the lace shop of my dreams

I enjoyed making this shop with lace and sewing goods! I started it in January 2022 and finished it in November 2024. The hardest part was collecting all the pieces, most of which I had to make myself, a long work of patience and passion -  I also had to learn new crafting abilities - and the final satisfaction is priceless. 

I have a lot of scissors in my shop, but you mustn't believe appearances! Most of them are metal sewing hooks (for bra), opened and flattened. I made the lace on the pillows, they are filet (needle) lace, bobbin lace and tatting. I’m particularly proud of how the little shuttles (and also the thimbles) turned out! I worked with toothpicks, my fingers are too big. I used a modelling dough by Fila DAS, it dries in the air very quickly, I used to play with this material times ago when I was young, and had to learn again how to use it! It was not easy and they came out a bit big for the 1:12 scale. Usable? Lol, I could do it …

I also made the cute pin cushion – but the bobbin lace on it was made by my friend Luigia Tosin.

Oops, I cannot forget to show you how it started! I bought the shelves (then I made changes and painted them) but I had to make the counter myself.

I started using beads but then I bought online about a hundred mini buttons 3mm, if you look at their details you can’t believe that they are so perfect, I love them (and luckily I didn’t have to use them all! Saved for another room? Who know!).

The “fake” mini croton plant was made during the #LeafMeEndrucks game in September 2024, for the #Endrucks1920Project. For each of the two dozen leaves, I followed Muskaan’s beautiful pattern “E15 Leaf Doodle #1”. 

UPDATE: link to pattern E15 Leaf Doodle #1 by Muskaan:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NL5KHsLxOHkfILCTTKojfhHy6B9v9EG3/view
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2023/12/lets-flourish.html

Thread is Lizbeth size 80, colour 136. I attached at the tip the wire (0.3mm), and wrapped it with the same thread to form the stems. The plant is 6cm high, from the "floor" to the highest tip.
Game details are here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/ZQGiJ3yNKzZ7uwUB/

I also added lights on the ceiling – a great help to make out little things that wouldn’t be easy to spot. 

Here is a short video for you to watch - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n6t6t9FlQ2eUTNW2U1Bhc6P2WrC167Pt/view?usp=drivesdk

The doolroom measures 52x42cm, including the frame, depth 30cm. The tatting around the frame is the Endrucks’ pattern n.32, reworked for the #Endrucks1920Project. 

UPDATE:  Here is the link to the  E32 - Corner #1
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GgQl20d7TYeKpitvbbQ0glv5lmzjbtRK/view

Note: If you like exploring the vast range of patterns, ideas, models, information related to the Project, we compiled all the important links in one document called EPLinks - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w1TZBg-HIzseGEUoJ-rko7tNbtSgZY5A18Oy2Y9Hh0Y/view

The red text on the bottom right, attached to the counter, reads “Ago Filo e Fuselli” (Needle, Thread and Bobbins), that is the name of the local lace association I belong to.

This little shop has been my dream for a few years and now I cannot believe that is finished! I included many items that remind me of friends or personal travels, and I hope it will be preserved as a family heirloom.

Ciao, Ninetta

short december summary

Happy New Year! My last post was on the first day of December, so I owe you a little summary. Actually, I haven't tatted a lot, but I accomplished to finish one of my long term projects, that is the dining room box.

Sorry that the edging in the next picture is not very clear, because the thread is a light pink glued on a light grey frame. The pattern is the #30 in the "Schiffchen-Spitzen" book, by Eleonore Endrucks, from 1920, if you like, I have better pictures in one of my previous posts (https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2020/11/tatted-frame.html)

I had a lot of fun changing the chairs with a new fabric. The furniture is plastic stuff, except for the console table on the left, that is wood.

I folded some fabric for the cupboard and used the hot glue to fix all elements. I tatted two short edgings (rings only, all 3-3-3-3 rings) for the shelves.

