The Elegant Art of Tatting

Tatting is a craft that consists of making lace through the procedure of knots and loops. You can find beautifully tatted lace doilies on antique tables and sideboards of many of the homes around the country. Some people may have one of these elegant doilies that has been handed down from previous generations. The art of tatting is believed to have originated abroad, and brought to America. Some reports say that the Irish were the first to bring tatted lace to America. The American people loved it, soon making it a very popular trend of the time.

There are several ways of tatting lace. One form is done with thread and an instrument called a shuttle. This shuttle is very small, and could easily fit into a woman's purse. The shuttles that were used in tatting are still popular today, and some people consider them a very precious keepsake. Another form of tatting is done with a needle. Needle tatting and shuttle tatting are basically the same, but the stitches are much looser done with a needle. This form of tatting became popular in the twentieth century.

Still another form of tatting is called cro-tatting. The instrument used in this method is also a needle, but it's end is curved. During the nineteenth century, you could purchase patterns for this type of tatting, and today those patterns are a very rare collectors item. Although very few people are into tatting today, it still remains a very elegant form of handiwork that will always be considered an important part of the culture in countries all over the world.