In
2008, I featured the beautiful work of Marilee Rockley of
Yarnplayer Arts. Since then, Marilee has remained dedicated to this craft, offering a variety of designs, patterns, & hand-dyed threads. She also recently added the title of
Craftsy.com instructor to her resume.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Marilee about what tatting is, her experience as a Craftsy instructor, and what handmade means to her.
What is tatting & how / when did you get started tatting in general?
Tatting is a type of handmade knotted lace, characterized by oval rings and curved chains, which are usually decorated with small loops called picots. Also called shuttle lace or frivolité. I've been tatting over 30 years. I'm mostly self-taught from books and the Internet, but I've learned valuable tips and tricks from tatting friends as well. I've been designing original tatted jewelry since about 2004.
Tell us about how you became an instructor on Craftsy & about your experience as an online instructor.
A member of the production team at Craftsy.com contacted me a few months ago, saying she had seen my tatted lace jewelry article in
Bead&Button magazine (April 2012 issue) and would I be interested in teaching a tatting course on Craftsy? This was the first I had heard of Craftsy.com, so I took a look at the site and was very impressed. I could see immediately the advantages to an online class - it can be watched as many times as you want, whenever you want, the instructors and other students will answer your questions, and you can upload pictures of your projects and receive feedback. Craftsy only works with top instructors across all craft fields, so I considered it a real honor to be asked to teach a class there. Of course, I said yes!
It was a very exciting experience for me to work with their professional video production crew in the Craftsy studio in Denver, Colorado. I needed to have my course completely prepared with talking points, patterns, completed projects, and the course projects in various stages of completion for doing demonstrations. It was quite a bit of work to prepare, but the Craftsy production team kept me encouraged and on schedule. Shooting the video took three days, then the editing team had my Shuttle Tatting course ready to launch after a few weeks.
The inspiration for my designs comes from many sources - vintage patterns, nature, seeing the work of other crafters, and just "playing around" with tatting to see what happens.
What does handmade mean to you?
To me, handmade means putting your own skills & creativity into a piece of work. It's unique!
