BUTTONS, BUTTONS!

I may have several thousand buttons.  (Should I admit to that?)  I have my mother's button tin, which she used to bring out on rainy days when we were kids.  She would have us sort and string the matching buttons together.  Mostly utilitarian buttons, but there are some little gems in the tin, too.  Of course, I have collected many more over the years.  I love diminutives, colorful vintage, and any button that sparkles.

I could just look at my pretty buttons, but I do sometimes feel that I must make crafty things with them!  I have made and wear several button bracelets, some with all white, black, and clear buttons,  and some with mixed colors.

The bracelets are easy to make.  I like to double the braided elastic (3/8" wide).  Each button, or stack of buttons, need to be sewn individually to the elastic.  (I use Nymo beading thread.)  You can add beads as you are attaching the buttons.  Knot the end of the thread leaving about a 3" tail beyond the knot.  Sew through the stack of buttons several times.  Make a couple square knots inside the bracelet, with the two remaining tails of thread.

 

I like to cover the stitches and knots with little pieces of lace or Ultrasuede, using Beacon Fabri-tac glue. 

 

The wide bracelet has the tiniest, cutest, donkey button (lower middle):

Cat button bracelet and Mac, the Best Cat Ever.

 

Vintage cat button. 

 

 

Dorset Buttons on the Go!

I can't stop making Dorset Buttons.  There are so many colorful threads to try!  I needed something small to fit in my purse -- for trips in the car, intermission during a performance, or just waiting in line somewhere.  Here is what I came up with.

Wow, I only had one empty tin of those 'Curiously Strong Peppermints.'  Guess I'd better start eating them again.  I decoupaged a piece of wrapping paper to the lid.  (To do this, you don't need to cut the wrapping paper exactly the same size, just use a scrap that is larger than the top of the tin.)  Brush the decoupage medium on the top of the tin, place the paper on it, then apply more medium on top of the paper.  Squeeze out the bubbles as much as possible.  When the paper is completely dry (wait a day), use an emery board to trim the paper all around the top edge.  Works perfectly.

Here is the tin with enough supplies to make several Dorset buttons!

Yes, you can really fit all this stuff in the tin:  several empty plastic rings, four floss holders with various threads on them, several buttons finished or in progress, an emery board cut to fit (sometimes the plastic rings have to be smoothed along the mold lines), a glass vial that holds tapestry needles, and a pair of fold-up scissors.

 

I love my on-the-go Dorset Button Kit!

Button Addictions

Various Dorset & Thread Wrapped Buttons, made into a brooch

My daughter and I took a Jane Austen trip to England last summer, Jane Austen +1.  I had read, probably in Piecework Magazine, about a button exhibit in Macclesfield and asked Kathy to see if it could be added to our itinerary if it was not too out of the way.  It wasn't, just a couple short train rides on a travel day, and we spent the most wonderful afternoon in Macclesfield.  This small-ish industrial city was home to the silk industry in England, and there are several sites and museums definitely worth a visit!  We had a really interesting tour of the Paradise Mill and watched our guide operate several of the restored Jacquard looms.

The reason for our side trip to Macclesfield was to see the 300 buttons submitted by fiber artists from around the world, and although the exhibit is history, you can read about it here.  It was a very colorful and interesting exhibit, and we each purchased a button from the exhibit, to be mailed to us after the exhibit came down.  It was so fun to get a package from the UK after we got home!

In the museum gift shop I purchased a book called Buttons: A Passementerie Workshop Manual by Gina Barrett.  The book covers all types of thread buttons, including the Dorset, which I have been making and teaching to friends.  I also ordered a DVD from Gina, which really helped as I couldn't quite grasp the technique by reading the book only. 

This Saturday I am teaching members of my EGA chapter the basic Dorset button, and attached is a Google document of instructions that I have developed, click here. 

Assorted Dorset buttons made with (clockwise from pink button) crochet cotton, lace weight yarn, poly crochet thread, nylon/wool sewing thread, Lizbeth tatting thread, hand dyed pearl cotton, and sock yarn.  You could even use worsted weight yarn, to match a sweater you are making, but you would use only one ply.

I really like the linen embroidery floss, below.  I think I used two strands to cover the ring, and one strand for the center.  I was experimenting with trying to make a spiral design, right, but haven't figured it out yet.

Earring experiment:

 

Key chain and a cell phone charm (as though a cell phone needed a charm....):

 

When Kathy was visiting I showed her how to make Dorset buttons one afternoon, and she went to town!

So far people seem to like this one the best!

