Primrose Corner

This has been a week with poorly people. Colds again! Haven’t we done this already? It’s only October. Didn’t we have our colds quota in September. All that mopping of the fevered brow… Do I need to allot an amount in the family budget for cold remedies, tissues and all that paraphenalia? Time to get out the juicer again I think. There’s a wonderful juice made from tomatoes, chillies and red peppers (plus a dash of worcestershire sauce - if you like it) that really blows the socks of a cold. It’s the chillies you know, opens up the ‘tubes’.

Consequently, not a lot of sewing has been done and of what I have managed to do I can only show you this, because I’m taking part in a ‘Christmas Decorations swap’ and I don’t want to upset Father Christmas by giving the game away. Do you like the button in the side bar? The swap’s been organised by Indigo Blue. I’ve never been involved in a swap before - it’s nerve wrackingly exciting….

Anyway, this is the frilly buttonony thing….

I do like it - it’s all sparkly!

Yes, you’re right! It’s another little pouch and another experiment. It’s diminutive. It’s 20cm (8 inches wide) and stands a 12.5 cm (approximately 5 inches) tall (or short if you prefer). It has no depth. It is a flat pouch.

It’s made from a purple moda marbels (why do I always struggle to spell that?) marbles fabric, which I pleated into randomly spaced 1/4inch tucks. I know they were 1/4 inch wide because I used my 1/4 foot on the sewing machine. Once the tucks were finished I sewed straight lines with a variegated quilting thread in between the tucks. All pink, purples and greens. Lovely. To complete the fabric I added a mixture of different sized shell buttons in green and turquoise blue , so it’s all lovely and shiny. It’s a very tactile piece. I used wadding behind the fabric which gives it a nice squishy feel, apart from the hardness of the buttons of course, and it has a simple pink fabric lining. I decided it was just too tiny to add any kind of pocket-ty arrangement.

If you haven’t spotted the similarity already, it’s based on a design in ‘Handmade Embroidered Purses’ by Jenny Rolfe.

Can you see the picture on the top right? She used sequins rather than buttons and I might just make another with sequins. You’d get a slightly more delicate effect I think. In fact I’m wondering what this pleating and sequin/button effect might look like in my favourite wristlet pattern. Umm!

I like her books. I’ve said before that I need to practice my free motion sewing for the course I’m doing and these designs give me lots of ideas for practice. The ‘I can’t wait to get started’ kind of practice, not the ‘oh no! Not more…..’ kind of practice… walks away wih heavy feet…. I can’t cope if things get too repetitive. I get all stressy - as my darling son would say. The books also give you loads of ideas for using the practice bits too. So, that folk like me don’t get buried in the left over deitritus of one more outing with the darning foot and the sewing machine.

Which incidentally I’d better get back to whilst things are quiet!

I’m trying to get to grips with free motion quilting. You know, feed dogs down, attach the darning foot etc etc and off you jolly well go…. meandering, drawing, painting with thread across fabric. No particular rules - just freedom! Yay!

Don’t believe them! it’s not that easy, you have to practice, or in my case practice, practice and then practice some more. It’s trying to get nice even stitching whilst manoevering your fabric… and remembering to meander, that’s the challenge. My poor little brain hurts.

My real difficulty was remembering to breathe. That sounds silly doesn’t it but I tensed my muscles up so much that every now and then I’d suddenly get a desperate urge to just BREATHE, which of course interrupted the flow of fabric, thread and machine (Sigh!). That’s my problem of course, I need to relax a little. After three practice pieces my poor muscles felt as if I’d been to the gym!

Relax that’s the key. I’m fresh out of lavender scented candles but that probably wouldn’t have worked anyway because you have to breathe to inhale the soothing aroma…… Music then. so a few precious sewing minutes later I had music to provide a calming, soothing, backdrop to my intensive, physically grueling, learning journey. So, to the sound of Crowded House I tried a few more pieces with a double needle just for a bit of added spice and tried some more.
…must…..breathe….

