Benporath Cake Doyley Complete and Delivered

Many thanks to all of you who answered my call for feedback about adding the center medallion to Norma's Cake Doyley.  With a fair amount of trepidation, I decided to add the center medallion. It's done and delivered, and Mom was thrilled with it.

Norma suggested using the buttonhole stitch to sew around the motif, catching the outer picots as you sew. The first thing I had to do was an internet search for instructions on the buttonhole stitch. For a first effort, it came out pretty well. I was really nervous about cutting the fabric away behind the lace, but so glad I did once I saw the difference it makes. Laying the lace atop the fabric circle really didn't give me a clear idea of what it would look like once the fabric behind it was removed.

Insert or No Insert

I'm excited to report that the tatting of the Norma Benporath Mystery Cake Doyley is complete. I'm seriously torn about whether to add the motif to the center. Norma provides enough instruction in the pattern that I think I could create the cutout behind the center medallion. Two things make me reluctant to finish it as Norma intended. Firstly, Mom will not use it as a cake doily and may be reluctant to sit anything on it that might hide the center medallion. Secondly, I'm concerned that I chose such a small fabric circle that the motif is a bit too large by comparison. So I'm asking you for your input. I confess, though, that there is a part of me that wants to see it through so that it is a good reproduction of what Norma tatted for her original pattern.

Motif #12 for the 25 Motif Challenge