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Tatting
Tool Tips
- It is possible
to use your sewing machine to fill the bobbin for your shuttle (for
those shuttles that use a removeable bobbin). (Tip courtesy
of an anonymous tatting friend.)
- The handiest and
most envied gadget I have is a piece of a crochet hook fastened to a
chain and ring. My mother and her sisters were crocheters and I fell
heir to many fine steel crochet hooks. I took a #13 to my local jeweler
and asked him to cut the butt end off just past the flat part and drill
a hole in it. He then attached a jump ring and a length of light metal
chain about twelve to fourteen inches long with a loop in the end. I
then fastened that loop to a split ring key ring which fits on my thumb,
on a safety pin on my shirt, or even on my watchband. I do not have
to fumble for a separate crochet hook to make joins while tatting. It
is always on my left hand. (Tip courtesy of Helen C.)
- I like to keep
a crochet hook handy when tatting. If my shuttle doesn't have a hook,
I use it for joining. Of course, it is also extremely handy for "untatting",
too! My husband took a steel crochet hook and cut the handle off leaving
the flat area still attached to the hook. He then used a drill to put
a hole through the flat area. I attach a jump ring to the hole and thread
a chain or ribbon through the ring so I can wear it round my neck. Just
be careful when you are wearing it! (Tip courtesy of
Eliz.)
- When working a
pattern that has several individual pieces, I use a picture frame with
the glass removed and a piece of felt in it's place. The pieces stay
on the felt where you put them so they don't get lost or dirty laying
around. (Tip courtesy of Carla F.)
- I found that the
Susan Bates and Clover plastic shuttles tended to wear frayed spots
on small threads. I started keeping a two-sided emery board in my tatting
bag (one with a rough and a smooth side). Whenever I buy a new shuttle
I smooth the surfaces slightly at both ends that the thread passes against
using the smoother side of the emery board. (Tip courtesy
of Eliz.)
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