The small "doilies" on the console table are snowflakes designed by Sharon Briggs (https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2019/08/sizing-snowflakes.html)

(Well, an update for this post: actually I think that one is by Sharon Briggs and the other one is by Lene Bjorn)

The chandelier has been handmade by my aunt, with bugle beads and glass beads. The rosette in the ceiling is the tatted white motif with Venetian picots, that you can see in one of my old posts, here: https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2018/03/venetian-picots.html

For the doily on the table, I started like in the Anne Orr's baby bootie, but then I made the rest up, finishing with the "hen and chicks" traditional edging. I made an error in the pattern, in the count of the number of rings, but I'm lucky that Mr Downplay was here visiting for the holidays. He is always nice and indulgent! In fact at the end I missed a ring, but the doily is so little that the mistake is not evident, I bet that you wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't mentioned. So, that will be our secret!

Thread for the all the lace in the room is twisted silk, produced by "Tecnoseta srl". I've talked about the silk here: https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-music-of-tatting.html

Ciao,

Ninetta

my bedroom shrank

That is the bedroom finished, with the help of "Dalì L'artista". 😍😍😍These doll room boxes are the perfect place for my tiny tatting 😍😍😍

For the bedspread, tatted some times ago, the pattern is about the same as the Mrs Odum daisy. I've shared the modified pattern here: https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2017/12/miniature-sofa.html
I started it in 2017, about the time of this post: https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2017/11/miniature-bed.html
Wow, 2017! Time flies!

My bedroom needed some tassels, I wound some thread around a card, then blocked each one with a very little tatted ring:

They came out very realistic looking:

The flower is from a pattern by Daniela Mendola, I already shared it here: https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2018/01/nothing-is-perfect.html

Daniela is organising a sort of tat-along, in collaboration with the facebook group "Chiacchierino: Filo, Amore e Fantasia", for a doily's pattern that then will be shared in her blog. For each round she will propose 2 different options, that should be voted in the group. Visit her blog for more details: http://danielamendola.blogspot.com/2020/01/tatting-sharing-chiacchierino-condiviso.html

The lamp, the chandelier and the floor lamp have been handmade by my aunt, with bugle beads and glass beads. I love them!

The bedroom furniture is plastic stuff, bought at the newspaper kiosk, but it looks very good. I folded some fabric for the wardrobe and changed the anonymous seat to a flowery decoration.

The frame's pattern is all rings 8-8 and chains 10-10, it is just the first round of this edging (link to my Flikr's photo): https://flic.kr/p/2hRRJ1M

Ciao,
Ninetta

xmas, angels and friends

The following xmas' scene has been made with the help of my friend "Dalì L'Artista" (the lady that decorates the shuttles that are in my photos).

She suggested how to set the scene and I found the perfect way to show my tiny tatted balls and the snowflakes tatted with the silk (https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/search/label/silk+snowflake).

(Update: read this post too: https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2019/11/tatting-sphere.html )

(Update: here is a short video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W9G5ltCDNtjIOpGIAijbI1W9UDu2fR8X/view ) 

Then, in the next picture, there's "Another Christmas Angel", I'm not joking, that's its name!
Pattern is by Jennifer Williams. I tatted it because friends of the Italian group in Facebook chose it among others by J.Williams and I helped with the translation and the instructions.

Pattern is here: https://www.cariad-tatting.com/christmas-patterns

It is a gift for my mum, she loves it! We put a small light under the dress. I tatted it with silver embroidery thread DMC E168 (polyester skein). For the head, I tatted one ball with white DMC Diamant D5200.
Pattern for the ball is one of mine (https://flic.kr/p/2hN8Y28)

There are beads, too. For sleeves and dress I used bugle beads 2mm, then for wings I used silver transparent rocailles 15/0, and for the head dress 2 rocailles 15/0 and one swarovski 2mm. I haven't stiffened it, since the polyester is firm enough and it stands alone without any wooden shape. Also, the ball (head) is empty.

About the snowflakes I've been tatting, I've exchanged some other messages with Sue Hanson. She is really helpful and a sweet lady! She found another snowflake with block tatting. She rescued it with the wayback machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20050403221520/http://www.tattings.com/snow2/
So, I already updated the list in previous post.
Here it is:

Direct link to the pattern by Carol Rasor: https://web.archive.org/web/20050215131532/http://www.tattings.com/snow2/snow2_12.shtml

The site went down after that Ron Solomon, the owner, went tatting with the Angels and nobody else stepped in. All snowflakes are by different designers, they are all worth a try, all original and it would be a great loss for the "Tatternet" community if they will disappear. I would like to make a plea to all tatters, if someone can suggest a virtual place for saving all those patterns. I would suggest Craftree...

