baskets It is very important to neatness, comfort, and success in sewing, that a lady’s work-basket should be properly fitted up. The following articles are needful to the mistress of a family: a large basket to hold work; having in it fastened a smaller basket or box, containing a needle-book in which are needles of every size, both blunts and sharps, with a larger number of those sizes most used; also small and large darning-needles, for woolen, cotton, and silk; two tape needles, large and small; nice scissors for fine work, button-hole scissors; an emery bag; two balls of white and yellow wax; and two thimbles, in case one should be mislaid. When a person is troubled with damp fingers, a lump of soft chalk in a paper is useful to rub on the ends of the fingers.
Besides this box, keep in the basket common scissors; small shears; a bag containing tapes of all colors and sizes, done up in rolls; bags, one containing spools of white and another of colored cotton thread, and another for silks wound on spools or papers; a box or bag for nice buttons, and another for more common ones; a hag containing silk braid, welting cords, and galloon binding. Small rolls of pieces of white and brown linen and cotton are also often needed. A brick pin-cushion is a great convenience in sewing, and better than screw cushions. It is made by covering half a brick with cloth, putting a cushion on the top, and covering it tastefully. It is very useful to hold pins and needles while sewing, and to fasten long seams when basting and sewing
