iPad Design Tutorial: Part 2

How to Draw a Design that can be Tatted

Now that we've practiced using Kaleidoscope Drawing Pad, it's time to draw our design. It can be tempting to draw something very complex, but I urge you not to do this, as the result will be difficult if not impossible to translate into tatting.

If this is your first time using the app to design, I recommend starting with something simple. You can always move onto more complex projects later on. Below is the first drawing I tatted, and as you can see it has only clovers and chains:

I didn't take any measurements before tatting the piece pictured above. Instead, I relied on memory and used similar stitch counts to a motif I had just completed from Tatting Patterns and Designs by Blomqvist and Persson. You can try to tat your design without taking measurements, though I recommend at least measuring a few rings and chains. I will talk more about taking measurements in Part 3 of the tutorial.


Whenever I draw a new design, I think in terms of tatting. I try to draw each ring and chain as accurately as possible by using the undo button until I get it right. If elements are not drawn or placed in a realistic manner, it can be very difficult to get the design to work properly.

To illustrate how I make a drawing, I've separated each step into a different photo. The following example details the process of drawing a snowflake.

I began by choosing six-sided symmetry and drawing a chain, using the undo button liberally until the placement was correct:

Next, I added a clover to the end of each chain and picots to the middle of the motif:

Those first two elements conclude Round One. If you want to design something that avoids cutting and tying, you can brainstorm ways to climb from one round to the next, or make one large continuous round.

Moving onto Round Two: I considered the possible places to join a ring. I decided to join them between each clover, so I drew the following:

I added rings to the tops of the clovers as well:

And connected the rings with a chain:

And another chain:

Lastly, I added a thrown clover to the top of the previous chain to finish my design.

So, there you have it, the basics of how to draw a design on the iPad. You can expand upon these principles to draw more advanced techniques such as split rings, onion rings, self closing mock rings and more. I find it fun to draw up a design with the latest technique I have learned.

Part 3 will be released tomorrow, and I will explain how to make a rough estimate of stitch count from your drawing. See you then!

Click here for Part 3