Tatting by Dilly is what this post is about. My Great Grandma was half Scottish and half Indian and her name was Sedilla but everyone called her, “Dilly”. While I was growing up, we would sit around doing needlework. She did Scottish tatting, Grandma and I did embroidery, and my Mom did crocheting. Dilly is pictured in the back center row above in the early 1900s. From left to right are her sister (Beulah), her Mom (Pernetta), and her sister (Bernice) in the front row.
tatting-tat·ting – a delicate handmade lace formed usually by looping and knotting with a single cotton thread and a small shuttle.
I should have paid better attention because as I look at this piece that she did, I have no idea about how it was actually done. I remember her sitting in her chair with a white cloth on her lap stitching away. She would finish a piece and then my Mom would sometimes crochet an edge around it she wanted it.
The material is that cotton that was loosely woven, maybe flour sacks, so I wonder if she clipped openings to stitch lace into the middle or did she pull threads into groups to make the lace? Her hand stitching around the edges is so totally even and I know that it was all done by hand.
The patterns in the center are amazing with the details so beautifully finished.
Very steady hands, and so much patience, she loved to chat and stitch with her beautiful white hair.
