Victorian Tatting the Weldon’s Way: Shamrock D'Oyley

Weldon’s Practical Needlework houses a wealth of information on Victorian tatting. Here’s our twelfth installment in this series fromWeldon’s Practical Needlework, Volume 4. The following are instructions for how to tat a “Shamrock D'Oyley.” The material is reproduced here just as it appeared in England in 1889. No alterations or corrections were made.

Illustrations from Weldon’s Practical Needlework, Volume 4.

SHAMROCK D'OYLEY. EVANS' crochet cotton No. 16. Commence in the centre of the d'oyley. Make a loop with the shuttle thread, and work 1 double stitch, 1 picot, 2 double and 1 picot alternately eleven times, 1 double, draw up closely in a circle, and fasten off. 2nd round—Make a loop with the shuttle thread, work 6 double, join to a picot of the first round, do 6 more double, and draw up; reverse the work, and taking a second thread make a loop and do 5 double stitches; make a loop with the shuttle thread, work 7 double, 1 picot, 2 double and 1 picot alternately eight times, 7 double, draw up; resume the second thread and do 5 double stitches; * reverse the work, make a loop with the shuttle thread, work 6 double, join to the next picot of the first round, 6 more double, and draw up; reverse the work, and with the second thread do 5 double stitches; make a loop with the shuttle thread, work 7 double, join to the last picot of the last large oval, 2 double and 1 picot alternately eight times, 7 double, draw up; resume the second thread and do 5 double stitches; and repeat from * till there are 12 large and 12 small ovals in the round; do not forget to join the last picot of the last large oval to the first picot of the first large oval, and fasten off when the round is completed. 3rd round—Make a loop with the shuttle thread, work. 6 double, join to the third picot of a large oval of the previous round, 6 more double, and draw up; reverse the work, take a second thread and work 3 double stitches; reverse, make a loop with the shuttle thread, do 6 double, join to the fifth picot of the same oval of previous round, 6 more double, and draw up; reverse the work, resume the second thread and do 7 double stitches; make a loop, and for the first leaf of a shamrock, work 7 double, 1 picot, 2 double and 1 picot alternately six times, 7 double, and draw up; make another loop close, do 7 double, join to the last picot in the first leaf of the shamrock, 2 double and l picot alternately six times; 7 double, and draw up; make a third loop close, do 7 double, join to the last picot in the second leaf of the shamrock, 2 double and 1 picot alternately six times, 7 double, and draw up; take second thread and work 7 double stitches; reverse the work, and continue in the same manner, only joining the fourth picot of the first leaf of the shamrock to the corresponding picot in the third leaf of the previous shamrock; at the end of the round join the last leaf of the last shamrock to the first leaf of the first shamrock; there should be 12 shamrocks in the round; fasten off. 4th round—Make a loop with the shuttle thread, work 6 double, join to the second picot of the middle leaf of a shamrock of the preceding round, 6 double, draw up; take a second thread and work 3 double stitches; make a loop with the shuttle thread, do 6 double, join to the fourth picot of the same leaf, 6 double, draw up; resume the second thread and work 8 double stitches; then for the shamrock (which is smaller than those in the third round), make a loop, work 5 double, 1 picot, 2 double and 1 picot alternately six times, 5 double, draw up; make another loop close, do 5 double, join to the last picot in the first leaf of the shamrock, 2 double and 1 picot alternately six times, 5 double, and draw up; again make a loop close, do 5 double, join to the last picot in the second leaf of the shamrock, 2 double and 1 picot six times, 5 double, draw up; resume second thread and work 8 double; make a loop with the shuttle thread, do 6 double, join to the second picot of the third leaf of the shamrock of the preceding round, 6 double, and draw up; on the second thread work 3 double stitches; make a loop with the shuttle thread, do 6 double, join to the first picot (the one next the join) of the first leaf of the next shamrock of last round; resume second thread and do 8 double stitches; make a shamrock as before, only joining the fourth picot of the first leaf to the corresponding picot: in the last leaf of the previous shamrock; take the second thread, work 8 double stitches; and repeat as from the beginning of the round: there should be 24 shamrocks in the round; fasten off when completed. 5th round—Make a loop with the shuttle thread, work 6 double, join to the second picot of the middle leaf of a shamrock of the fourth round, 6 double, draw up; with a second thread work 3 double stitches; make a loop with the shuttle thread, do 6 double, join to the fourth picot of the same leaf, 6 double, draw up; resume the second thread and work 8 double; now make a three-leaved shamrock like those in the third round; take second thread and work 8 double; and proceed in the same pattern, and get 24 shamrocks in the round: fasten off securely, and this completes the d'oyley.

If you missed any part of this series on Victorian tatting fromWeldon’s, you can catch up on all of the blog posts <a href="https://pieceworkmagazine.com/category/victorian-tatting/" rel="noopener" target="blank">here. Find out more about tatting in our video download_ Shuttle Tatting_ with master tatter Georgia Seitz. If you have created any items from this series, we would love to see them. Please email us at piecework@longthreadmedia.com._