Free-motion stitching with a double needle creates a kind of ribbon effect, very pretty in skilled hands. The wadding sort of ‘puffs’ up in between giving a subtle impression of cording. I used a green thread in one side of the needle and a variegated quilting thread in the other.

Anyway, with the two ‘best’ pieces I created this pouch or make-up bag. It’s got a curved zipped top. I’ve been seeing quite a lot of pouches with nicely rounded tops lately. They’re quite sweet and feminine looking aren’t they? It’s probably a bit bigger than most, at 22cm (9 inches) across the top and stands 15 cm (6 inches) tall. It’s about 5 cm deep (2 inches). A nice useful size.

Then I sewed on a few buttons, ‘cos buttons are for using aren’t they? They’re not just for squirrelling away in your secret button stash. Alright, I used quite a lof of buttons - I got a bit carried away.

Which side do you prefer?

I ‘buttoned’ both sides and because the fabric wasn’t worked as one piece the sewing is slightly different between them so I used buttons of differing sizes, styles and colour just to add to the really ‘handcrafted’ look. (Obviously, this was all completely intentional. No, really!) I like the overall effect though. Quite light hearted and fun!

Are you trying to learn something new? and what do you use your buttons for?

I’m off to buy more buttons and then I need to get some more relaxed (deep breath), practicing done, with a single needle this time. Oh! and did I mention that I need to buy more buttons….. it’s not an obsession or anything …… not really……

Don’t tell me I don’t give you a good time on holiday, now help me wash these buttons.

Look at all these! What a lot! It took a while but I think we uncovered some treasure - lots of unusual and interesting buttons. They were a ‘donation’ fron one of Mr Primrose’s new ‘found’ cousins. (I don’t think she was really lost but you know how it is.) The children have never experienced family wider than the four of us, and it’s been an interesting experience for them. Now, they find they’ve cousins (second cousins I suppose they are really) in Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada - a bit far away for a casual drop in type of family relationship. However, they exist and we’re taking the opportunities to meet them when they arise and it’s quite fascinating.

It isn’t that clear in the photo but these buttons have an egyptian motif on them - I suspect it’s supposed to be Tutankhamun.

I love these wooden lozenge shaped ones and the artdeco-ish ones.

It took us an age to wash them all, pull out the bits of cotton, stab ourselves in the fingers with seam rippers (that was me!) Most of them had been used - but these green ones were still on the card.

The writing on the back says they cost £4 - I find that hard to believe. Perhaps it was a note relating to something else.

More buttons!

Miss Rosie seems to think that someone would like these to sew onto a wedding dress. Ummmm!

….. and a few interesting buckles.

I don’t have uses for them all - so once I washed them all I’ll do something about giving them away (to good and responsible homes you understand), so check back if you’re interested.

All I need to do now is see if little Miss Rosie will help me put them into bags; black, green blue etc. then we can wash the rest another time. Mustn’t use all our ‘fun’ allowance in one day must we now!

Sorry! I couldn’t resist the title.

My two little buttons have morphed and this is what they became.

The blue one became the middle of a yo-yo which I trimmed with a little ric-rac. I think it looks quite olde worlde, vintage like . Nice simple touch to add to a t-shirt.

The little burgundy red button became the centre of an embelishment for a ’sometime soon project’ (is this an SSP as opposed to WIP? ) of a summer hat - for me. I just can’t decide whether to make this one or this one. (Decision making is definitely not my strong point.) Is it greedy to make/have both?

I like the effect of nesting two yo-yo’s together, it makes them look a bit flower like. (The fabrics are these)

Thinking about it, yo-yo brooches would probably be a great thnig to make to sell at a craft fair. They’ve got that kind of ‘folksy’ charm about them, making a fantastic addition to a ‘crafty’ outfit and they’d not be too expensive to make. Use up lots of odd and ends of fabric too.

