Flamenco Accessories - Get Creative and Make Your Own Earrings

It all started with this wedding dress (see pic on the left) I was asked to make for a client. The wedding was going to be in Italy in July so most likely on a warm day. The bride wasn’t keen on a sleeveless dress so we were looking for a way to add sleeves without her sweating and being uncomfortable in der dress. I ended up hand making bruges lace sleeves and a matching edging above the ruffles, giving the dress the unique touch we were looking for.

In my search for the perfect design I came across images of lace edgings and lace jewelry that immediately caught my attention. I love all sorts of crafts and have tried a lot of different techniques but I hadn’t seen anything like it. I just HAD to figure out how it is done.

This is how I learnt about shuttle tatting. Rings and chains made from tiny knots are combined to form stunning lace – delicate and strong at the same time. Flamenco dancers often love the antique look lace adds to an outfit and with threads available in lots of colours and qualities tatted jewelry and accessories would be an ideal way to convert any flamenco dance outfit into a one-of-a-kind costume.

There are lots of tatting tutorials around. But I’m impatient and wanted to be making lace as quickly as possible, so I needed someone to show me everything I needed to know to get started in one place, in a modern and convenient format. I was lucky and found Marilee Rockley’s Online Shuttle Tatting Class on Craftsy.

Below you can see a few examples of earrings I have tatted since taking the course – to match a flamenco dress or simply to experiment with different designs, colours and threads:

And earrings are just the beginning – I’m also experimenting with chokers, flecos (fringes), edgings framing the neckline, hair accessories etc. so stay tuned.

Are you ready to get creative?