About the service
I work in tatting — knotted lace built from rings and chains, joined by picots and locked with tiny joins. I use both the shuttle and the needle, and I choose between them by the job: the shuttle gives a tight, springy knot that holds a collar's shape and keeps earrings crisp, while the needle runs faster and softer along a long edging, which is what a shawl border or a cuff trim really wants. Nothing starts with thread. It starts with a drawing and a count: for a collar I take the neckline measurement and lay the repeat out so the motif closes on the shoulder line instead of breaking off wherever the thread ran out. Then I match the thread — its thickness and, just as important, its twist. A firm, tightly twisted cotton keeps picots standing and edges sharp; a softer, looser thread gives a rounder, cloudier lace that drapes rather than stands.
One honest warning before we begin. Tatting is knotted, not looped, and a finished piece cannot be pulled back. A mistake does not mean tugging a thread loose — it means cutting out and re-working the whole section, so the pattern, the size and the colour are settled before I start rather than halfway through. The work is slow by nature: a collar is a matter of weeks, not an evening, and I quote a date with room in it instead of a flattering one. If metal irritates your skin, tell me at the start — earring findings in titanium, surgical steel or silver are chosen separately, and swapping them after the lace is finished is far more awkward than choosing them first.
Finished pieces are starched and shaped on a board so that a collar lies flat and a pendant or earring keeps its stiff outline. Care is simple and I write it out for you: hand wash in cool water, no wringing, press the water out in a towel and dry the piece spread flat in its shape. If lace has been crushed in a drawer, it is almost always rescued by damp shaping rather than an iron. Old family tatting with a missing section can be restored too — I match thread and gauge and re-work the lost fragment into the surviving edge.
— Collars fitted to your neckline measurement, with the repeat calculated to the shoulder
— Earrings and pendants tatted over a stiff form, findings chosen for sensitive skin
— Edgings for shawls, handkerchiefs, cuffs, collars of ready-made blouses
— Doilies, bookmarks and small motifs for sewing onto garments
— Tatting combined with seed beads strung onto the working thread
— Starching and shaping, plus written care notes with the parcel
— Restoration of old tatting: a lost fragment re-worked into the original
— Timing agreed in advance; a prepayment covers the thread and findings
One honest warning before we begin. Tatting is knotted, not looped, and a finished piece cannot be pulled back. A mistake does not mean tugging a thread loose — it means cutting out and re-working the whole section, so the pattern, the size and the colour are settled before I start rather than halfway through. The work is slow by nature: a collar is a matter of weeks, not an evening, and I quote a date with room in it instead of a flattering one. If metal irritates your skin, tell me at the start — earring findings in titanium, surgical steel or silver are chosen separately, and swapping them after the lace is finished is far more awkward than choosing them first.
Finished pieces are starched and shaped on a board so that a collar lies flat and a pendant or earring keeps its stiff outline. Care is simple and I write it out for you: hand wash in cool water, no wringing, press the water out in a towel and dry the piece spread flat in its shape. If lace has been crushed in a drawer, it is almost always rescued by damp shaping rather than an iron. Old family tatting with a missing section can be restored too — I match thread and gauge and re-work the lost fragment into the surviving edge.
— Collars fitted to your neckline measurement, with the repeat calculated to the shoulder
— Earrings and pendants tatted over a stiff form, findings chosen for sensitive skin
— Edgings for shawls, handkerchiefs, cuffs, collars of ready-made blouses
— Doilies, bookmarks and small motifs for sewing onto garments
— Tatting combined with seed beads strung onto the working thread
— Starching and shaping, plus written care notes with the parcel
— Restoration of old tatting: a lost fragment re-worked into the original
— Timing agreed in advance; a prepayment covers the thread and findings
