While looking through a drawer the other day I came across this barrette I decorated a long time ago. It has seen a lot of wear and tear, and maybe a bit of rough handling. There used to be three strands of the beads but two were lost somewhere along the way.
I know this is made with DMC size 30 Ecru thread. After all these years, how do I know? Because I used it a lot back in the early 90s. I even know what pattern this is. It’s the skirt of “Colonial Lady Applique” from Aunt Ellen’s Tatting Handbook. This one has a mistake in it somewhere, hidden by the flowers. I made several Colonial Ladies back then, or at least parts of them, one of which I took to the fair. I noticed that I used white ribbon behind the tatting. I must have been in a hurry to wear it and didn’t have ecru ribbon to use.
I used to have long hair and wore this frequently. I now have very short hair – this wouldn’t stay in long.
I have a hard time throwing tatting away, even when mistakes are made. After putting in all that hard work it is a shame to just toss it. I have bags of things that have some kind of issue that I keep. I may find some place that I can use it.
Eventually.
What do you do with your mistakes? Keep or toss?
“Recycling turns things into other things. Which is like MAGIC!” unknown