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. 

 

 

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!

Beaded Button Brooches

We did the first part of a two-part beaded button brooch workshop at my EGA chapter Saturday. I think it went pretty well. If anyone has any questions or anything, please e-mail or call me.

Here is a brooch I made out of a keyhole I found at a flea market in France three years ago. I made the pin in the same way I make the beaded button brooches. I miniaturized a photo of Lulu taken at Elizabeth Park Rose Garden in Hartford, about 90+ years ago. When my sister and I went to France last year, Lulu went with us in the form of a pin!

Here are a couple diagrams for some of the beaded edgings I have used on my beaded button brooches. There are many more diagrams on my Flickr photostream. Students can click on the picture of the beaded cat button (on the right) to go to the Flickr photostream.  When you get there, click on the set "Beaded Button Instructions."  Here you will find a 3-page handout of directions, plus diagrams for all the beaded edgings I have created. You can download the instructions, diagrams and pictures and then print them.

The button below was the second one I made after learning the technique from a Bead & Button article. (My technique is pretty different, and all the edgings I use were created by me.) The small buttons are called "calicos" and were made in the mid-19th century. There is a nice article about them in Bead & Button magazine online.

Here is a beautiful reproduction Czech glass button:

Beaded Button Brooch Workshops

On September 22 and October 10 I'll be doing Beaded Button workshops for RSVP in Oxford and the North Mississippi Fiber Guild in Hernando. The workshop is three hours and participants should be able to finish their embellished button brooch and wear it home!

Here is a sample of one of my beaded button brooches. To see more samples, click on the slide show of beaded buttons (on the right, the beaded cat button picture).

For RSVP participants, all you need to bring is a 1" or larger button. All other materials are provided. The workshop is from 10:00 to 1:30, so bring a lunch (dessert and drinks provided by RSVP).

(NMFG, please visit the guild Yahoo site for a list of materials to bring, though most supplies will be provided.)

What sort of button works well for this project? Well, just about any kind of button! If you have a button with sentimental value (perhaps it once resided on your mother's winter coat), bring that and wear a memory of your mother on your lapel!

Buttons old, new, plain, fancy, solid color or patterned -- they all work. The vintage button in the upper left of this photo was recently given to me by a friend. I can't wait to make it into a pin. It's so me, the pink gloved hand, holding the big rhinestone! The bottom left button was recently purchased, at M&J Trimming in NYC. The button on the right is from Africa.

Colorful and inexpensive new buttons make good beaded button brooches:


In Oxford you can find pretty and colorful new buttons at the Fabric Center on University. Ellen has a wonderful button selection there. Even Wal-Mart has a good, though smaller, selection of colorful buttons.
Lastly, if you want to spend a lot of money, you can find reproduction Czech glass buttons online.  The glass dragonfly button, below, was purchased at the big bead show in Tucson last February, and it cost about $10. I think the "work in progress" button is funny; I found it at M&J Trimming on my recent trip to New York City. The soft pink button in the center is plastic.

Remember, 1" or larger. See you on the 22nd!

Not the same old katcha-counter...

I actually love katcha-counters. Something about the satisfying sound - katcha - as you press the counter at the end of every row. A few days ago my friend Andrea mentioned that she wanted to try making a beaded counter, but didn't have the supplies or the know-how. I told her I had a box of beading supplies that weren't getting much use, and I had made a few beaded bracelets so I could offer a little bit of know-how!

Understanding exactly what my friend wanted to try and make took a bit of exploring on the web. Once I realized what she wanted to make I was excited to make one for myself too. It seemed that making a chain of jump rings large enough to slip onto your needle was the basic premise, and then you could embellish to your heart's content!

I took a trip into the city to get supplies. I was headed to Beads World on Broadway, but wandered into another great store, Bead Empire at 39th and Avenue of the Americas. Both stores have great inventory and customer service. I didn't realize there was this whole "beading district" within the Fashion District - there were several other beading stores within this 2 block radius! At Bead Empire I purchased the jump rings, crimp beads, and drop bead posts I thought we would need. Just as I was getting ready to leave I happened to glance at a wall that had spools of already-made chain on it and saw this:

Tah-dah! Suddenly this seemed like a MUCH better idea. I bought all the other bits and pieces anyways - you can never have too many crafting supplies :).

