I live in Stratford-upon-Avon, U.K and have been shuttle tatting for 67 years after my grandmother and I 'worked it out' together. I have always loved using colours in my work – the brighter the better but back in the 'dark ages' there were very few interesting coloured threads so I often resorted to sewing threads. Nowadays I play with blending fine threads together to find interesting combinations.
My ‘career’ as a designer started with a desire to make earrings to 'entertain' the four/five year old children I was teaching at the time and has progressed from this simple start. A few patterns were published in weekly magazines in the UK before I discovered the internet in it's very early days. A desire to share my patterns 'encouraged' me to start a web site (a huge learning curve) where all my free patterns can be found.
http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com
I have a blog where I talk about my life in ‘Tat Land’ http://janeeborall.blogspot.com/ and this keeps me motivated to tat and design too. My email address is itatlots@gmail.com
Several people have asked me in the past why I tat. The answer is simply - I have to!!! Ideas just keep coming. I have taught myself several types of lace but always, always returned to the shuttles although I do turn to the sewing machine to make tatting accessories in the warmer months.
I have taught at Tat Days in the past and look forward to meeting up once more with friends both old and new.
Jane Eborall