I need to vent for a moment.
Does anybody else have trouble with using the magic thread method for hiding threads? I DO!
Maybe I am tatting too tight? I can get the threads in and pulled through but when it comes to pulling the thread I want to hide back through it gets stuck EVERY TIME!
Should I end my last stitch with the second half of the double stitch? Does this help?
Thank goodness for beads. I seem to be placing them in places where I can run the threads through but I really want to do this right.
Maybe I need to just sit down and practice. (Yeah right, I can barely sit down enough to tat. hehe)
I need help. Yes some would say I need that kind of help too but I can only handle one crisis at a time.
If anyone has a suggestion please let me know. I'll check back in a bit, but for now I will go back to throwing shuttles, screaming and pulling my hair out! (Not really but it sure makes a funny visual).
Look at all those bobbins
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2 comments:
Here are some of my secrets for using magic thread:
1) Yes, tat up to the second to the last half of the DS...for some reason that last half of a double stitch always puts a "strangle hold" on what ever it is surrounding...be it core thread or magic thread.
2) I always tat around a size of thread that is the same size as the thread I am tatting with and then I pull through a size 80 loop... I then use the size 80 loop as the "magic thread" and pull the end through with that...that helps me have enough "space" to pull double the thickness of the thread I'm tatting with through the core without breaking or getting stuck.
This means you are going to have to tat the first loop of thread facing THE OPPOSITE WAY so that when you pull the size 80 thread through it doesn't get stuck.
The first few times I did this it was obvious that I was hiding ends in that spot...now, with a few tension adjustments as I tat over the first loop of the same size thread you cannot tell where I hid the ends.
I hope my tips help. I learned them from a fabulous tatter in my lace guild.
P.S.
3) What do you do if you ARE tatting with size 80 thread already? I tat the first loop of thread with a size slightly larger than size 80...like say, size 50 or so. I've even done it with size 30 and gotten away with it...then I pull the size 80 loop through to act as the magic thread.
In this case I have to tat a bit tighter around the first loop so that it doesn't look like I was doing the magic thread.
Don't do this the first time on anything but a practise piece believe me! LOL!
These tips aren't fool proof, but they've made "magic thread" a lot easier for me and I like the end result. In other words, once in a blue moon I've had the thread still break or get stuck, but rarely now. Please let me know if this helps or not.
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