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and today I like leaving you with a phrase about friendship:

"...A faithful friend is a sure shelter, whoever finds one has found a rare treasure. A faithful friend is something beyond price, there is no measuring his worth. A faithful friend is the elixir of life..." (source: The Bible,Ecclesiasticus)

Ciao,
Ninetta

thumb sized pillow

At last! I've started decorating a box for making the dollhouse's bedroom, I had already finished the bedspread (https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2017/12/spread.html) and the toilette (https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2018/01/nothing-is-perfect.html), then I needed only one pillow, something to put into the wardrobe, curtain and drapes. And the help of a friend 😉

That's the pillow. Thread is DMC Spécial Dentelles Size 80, colour number is 397 Pale mauve.
Tassels are made with the same thread and then sewed at corners. I designed the square pattern including curled rings and treble tatting stitches.

It is about 4x4 cm, about the half of a thumb size (length), according to what I've just discovered, googling "what is the size of an average thumb". It's incredible how many things you can find googling, but then, who can question that? I can measure just my own, it's not convenient going around measuring thumbs 😕

I haven't decided yet how to set the bedroom.

And now, my stitches' count, sorry that's a little tricky to read, but actually put numbers on a picture is a lot far easy and fast than preparing a tidy drawing... I hope you'll like it anyway and forgive my laziness... 🙇

The CR (= Curled Ring) is joined using the hidden picot in the middle (I joined it and the picot of the  chain together, to block the CR in its position), that is between the second and the third tds.
Those rings in the outer round are normally joined, you tat the second one in the corner and join previous ring in its vsp, just after the 5tds, before tatting the 10 double stitches.

Please refer to the page  "Treble Tatting Stitch - Summary" for any info about treble tatting stitches, thank you.

Ciao,
Ninetta

will they notice?

That's another little room:

Dimensions: 18x20cm (about 7x8inch).
Thread for the runner is twisted silk, produced by "Tecnoseta srl".

The lace around the footstool is cotton, size 100, but I cannot remember which brand is (Anchor or DMC).

The frame is a line of split rings, each one is SR: 3-2-2-3/3-2-2-3, thread is DMC size 60, ecru.

Gosh! I glued the doily upside down!

But I'm pretty sure that the Smurfs won't even notice!

Actually, I noticed it only after I enlarged the picture!

Pattern is in Flickr:

Have you spotted how I've used the 1 eurocent?
Just in case you're curious, Italy no longer produces the 1 and 2 eurocent coins (since 2018, cash prices are suggested to be rounded to the nearest 5eurocent, but actually they're still used), they decided that they cost more that they are worth. I've learnt that 1 euro cent and 2cent inside are steel and outside copper (source for this info is Wikipedia - url consulted nov 20 2019).

Will we notice? Well... I've read that all those that are still circulating are estimated in 7 billion euros! We sure won't be short of them, any time soon 🙂!

Ciao,
Ninetta

P.S. The visual pattern for the "equilateral snowflake" is in Flickr:

sitting in mum's sitting room

Made as a gift, for my mum, I've been helped by "Dalì L'artista" (*).
My mum loves it!

The back's been decorated with soft "fommy", a soft plastic material.

I've talked about the tatted frame here: https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-letter-e-edging.html
and about the doily on the little table here: https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-music-of-tatting.html

The little cushions were in one of my old posts (2017!!!), where I also shared my adaptation of Mrs Odum daisy for one of them: https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2017/12/miniature-sofa.html

The sansevieria has been made by my aunt (the one who received the "tailor's room" I showed recently):

It's very clever of her, she thought to put pepper powder into the pot, to mimic the ground!

Ciao,
Ninetta

(*) "Dalì L'artista" is the lady that decorates the shuttles that are in my photos, she has a profile in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010034103450

the "letter e" edging

The sitting room is almost finished, it needs only minor things to be added, then I'll show you a full picture.
The edging you see in my hands has been used to frame the scene, it's about one meter, it's finished now and already glued on.