If you want a tutorial for making yo-yo’s then you probably can’t do better than this. . (I think Marmadaisy said that in her hat ‘recipe’ too and whenever two blogers agree well, you have to check it out don’t you?.)

Forgive me, bit I’m just a little fixated on buttons at the moment, don’t be concerned - I’m sure I won’t come to any harm but I do absolutely have to share.

It is completly possible to create beautiful unique buttons by isolating just a part of a pattern motif of the fabric - but you knew that didn’t you?

When I’m covering larger buttons I often use a piece of wadding cut to the same size as the button top under the fabric. I think it softens the look of the button slightly and it just feels nice. If you’re usng a metal button kit it also stops the metal shining through particularly if your fabric has a more open weave. Really though it’s purely a matter of personal choice.

Requirements

• self-cover buttons - front and back (there are many different sorts of self cover button kits, but I use this sort. Link)
• fabric (enough to cover your button)
• small piece of wadding (optional)
• matching sewing thread
• sewing needle
• scissors
• tape measure
• a few pins
• greaseproof paper, tracing paper or tissue paper (something you can see the fabric pattern through)
• a pencil to make a pattern with or fabric marker (if you’re going to mark directly onto the fabric)
• glue stick (optional) (Tip: raid the children’s pencil cases. They’re bound to have one)

Step 1 - Make your button pattern a) Place the button front face down onto the tissue paper (or whatever you’re using) and draw around the outside of the button top. Not the smoothest circle but it’ll work just fine.
b) Measure the distance between the button shank and the outside rim of the button, like so. In this case it’s just a little more than a 1cm - a centimetre will work just fine.
c) Use this amount to mark a seam allowance (1cm) around the circle you have just drawn.
(To draw this outer circle I place the tape measure against the circle I drew by marking around the button top and mark the 1cm distance with dots. Then I can just join up the dots to make my outer circle.) You should now have something like this which you can cut out and use as a pattern piece. Alternatively, you can draw directly onto your fabric with a non-permanent or other fabric marker.
Step 2 - Selecting the part of the fabric pattern you wish to use a) Decide which part of the fabric pattern you wish to use.
Your ’see-through’ pattern piece should help you isolate the area you’re interested in and judge what it would look like on the finished button. Move it round until you’re happy with your decision. b) Pin your pattern piece to the fabric and cut it out. If you’ve marked the ‘button pattern’ directly onto the fabric then cut that out. The ’see-through’ tracing paper allows me to see the pattern quite clearly so I can accurately select the pattern motif I want to cut from the fabric for my button.	I love this fabric it’s from Anna Maria Horner’s chocolate range
Step 3 - The wadding For this button I wanted to include a piece of wadding just because …..I like my buttons that way!? a) If you don’t intend to keep the pattern piece you just used to cut out the fabric circle with forever …. and you might do. Then cut off the seam allowance marked on you pattern piece and use this as a pattern to cut out a circle of wadding for the top of your button.
Step 4 - Lots of bits and pieces a) Get out the glue stick This just helps to hold the wadding in place whilst you concentrate on the fabric, so it’s an entirely optional step. (I do it ‘cos I get impatient with trying to hold lots of things still.)
b) Rub a little glue onto the button top and press the wadding onto it
c) Using a doubled sewing thread which matches the fabric colour, sew a row of running stitches around the edge of the fabric circle. Be careful not to sew too close to the edge or when you gather up the fabric the stitches may pull out. (I’m admitting nothing!)
d) Slip the button front onto the fabric circle, and gently pull up the stitches.
Whilst you’re doing this ensure that the pattern motif that you so carefully selected is positioned exactly as you want it.
e) Pull the gathers up tightly so that the button top if completely enclosed and tie the thread ends off securely in a knot. Snug as a bug in a rug!
Step 5 - Assembling your button pieces a) Place the ‘washer’ over the button shank with the ’spotty’ side facing what will be the underside of the button. The serrated edge and these spots help to hold everything nice and tightly in place.
b) Use a little brute force and push the washer down onto the other button piece. The washer should click into place.
Stand back, admire your lovely new button and Smile!

