Tatting, a brief How-To.

Tatting is a form of lace-making, done by hand in the old way. The history of lace-making is as old as ancient Egypt, and maybe older. There are many ways to make lace by hand, bobbin-lace, knit lace, needle lace, woven lace, and shuttle lace (tatting).

The oldest mentions of shuttle lace that use the word “tatting” date from the early 1800’s. It came into vogue in the Victorian era, and was being practiced commonly during the civil war and beyond. At some time after the first world war it decreased in popularity, along with most other kinds of handwork.

There are however, a small but dedicated group of folks keeping the lace-making arts alive, and they have a large presence on the internet, with lots of videos, patterns, ideas and information free for the asking.

My goals for this page are to provide a library of sorts, with links to good tatting sites on the internet, and a short how-to video on the basic steps involved in this old art.

Here are a few examples of what tatting looks like:

These three photos are courtesy of their owners, who retain copyright.

Here are the tools involved in tatting with a shuttle:

The oval silver items are called shuttles, they serve to make it easier to hold a reasonable amount of thread without winding it into a ball, which can be difficult to work with. The ball of thread in the picture is another "tool" used in tatting; it's most useful when you are making a lot of rings one after the other. You of course need a pair of scissors, to cut the threads when you are finished, or when you finish winding a new bobbin. You can also see in this picture an unfinished piece of "three-dimensional" tatting. This will be a lace covering for a small purse or bag, not much larger than a fist when finished.

Now, here’s the “hard” part, not really hard at all. Tatting consists of only one stitch, the lark’s head knot. This knot is worked around a base thread or string, with the knot being made in two halves. The knot is formed by the shuttle, but transferred before it is tightened up onto the base thread. This transfer of the knot from one thread to the other is accomplished by an action that most tatters call “the flip”. This flip is difficult to illustrate, but is easy to accomplish once you understand what actually has to happen. The knot is formed by the shuttle moving around the base thread, then the shuttle thread is pulled taut at the same time that tension is removed from the base thread. In this way the knot flips from the shuttle thread to the base thread. Click on the small tatted heart to see a short video clip which will illustrate the stitches being made and show the flip as it happens.

This one stitch can be made up in a circle or in a straight line, and these circles and straight lines make up the whole body of the piece of lace. The circles are called “rings” and the straight lines are called “chains”.

The lark’s head knot is one that will slip along the line it’s tied around, which is the secret that makes rings possible. Working with two threads allows a near-infinite variation on the combinations of rings and chains.

The next thing you need to know after you master the lark's head knot and the trick of flipping the knot from the shuttle string to the other string is how to make rings and chains. When making a ring you start with the string pinched between your thumb and forefinger. With the string coming up from underneath and out the top of the "pinch" you then take the string away from your body and out around the rest of your hand, coming back up through the pinch again. At this point you are ready to begin making your first ring, which won't take long. An easy one to make is simply to do the double stitch (the whole of the larks head knot, each half is considered a single stitch for some reason)about 15 ot 20 times. You will need to pull from the bottom of the pinch any time you need to make the ring larger so that you can still get the shuttle through it. When you are done, to close the ring you merely pull the shuttle string until the ring comes closed.

Here's a clip showing a completed ring being closed.

Now that you have mastered the ring, try a chain! To make a chain you will need either two shuttles or a shuttle and ball(of the string you are working with). Hold the middle point of the string, between the shuttle and the ball, and begin from there. In this case you are only making your stitches over and under the single string rather than through the circle of string. Here is a short clip of making a chain.

Here are some internet resources on tatting:

A great illustrated page to teach tatting

Cluny Tatting - the best instructions yet for tatting cluny leaves.

This page has photos of many collectible shuttles, as well as lots of tatting information.

A great resource on tatting, TatMan.

This is a gallery page where you can see this person's work. Gallery

Click on the snowflake at the bottom of the page for a beginners practice page: Practice

A page with a lot of links for tatters: Links

One of the best tatting sites out there, Frivolous Frivolite.

A great site with several videos: Tatting.

The lady who can get you started if nothing else works, Georgia Seitz.

This page created by Joy Wandrey, c 2004. All photos and videos are original work of the author, unless otherwise noted. The three photos above are courtesy of their owners, who retain copyright; they are being used via the fair use clause, this site was developed for a school project.

Please contact me about broken links or missing photographs. Thanks!

Last updated April 20, 2004.