When my Great Aunt Isabel passed away, back in 1980, my father and his brother, were the ones to clean up her house, since she had no family of her own. Parcelled up neatly in a draw was a brown paper parcel, addressed to me, as the only female descendent of the eldest daughter (my grandmother, and sister to Isabel). Inside were a few hand-made items(the main part of which will be another post), and also included a Tatted Supper Cloth, made by my Great Great Aunt Georgina. Georgina was also a spinster, so again I was the closest girl to inherit these heirlooms.
Georgina had taught herself to Tat at the age of 60, and did not just make a small motif, but made the most beautiful Supper Cloth. Now, this would have been back in 1928, so it is now almost 90 years old. Yes, she was an unmarried, and not working, but this was also in the time of poor lighting and certainly no YouTube videos to help learn a new skill.
(a corner of the Supper Cloth)
So, a number of years ago I decided that if Georgina can do it, so can I, so I taught myself how to Tat..... and made a motif! No supper cloth for me, I was married, had 3 boys, and was working full time.
Tatting was rather cool, so every now and then, I would pick up a shuttle and tat a very small motif for earrings, at one stage I did make a necklace with matching earrings, but I can tell you now I will not be making a supper cloth!
I did, however, just complete a small mat, but the biggest project yet for me. This was all thanks to joining a Facebook Group... Frivolité, yes it is French, but Frivolité sounds so much lacier that Tat! (plus I can practice my French).
In the group, it was proposed we all join in, for a 'Tat-a-Long', where we choose a design as a group, and work on a row at a time..... yes, just the motivation I needed to make something a little bigger.... and drum roll, I have finished, and love it, now I wonder should I add more rows and make a supper cloth.... arrrr NO!
A few points to note here, the mat everyone (mostly in France) chose was one designed and made in Australia back in 1938 by Norma Benporath and published in the Queenslander newspaper, under the heading of 'Tatting Designs For Busy People'. Yep I am one busy person, so perfect!
The pattern was reproduced in diagram form by a blogger, here is the link http://tatsaway.blogspot.fr/2012/09/the-lace-mat.html.
Diagrams are so much easier to follow, so big thanks to Jon. Also another big thanks to Julie from Frivolité for the event, and her tips and explanations, and especially to the fact that the last row, can in fact we worked in one go with the use of a (new since 1938) technique of Split rings and Mock Picots, if it was not for this my mat would have had a lot of loose ends to neaten! So new skill acquired along with a very nice lace mat!
Row 1
Row 2
Row 3
Row 4