Here are a couple of pictures of the embellishment I made to attach to the end of the chain - it looks like it might be heavy, but all of these beads were actually quite light-weight. These are just stacked onto a drop bead post (I think that is what you call it!) with a couple of small spacer beads here and there.

The mathematical mechanics of the counter are simple - the chain is 20 rings long - 10 small and 10 large. Depending on the size needle that you are using, you simply slip a ring between two stitches, and as you are knitting you simply move to the next ring down on the chain each time you pass over it as you knit. So that will get you through 10 rows. And what if you need to count more than 10 rows? That's where this bit comes in:

For the first 10 rows you would leave this off of the chain. When you get to the 11th row, you attach this counter using the lobster clasp onto the 1st large or small ring - whichever size you AREN'T using to fit your needles. Then you start counting your next set of 10 rows. Here's a picture of the counter showing knitting at row 11.

And here is a picture of the counter showing knitting at row 14.

You would leave the lobster clasp embellishment in place attached to the 1st ring for 10 rows, and then bump it down to the next large or small ring (depending on which size DOESN'T fit your needles). With this method you should be able to count to 100 rows. Actually, I guess 110...

This part still needs a little bit of work. I wanted the lobster clasp to be easy to open and close so I used a large size, but the clasp is a bit too heavy. I think a medium clasp will be fine, I just didn't have one in my beading supplies. When I get down to the Bead District again I will pick one up. One parting artistic shot - all taken with my cell phone cam, btw!

I always seem to need a food reward for my projects - hmmm. That explains a lot. Anywho, today I made Almond Poppyseed Bread. Delish!

Fresh Flowers for Your Lapel!

I love the idea of wearing a little nosegay of violets or violas in the springtime. Here is a cute way to keep them fresh for a few hours longer. You know those tiny glass vials that you get free perfume samples in at the department store cosmetic counter? You have to ask for them, the sales staff never seem to offer them without a request!

The first step is to select some lace trims, ribbons and buttons to cover the glass vial. Using Fabri-Tac glue, adhere a piece of lace to the top and bottom edges of the vial. Let dry a few minutes.

Next, with the same glue, adhere a pin back to the vial. I use a pin back that is almost as long as the vial is tall. Let this dry an hour or so. Glue the narrow ribbons you have chosen to the vial, with ribbon ends overlapping in the back, over the pin back. This will help to secure the pin back to the vial.

The bottom ribbon will probably have to be trimmed as it won't fit over the pin back (the pin back is almost, but not quite, as long as the vial).

Embellish with trim, or a button. On the example above I glued a piece of silk ribbon flower trim and added a tiny rhinestone. On the example below I tied a little pearl button with embroidery thread.

Something has to be added behind the decorated vial, otherwise the pin wants to flop to the side when you wear it. To fix this problem you can either add a ribbon or lace bow (glue it over the pin back) or make a felt leaf to attach to the pin. I used a fusible adhesive to attach buckram to the back of the felt, to give it body. The leaf is a tulip poplar, which I hand sketched from an illustration on the internet. Transfer the sketch to the back of the buckram/felt sandwich and cut it out. I painted the edge of the leaf with fabric paint. It is hard to see, but I also painted lines, using a Micron Brush marker, on the felt to resemble the veining on the tulip poplar leaf.

Cut two holes in the leaf to push the pin back through. This was a bit of a challenge. Make sure it is going to fit before you apply the glue.

Instead of sketching a leaf, you can always go outside and find a leaf that is the right size and shape and simply trace around it onto the buckram. Here is a redbud leaf that I picked today.

I think I got these little fabric flowers to put in the pin/mini vase at Paper Source in Porter Square, but you can find them in other places too. Or, you could pick some fresh violets or other tiny flowers, and wear them on your lapel for a fresh and friendly spring greeting. To fill the little vial with water, use a pipette, or one of those little coffee stirrer straws.

I wore my fascinator at the Artistic Figurers in Cloth banquet, and got a prize for it, in the "Vintage Chic" category!