shoelace trick? and hiding threads

[prissylou1217]

I am very new to tatting( just started monday). I learned from tattedtreasures.com and i was trying to do all of the 8 easy snowflake patterns on the site just for the practice. One of the patterns (the ten-point snowflake doily) involves what is called the shoelace trick. what I want to know is what is it? what's it used for? I know that this project can be done without it but my curiosity is up.

I'm hoping it a different way to hide thread ends after cutting and tying, because I can't seem to do that well. I've tried the magic thread trick, I've tried using a needle. I can't get the thread through and the ring or chain ends up stretched and floppy and I just want to start over and try again. I have even tried tatting slightly looser but that just makes the stretching worse. Are there any other methods for hiding threads after finishing a project? I am desperate for suggestions.

[RandaGray]

The shoe lace trick (SLT) is a method of switching the thread you're using. I'm not very good with this kind of thing, but here goes: When I'm using two shuttles & one is running low on thread (like when you're almost done with a snowflake & rrreeeaaaallllyyy don't want to wind a shuttle for that last little bit), you tie the first half of a square knot (like when you start to tie your shoes!) at the base of a ring or chain & viola! You have swapped your working thread... I hope that makes sense.
As for hiding ends, I never could make the magic thread trick work either.... But I do sew in my ends. I weave back & forth under just the "caps" of the stitches, 3 or 4 stitches back. Eventually you'll be able to do it so well you won't be able to tell where you sewed them in. It all takes practice :)

[Lacetatting]

The shoelace trick is a regular knot, done with 2 threads, like you do when tying your shoelaces, before you start the ribbon part.
For example:
You can switch shuttles this way, after closing a ring, before working the chain, when you use 2 colors of thread and want the chain to be the same color as the ring.
It is also the simplest way to work a pattern written for 2 Shuttles, with one shuttle and the ball thread, which also minimizes threads to be hidden later on and having to wind up shuttles.
I usually sew the ends in, on the back side of the piece, using needles for the blind, for short threads and quick threading.
Wolfgang

[PattyD]

One of the simpler kinds of tatting involve winding a shuttle with thread and not cutting the thread off the ball. This is called Continuous Thread Method or CTM.

The first objective of not cutting the thread off the ball is to not have 2 ends to hide after you finish the tatting. Sometimes, because of how a pattern is constructed, you need to make a ring with the thread that leads to the ball. The Shoelace Trick (SLT) is a handy way to swap the threads so that you have a shuttle at the of the thread you are working with, making it simpler to work a ring in an relatively unexpected place. The alternative is to take a few yards of thread off the ball and cut it, then wind it on a second shuttle and proceed. For small motifs this is a fairly good alternative to an SLT. But for a larger project where the amount of thread on the shuttle is not enough, then cutting the thread off the ball is a not a great idea.

Also SLTs allow you to swap colors if you are using more than one color. The purpose of the SLT is swap the threads to either put a shuttle where you need it or to change the color of the thread. It is handy that way.

But tatting is very personal and if you don't like something because it slows you down, it's too hard or you don't like it, there is usually a lot more ways to go about it.

I have been tatting for a very long time and have yet to succeed with the magic thread. I must hold my tongue wrong. I strongly prefer to use sewing under the caps at the end of the work.

For sewing under caps, I thread an end into a big eye beading needle which is actually a piece of wire bent in half and soldered at both ends. Its great virtue lies in the fact that since the "eye" of the needle is everything between the ends and you could drive a truck through it, you can thread just about anything the "eye". Then slip the needle up under the first cap closes to the end of the work. Pull the needle through and repeat the operation on the first cap on the other side. Make 4 or 5 passes ending on the back side of the work, tug the thread a little bit and clip close to the back of the work.

There, now you know what the SLT does for a living and another way to hide ends.

As you progress, you will learn how to prevent having to cut the thread by rerouting the elements of a pattern, using split rings and split chains and other fancy stuff. While you need to know how to hide ends, the fewer ends there are, the faster you can work and the happier you will be with your tatting.

[MercyPres]

I sew my ends in passing along the core thread of either ring or chain. To make room for the needle, I tat OVER a loose piece of thread and when finished ready to sew in the ends I pull the loose piece out.

[Ireneho]

If core thread appears under lose stitch, I poke the lose end under and thru the loop of the stitch. If it core thread appears over the stitch, i poke the end thread over and thru the stitch. Then I tighten.

[PattyD]

It just occurred to me that another reason I like sewing under the caps is because I really, really like itty bitty thread and sewing under the caps really works.

Another method I really like is to finish with a ring and tat over the tail of the second thread (the working thread for the chain)at the beginning of the last ring, and then finish the ring with the loop over method used for the SSSR (Single Shuttle Split Ring). After placing the end of the loop over the thread at the base of the ring, I remove the excess thread and simply clip it close to the work because the loop over method has taken the core thread to the end of the of the ring, gone around the thread that leads into the now completed ring and back through several DS. It does all the hiding except the last little clip.

[Batty Tatter]

When my project is done, or I need to put on a new thread, I tie the ends with a square knot. Put some "Fray Check" on the knot, let it dry and then clip the ends close. Lots of the tatters here would not do that, but it's really not so bad. I always make my knots on the chain side and that way there is a back and front.

[Ireneho]

Or u can dab a bit of pva glue on the knot, it doesn't smell like nail polish and its waterproof so it won't wear off.

[RandaGray]

I use nail polish when there are really close picots, or when I accidentally clip my ends too close to sew in before I realize what I've done. :-\ But I don't use it on white thread, since people keep saying it turns yellow over time.
I'm really not sure how else to make sure those daisy rings don't come open.... I've wasted miles of thread trying to make it, then sew in the ends when the pattern said 1-1-1-1 & so on... :(