In my next, advanced class, we're going to tackle Morning Star (left) and Death's Head (right) buttons:

To view a good tutorial (lots of photographs) of Dorset button making, visit Craftystylish.com

Visit my Pinterest page for more Dorset button inspiration: 

http://www.pinterest.com/alcearosea/dorset-thread-buttons/

Eek, I can't stop making buttons!  Every time I see a new thread I think, hmmm, how would this look in a Dorset button!

Isn't Technology Grand?

Recently my parents bought me a new iPad for my birthday (thanks Mom and CC!).  It was just in the nick of time, as I was leaving my job which had given me an iPad to use while I worked for them.  I decided to throw myself headfirst into appreciating my new gift by making it as functional as possible - so I bought a Bluetooth keyboard to go along with it!

And what place does this post have on a blog dedicated to creativity?  Good question!  Answer: I made a lovely protective case for my keyboard - and I used a wonderful app in the design process.   These are both things that I thought were worth sharing, so here we go!

The Materials Used:

Mom and I took an amazing trip to England and Paris this past summer, and as crafty sorts we came home with suitcases full of crafty things - including this delicious art nouveau fabric from Liberty of London (the ACTUAL Liberty of London!!!) and this package of buttons from The Button Queen - an unassuming little shop that will absolutely knock your socks off, if buttons are your thing!  Can't remember where I got the striped fabric - it's reminiscent of men's suiting material.  The other material here is a thin polyester batting, to provide a bit of cushioning for the keyboard.

Bamboo Paper is Amazing!

And this is the app that helped me to design the keyboard case - Bamboo Paper by Wacom (just to be clear, I'm not associated with them in any way - I just think this is a cool use of the app and thought others might like it too!).  With my new iPad I took pictures of some of the materials and inserted the pictures right into the Notebook.  Then you can edit and annotate to your heart's content.  I love this!  I have a highly portable, easily transferable digital record of my creative work!  Coolio!

I cut the three fabrics into identical rectangles per the dimensions on my schematic.  BTW, the picture above was literally a picture of my iPad that I took with my camera.  Low tech.  The picture below is High Tech - Bamboo Paper can share pages from a Notebook with Evernote as .png files - I feel so technologically competent!

On to the Build

So, I sewed the three fabrics together in this order...

If you look closely at the bottom of the picture you can see that the Liberty print is right side down, with the striped material right side up.  Bottom layer is the batting.  I sewed a narrow seam around the edge of the rectangle, leaving a small opening to turn the sewn fabrics right-side-round.

My Secret Weapon

I have a secret weapon for turning fabrics and getting those pesky corners as crisp as possible.  Sometimes you have to look at what you already have on hand and see if you can find a new use for it.  Here it is:

The Knit Lite is a brilliant tool - literally - for people who want to be able to knit in the dark!

There is actually an LED light in the pointy end of the knitting needle!  Clover made these - I'm not sure they still do - but everything they do is genius.  Oh Clover, you're breaking my heart!

A la Missy Elliot

Oh my!  Anyways, I flipped it and reversed it...

...ironed it, and added the narrowest edging stitch I could manage...

...and double checked that the keyboard was still going to fit...

...and put a pin in it to mark my place...

...as it turned out, I could sew an even narrower seam than I thought:

Yup, that purple thread is the seam.  I couldn't believe it didn't fall off the side while I was sewing it!  I miscalculated and forgot to add enough width to account for reversing the seam, so I just changed my plan.  Worked out fine.

Buttonhole, Baby!

I got to break in the buttonhole foot on my sewing machine to finish this up - it was dead simple.  Just stick the button in the top half of the foot, and the machine does the rest.  I literally rested my head in my hand while it worked!

The Finished Product

I'm delighted with the keyboard, the case and the app that helped me to create it!  Isn't technology grand?

A Button Display

Some buttons are just too pretty to be used on clothing, stored in a closet. I wanted a way to display some of the buttons I have collected, mostly new buttons, some vintage and antique. Here they are hanging from the 'Forget-Me-Not' shelf in my studio, in honor of my sister, who loves forget-me-nots. The doll is holding a photo of Carolyn taken a long time ago, at Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox. She is shrugging her shoulders in the photo, as if to say, "Don't forget to take me home with you!"


To display the buttons I tore a strip of canvas fabric, glued a little piece of cardboard to the back, made two holes with an awl, and strung a ribbon through the holes. Each button was either sewn to the canvas, or the shank was pushed through the fabric and held in place with a piece of toothpick.