Pocket Crafts Club

I think it would make a nice pendant because of the larger beads. Very beautiful job!

so I got the hang of flipping the stitch. I’m onto making chains, and I can do a loop, and flip the stitch with another bobbin, and then when I go to do the second loop, I try to pull the loop closed and it pulls too far away. Should I be flipping the stitches on that loop too?

Are you splitting the tails before sewing them in? That will help if you haven't tried that! You can also try the back and forth method I talk about in the lessons; it works great for smaller threads especially.

With the joins, it’s helpful to keep in mind that you have an “up” thread (the thread that forms the stitches) and a “down” thread (the thread that forms the core). For standard joins you are essentially mimicking a stitch, even though it doesn’t look like it, so you want to keep the core thread consistent through this false stitch. In other words, your “down” thread is always going through a loop of your “up” thread for this join; both threads need to be involved. (On lock joins only one thread is involved.) This will become more muscle memory with practice as well.

As for the tension, your practice piece is actually looking pretty good! Just remember to really snug up the chains before beginning the next ring. Even if it feels like it’s pulling the chain out of shape a bit, you can adjust the shape after it’s been secured by the ring.

Hope that helps!

It’s a bit hard to tell from the angle of your photo, but it looks to me like you may have some stitches that have flipped back on you. This is really common when beginning! The trick is to make sure that the core thread (also the shuttle thread) has more tension than the loop thread (what’s around your left hand) while you tighten the stitch into place, and then put your thumb right over that while you make the next stitch to keep it locked down. This is a really subtle play on tension in the two threads, and proficiency with this is really about feeling it, and that comes with time and practice.

For now just focus on making stitches and getting a feel for it without stressing about getting it “right” all the time. The less you stress about it the easier it will be to get that “aha!” moment when it clicks for your brain!

Keep it up, you’re doing great!

Love this idea! The chain placement is actually very nice; I think the only thing I would change is cutting that top chain above bauble into two sections and attaching them to the point of the bauble motif. That would give it some more stability.

It's definitely easier to get a secure attachment by putting your jump rings through the ring or chain directly rather than the picot. The real key is to make sure that you are using quality jump rings that don't have any sharp burrs on the edges (saw cut rings are best bc the ends are both completely flat), and to close them properly so they don't have a gap. Ribbon also works well, as Caryn mentioned. 😊

What Sparrow posted is what I was thinking, too. It looks like you might be making a long picot to cut in half later for the antennae?

The one on the right is the last one... and it's getting better... now it's just a bit more adjusting the count and perhaps a second try with celtic tatting... I guess it's a pattern

Looks great!

You can just make the chain and sew it on while you hide the ends.

(There are advanced ways like cutting the core thread, put it throug a hole where the chain should end, put both threads beside each other and make unflipped stitches with shuttle 2 over both threads, pull the loose end and so make it more invisible but just sew it on works fine... and the other way is explained better in a Video. I think Sparrow has one but i'm not sure where. I would guess in the advanced section)

Hi there! Welcome to the group! You should be able to access the videos via the "online courses" tab in the website menu. If you are logged in to the same account you signed up with, the button should say "view course" instead of "join." Once you open the course tab it should show you the curriculum. If you're still having trouble accessing it, please email me at sparrow@sparrowspite.com and I'll get this figured out for you. 😊

It can be a bit tricky! Here's my video on folded joins that may help: https://youtu.be/Di-XsUKKHrU

How do we access the videos?