These bugs are made from one of these patterns. The big one is made with crochet cotton (possibly size 10?), the small bug is made with a metallic sewing thread from Gütermann. Quite the difference! For a while right after I learned to tat I made lots and lots of them to test different threads. Since they are only made up of two rings I can just use whatever thread I have on the shuttle, and I don't have to worry about how much ball thread I need... They are very cute, I think I need to use them for decorating stuff :) Here is another one:
This bug is made with the same thread as the one above, only I tried to dye it using red wine. Yeah, the color of that thread is still fading... Here is yet another bug, made with metallic Anchor thread/yarn:
And a centipede I made from the same pattern page as the others:
Made with size 20 thread in a pinkish rust color. Great pattern for practicing single shuttle split rings! Another great pattern using split rings is one of Anne Bruvold's dragons:
This is "Ringtrim" the Micro Dragon, also made with the wine dyed thread. The tail is made with SSSRs, and two shuttle split rings on the body and head. I never fail to make mistakes following a pattern, and with this one I forgot to make his chin white...
On the InTatters forum I came across a pattern for a super cute little owl:
As you can see, my version is not exactly super cute :p I thought I was using a thick thread (I think it's 10 or 20), and I figured I would need bigger beads for eyes. Yup, it looks more like E.T. than an owl! And the picots are all over the place :/ Need to practice those a bit more... Oh well, I'll make it better next time :) Unfortunately I can't remember who made the pattern, which was posted directly in a thread at InTatters. If I can find an external link I'll post it later!
I had better luck with this tiny butterfly, made in the same thread as the "owl":
Pattern from the book Learn to Tat by Janette Baker. Now, that is what cute is supposed to look like, and my picots are improving as well :)
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you are moving right along! sometimes tatting tiny items is more difficult; you did a good job. Perhaps your owl just has bigger eyes! LOL Not all owls look alike. 4mm is a good size for size 10 thread
ReplyDeletethere is a rule of thumb for beading…I'll have to look it up in my file. I use more seed beads (11 and 15) than larger. Except when I use pearls and then mostly 4mm and once in a while an 8mm on size 20 - 50 threads. Fun to watch you 'grow'….bj
Your little critters are adorable! What a great way to try new threads! How do you like the metallic thread? I'm not particularly fond of it. It's hard on my fingers, and with the way I tat, I tend to break the metallic part of the thread. I love the look, though! Maybe I just need to practice with it some more.
ReplyDeleteBJ: I think I've found out that the gray thread is size 20, so the 4mm beads are a little big. I'll try with a size 10 thread next time, or smaller beads! I don't know anything about the bead size system, I just measure them in millimeters :)
ReplyDeleteDiane: Thanks :) The fat metallic thread (yarn) is not a problem, since it doesn't break very easily. The thin metal sewing thread is a little difficult to work with because the metal parts break if I so much as look at them the wrong way :p But it's pretty, and it's fun to try 'fancy' threads for small projects like these.