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Magic Thread TrickIf you’ve been following the Absolute Beginner Tatting Series you can now flip a stitch, make rings and chains, reverse work to combine them, and read any beginner level pattern. You can add thread when you run out, hide those beginning tails, and even complete your motif using a folded join. Look at how much you can do!

Maybe you’ve noticed that when you finish your motif or edging or whatever project you are working on, you’ve got two thread ends left over. Just knotting them and cutting them close to the knot will likely make them unravel with time, even if you make a very good knot. So what do you do?

Hide them. There are a number of methods of hiding ends, and this is just one. It requires a bit of pre-planning, but is well worth the effort. The nice thing about this method is that when you finish tatting the project, your thread ends are ready to slip under the stitches and go away.

Here’s how to do it, in 7 easy peasy steps:

  1. When you are getting close to finishing, stop about 5 to 6 stitches before the end.
  2. From the ball, cut off a length of extra thread, roughly 10 to 12 inches. Fold that in half, and lay the folded extra thread along your working thread.
  3. Continue tatting the remaining stitches, tatting over the folded thread, hiding it under the stitches. Tie off the finished work as normal.
  4. Cut off the two threads, leaving several inches, and insert the ends into the loop of the folded thread.
  5. With one hand, get a good grip on the last several stitches you made, and with the other hand grip the ends of the folded thread tightly.
  6. Now PULL THAT FOLDED THREAD OUT FAST AND HARD. It will pull your tail ends through the last several stitches you made.
  7. All that’s left is to tidy up a bit. Tug the ends to make sure they are all the way through and cut them off as close as possible to where they peak out between stitches. That’s it!

In this video you can watch the magic thread trick in action.

 

Please note: The closed captions aren’t quite ready yet, but will be up soon. I apologize if I’m making you wait.

This post is part of a series of Absolute Beginner Tatting Lessons. Go back to the previous lesson, Finishing a Tatted Motif with a Folded Join, or skip ahead to the next lesson, Sewing in Ends, Method 1.

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