Birdy Button
Sometimes ideas that seem fabulous in your head, aren't that great in "real life".
I'm making slippers for Outfit 4 and I thought I'd like to have a crack at making the buttons for them. Linen and embroidery felt like a good idea. I had visions of beautiful, delicate, stunningly complicated, extraordinary patterns, swirling on my beautiful buttons ... yeah, I know.
I failed to take into account that in real life, I am a total novice at embroidery and *whispers* I'm not sure I really want to learn how to do it properly ....
So, although my kids think it's cute, my bird button is embarrassingly twee, and I don't think I'm going to use it on my slippers! But, I'll tell you how I made it anyway.
I'm making slippers for Outfit 4 and I thought I'd like to have a crack at making the buttons for them. Linen and embroidery felt like a good idea. I had visions of beautiful, delicate, stunningly complicated, extraordinary patterns, swirling on my beautiful buttons ... yeah, I know.
I failed to take into account that in real life, I am a total novice at embroidery and *whispers* I'm not sure I really want to learn how to do it properly ....
So, although my kids think it's cute, my bird button is embarrassingly twee, and I don't think I'm going to use it on my slippers! But, I'll tell you how I made it anyway.
I haven't made covered buttons before. I think once upon a time lots of folding under and cursing may have accompanied the making of covered buttons. Or, did people cover up old buttons with fabric? ... These days there is a special contraption which makes covered buttons a total breeze.
After I drew a little bird shape on the linen with a special pen that vanishes upon contact with water, I stitched a running stitch border, lots of little stitches to fill it in, a sort of chain stitch for a wing and a french knot for an eye. The next step was to cut the linen into a circle.
It was then that the real fun began. The little bird was tucked face down into the appropriate hole in the rubbery base (mine was for a 29mm button) and the smooth button upper wedged in on top. I folded the excess fabric in towards the centre of the button and inserted the button back over the raised shank so that the letters on the back faced the right way.
Next I placed the hard set of circles over the button bottom and pressed firmly. The little fingers in my photo belong to my 3 year old helper. She was a very good finger model but wasn't strong enough to actually do much pressing.
So, I pressed firmly, listened for a little click noise as the button fixed together and then "popped" it out of the rubbery base. Bingo. Button.
And, from the front. One funny little birdy button with a very uncertain fate.