Thread is ecrù, size 60 DMC Cordonnet Special. Pattern is from Priscilla #3, figure 30 at page 9.
Rings are all 5 picots separated by 2ds, while chains are all 3-2-2-2-2-3. Tat the ring joining it to the second last chain, then the chain, lock join to the picot in the ring and reverse work, switching shuttles. Continue with chain-ring-chain, lock join, switch shuttles and repeat.

I find this edging very fun, it is like a sequence of letters "e", one up and one down. It's a nice variation of the simple rings-and-chains edging, with all "e" in the handwriting position.

Did you know that the letter "e" is the most commonly used letter in many languages? In spite of that, I've learnt that a French author in 1969 wrote a book that is a sort of game, the title is "La disparition", and what disappears is the letter e! In the whole book there isn't a word with the letter e! The incredible thing is that the book has been translated in many languages with the same intent, I should find the Italian version, because I'm really curious now!

I tatted a simple line of rings for the little chair with a size 100 cotton thread (Anchor Artiste Mercer Crochet 100), all rings are 3 picots separated by 3ds, leaving a short bare thread space between rings, you can find the pattern in Priscilla #1 and in Priscilla #3, too. There's a lovely description: "This is the simple edging our grandmothers made, and it is very dainty when made with fine thread and used on the edge of footing to trim handkerchiefs..." Well, it's very dainty also around the chair, isn't it?

Ciao,
Ninetta

the music of tatting

Is the shuttle a musical instrument?

Lately, I've bought two spools of silk, that is produced not far from where I live.
I had tatted with silk before, but it was raw silk, that I washed myself, I was not completely satisfied because it was sort of fluffy and picots' effect was that the thread wanted to open like a fan.

Not this one!
It is beautiful, twisted and shining... and I discovered that twisted silk can be magical!

For once I was tatting alone at home, without TV, sons, in complete silence, I heard a sound that resembled a violin! At first I  couldn't understand the source.
It was the music produced by the silk, while I was pulling the tiny thread in and out of the ring!

I made up the pattern for the little doily. It was a sort of "tat it and see" but without Mrs. Jane who's got your back! I had to retro tat a couple of times, I also could reopen two rings, I'm really surprised how easy it was!

It's a very very tiny thread. Measuring it with my own "gauge", I could tat 20 ds to reach one centimetre,  it is a lot thinner than a size 100 cotton, that only need 15 or 16 ds for one centimetre of tatting!

I talked about my personal tatting gauge here: https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2015/03/repetita-iuvant-at-least-to-myself.html

Well, I think that for now on, if someone asks me, I can affirm without any doubt that tatting is like playing music!

That silk is produced by "Tecnoseta srl", in Zagarolo (it is a city near Rome, they have an email: tecnoseta@gmail.com)
It is a twisted silk, technically they call that "twisted 2/3 T6", but don't ask me what does it mean!

Ciao,
Ninetta

tailor's room

That has already been given away to one of my aunts. She (and my mum too) has been sewing clothes for all the family for all her life. She's also been a painter, the miniature picture I put into the room box, it is one of her own painting, I took a shot and printed a very very little picture.
I used the line of split rings to frame it, thread is dmc ecrù, size 40.

It happened that my brother gifted me a kit for making a tailor's room box, about the same time I had already started collecting miniature furniture and met "Dalì L'Artista" (the lady that decorates the shuttles).
Dalì helped me making that little beauty. But now I've many remnants from the kit, maybe for another room, I'll ask her help again!

In Italian there's only a vowel to difference between a man and a woman that sews ("sarto" and "sarta"), but in English I found that there are two different words. So, I asked and Mr.Google answered... what is the difference between a seamstress and a tailor?

Of course, it could not miss the tatting!
For the drawer in the left corner, I used little roses (Jeanne Lugert's pattern, modified, thread is dmc size 80) and a tiny doily tatted with sewing thread:

Making dollhouse boxes is addictive, just like tatting. My other WIPs are temporarily on hold because now I'm fully devoted to another room box, I'll tell you...

Ciao,
Ninetta