I hope you like this little tutorial and that I haven’t make it look too complicated. Let me know what you think, I’d hate to think that I was talking to myself as well as everthing else. I’d love to see any buttons you cover, ‘cos I’m nosy interested. Happy sewing.

Fabric covered buttons

I love buttons.

Any buttons! They’re useful and pretty ….. what more could you ask for?

You can buy/beg or otherwise get hold of some beautiful buttons these days. Sometimes though the best button is the button you created yourself!

Cover them with your favourite fabric, either solid colour or patterned, embroidered, embellished with beads, sequins or both, fabric painted. So much choice, so much possibility!

I mean look at these or this collection I mean wow! Creative or what?! You’d just have to cuddle them wouldn’t you? …Did you come back?

Even if you’re not up to doing this just yet (and I’m not sure I am) there’s so much fun you can have with them and so much you can do with them. I make them to add detail to bags, scarves, hats and belts. I have been know to change buttons on jackets for buttons I’ve covered myself. (Makes ‘em look good. Here you have to imagine a plain black jacket with red fabric buttons. Well, I liked it.)

Anyway, I was thinking as I was adding ‘plastic self-cover buttons’ to the shop that it’d be nice to have a little ‘How to..’ about the place for peeps who haven’t covered a button before.

So, without any more ado, here begins a little ‘tutorial’ ( a bit grand, but I wasn’t sure anyone else uses the term ‘a how to…’) on ‘covering a button with fabric’.

First of all you need;

Requirements;

• 1 set of plastic self-cover buttons (there are many different sorts of self cover button kits, but I use this sort.)
• fabric
• matching sewing thread
• sewing needle
• a few pins
• scissors
• paper and pencil to make a pattern or
  fabric marker
• tape measure

For this I’m using an 18mm plastic button, which is quite small. All sizes of buttons can be covered using the same method but you will need to allow a larger seam allowance for larger buttons in order to get everthing nice and smooth and safely secured behind the button back.

I like to make a pattern first.

Step 1 Make yourself a template/pattern a) Place the button front face down onto a piece of paper and draw around the outside.
b) Measure the distance between the button shank and the outside rim, like so. It’s approximately 7mm.	Notice in the photo the amount of space (or lack of it) on the back of the button, between the shank and the edge. There isn’t great deal of room to secure/hide lots of fabric. Too much fabric and you’ll get rucks or gathers on the edge/front of the button which just isn’t nice. Too little fabric and it’ll fray out over time. (In other words a pattern helps.)
c) Use this amount to mark a seam allowance (7mm) around the circle you have just drawn. Like so. Cut out your pattern piece. Alternatively draw directly onto your pattern with a non-permanent or other fabric marker.
d) If you are using a pattern; Pin it to your chosen fabric and cut it out. If you’ve marked the pattern directly onto the fabric then cut that out.
Step 2 Gathering up the fabric to cover your button a) Using a doubled sewing thread which matches the fabric colour (mine doesn’t because I wanted it to show in the photo), sew a row of running stitches around the edge of the fabric circle.	Be careful not to sew too close to the edge or when you gather up the fabric the stitches may pull out.
b) Slip the button front onto the fabric circle, and gently pull up the stitches.
Step 3 Completing your button Almost done. a) Pull the gathers up tightly but carefully and tie the thread ends off in a knot. b) Look at your button and smooth out any rucks in the fabric. It is usually possible to ease the fabric about a little. Be patient but show the button who’s in charge.	Happy that it’s all smooth and even? Good.
c) Place the ‘washer’ over the button shank with the ’spotty’ side facing what will be the underside of the button. The serrated edge and these spots help to hold everything nice and tightly in place.
d) Use a little brute force and push the washer down onto the other button piece. They can be quite stiff but you should hear the washer click into place.

Ta da! One fabric covered button perfectly lovely and ready for your next or even your current project. Is this your first butonny adventure? I wonder what next?