Edith Wooley’s hands blur in front of her as she swirls and loops thread into ornate patterns. The 79-year-old Plant City artist creates a variety of textile pieces. But, her favorite technique is tatting.
Tatting dates back to the early-19th century and has become a sort of lost art in modern times. But, Wooley has been striving to keep it alive. She travels around the state to attend heritage festivals and shows.
Many have seen her busy at work in her pioneer dress, which she sewed herself, of course. Her wares include beautiful collars, cross bookmarks and impressive doilies. One patron even took a picture of her and painted a watercolor, calling her “The Tatting Lady.”
“If anyone wants something tatted, they call me,” Wooley said.
Wooley always has been fascinated by needlework.
“My mother could sew anything by hand, and it looked like a machine did it,” Wooley said.
When she was young, her best friend’s mother taught her how to crochet. Then at vacation Bible school, the pastor’s wife taught her tatting. Wooley was the only one interested in the craft.
As life went on, Wooley got busier. She became a registered nurse and had to take care of her own daughters. Tatting was put on hold.
But when her first daughter, Geena Griffin, got married in 1978, Wooley jumped at the opportunity to make her a headdress. The delicate piece had 350 pearls laced into its design.
Since then, Wooley has continued with the hobby. Her house has stacks of her work on every surface. At her daughter’s home, she sits around similar stacks and picture books.
Some of her designs are framed Christmas trees and snowflakes. The bookmarks are best-sellers, and she even makes them in Florida Gator colors. Delicate little butterflies are lined up in a box. She sells many of the butterflies at shows. Their colors are vibrant. But, once in a while, a white one will pop up.
Wooley was inspired to create the white butterfly after she watched news coverage of Chilean miners trapped underground after a cave-in. Wooley remembered one man, who said they saw a white butterfly miles down in the twisting tunnels. They were so shocked that the creature had made its way that far down that they stopped to look at it. Suddenly, the ground shook and boulders fell directly in front of them. If they hadn’t stopped to watch the winged creature, they would have been crushed.
Wooley calls her white butterflies “guardian angels.”
Along with shows, Wooley enters the Florida Strawberry Festival contests every year and always walks away with multiple ribbons. Her strawberry doily won Grand Champion. A beautiful tiara also won prizes. It took at least 40 hours to complete.
“It’s a slow process,” Wooley said of her work.
It might take a while, but Wooley never gets confused. Her hands spread the thread, pulling the shuttle in and out.
She has worked with all types of thread. One time, she was given a box of thread that contained silk dating back from 1918. The box also contained cotton cones that were thought to be used for Boeing airplane seats.
Currently, Wooley is working on a communion cloth for Hopewell Baptist Church that requires 11 yards of fabric.
She also teaches classes to anyone interested in learning.
“They love it,” Wooley said. “So many people say my mother or grandmother loved to tat. It’s skipped some generations.”
But, Wooley is doing her best to pass it onto the next generation. Her daughter has picked up the craft and travels with Wooley to shows.
“She was having to watch me,” Wooley said. “She’s really good at it now.”
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.
TECHNIQUES
There are different types of tatting techniques.
• Shuttle tatting. In the earliest method of creating tatted lace, a shuttle is used. The shuttle is a metal, wood or ivory pointed oval. The tatter wraps thread around one hand and uses the shuttle with the other to create loops. Wooley uses a shuttle and also collects antique shuttles.
• Needle tatting. Originating in the early 20th century, needle tatting didn’t become popular until much later. Using a needle instead of a shuttle, needle tatting differs slightly in structure because both the needle and thread must pass through the stitches.
• Cro-tatting. Combining tatting with crochet, the cro-tatting tool is a tatting needle with a crochet hook at the end. One also can cro-tat with a bullion crochet hook or a very straight crochet hook.