Picking a Pattern for a New Belt Project

Michael’s had ribbon on sale last week and I couldn’t resist picking up a few new colors to try out with some new tatted belts.  There’s a particular pattern in Priscilla Book #2 that’s been bothering me lately.  I can’t decide if I like it or not, but I think it might make a nice belt.  And if it turns out I still don’t like it?  Well, at least I’ll be tatting it in size 3 thread so it should go quickly.

For the last belt I made I used a ring and chain pattern that had to be doubled over to give it vertical symmetry and make it the right width for the belt. This meant tatting one side of the belt and then flipping it over and tatting the other side. It’s been my normal way of turning edgings into bracelets or necklaces or anything I want to be thicker, but I’ve been wanting to find a pattern I like that can be done in one pass and still result in a fairly wide piece of fabric.  Haven’t found one I really like yet.

This pattern has been catching my eye because it’s done in one pass and it looks like it ends up being fairly wide.  I’m just not sure I like it.  It’s hard to follow and feels a bit chaotic.  I tatted up a small piece of it just to get a feel for the pattern and still wasn’t totally sure about it.  (Wish I could have tatted a longer piece, but I ran out of shuttle thread.  Size 3 goes pretty quickly.)  I think tatting it in two different colors will help to give it a little more definition.  The rings in the pattern come in pairs and the chains should form something of a wave of color bending around the pairs of rings.  I’m going to try it out in two colors, and I’ll write up the pattern for it when I do.

Though my main attraction to this pattern is that it’s done with only one pass, it’s not totally symmetric and I’m starting to wonder what it would look like doubled over.  Though a single pass should be wide enough for a belt doubled over might looking interesting as a super-wide belt (or normal sized with size 10 thread).  I may end up trying that as well.  I will say that I really like using the size 3 thread for belts because I think then they’re actually big enough that you can see the design from farther away.  Belts are not really meant to be looked at up close.  At least, I’d rather not have people bend down and take a look at my waist from 6 inches away, but hey, maybe that’s YOUR thing…

2 Comments »

  1. StringyDogs Said,

    May 13, 2011 @ 8:20 am

    LOL. Size 3 must feel like tatting with yarn. Luckily, pulling rings tight should not be a problem.

    I agree with you, 2 colors would set off the pattern better. You could use variegated for either thread. I’m not sure which would be better. I might do the rings in the variegated — they would appear kind of like flowers on a tangled vine.

    I have never thought of tatting a belt. Do you use one just for decoration? It would be pretty.

  2. admin Said,

    May 13, 2011 @ 8:42 am

    Size 3 takes a little getting used to, but I really like how quickly it goes. 🙂 The annoying thing is that on the rings you’re constantly having to pull more thread through to make your loop bigger. Even with this pattern where the rings are only 5-5-5-5 I had to do it a lot. Variegated would be interesting. I’ve already started it in two solid colors (hard to find variegated in size 3), but it’d be interesting to see how it would turn out.

    The belts are just for decoration. Here’s a link to the last post on first one I made: http://www.snapdragonlace.com/?p=300

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