Button Button - my first book about buttons!

When I started my button adventure, I had little idea of the immense variety of buttons, designs and materials there might be. I could date my original collection very easily, as the buttons were from an old haberdashery shop, opened circa 1958 and closed sometime between 1962 and 1963. So there is little doubt left about it. However, as I got interested in the early plastics and vegetable ivory, I decided to look for more precise information. That's how I encountered "Button Button" book.

It is not a new publication, as it was issued in 1993. As you can see, the pictures look really old, and what was new then, is already vintage today. ;) For example, 1970s buttons are referred to as modern.

It promises to answer some very important questions: What's it made from? Is it old? and What's is worth? Well, I would be wary of saying that the book address properly these issues. It does provide help when it comes to identifying the material. However, little is said about early plastics! You can admire incredible button in the pictures, but the explanation is scarce.

Bakelite buttons - really nice pieces, showing the variety of colours and style. However, no guide to Bakelite identification.

Glass buttons shanks - there is a guide to the terms and shapes, but very little information as to when each type of shank was used. So little help  with my antique buttons...

The best part of the purchase was acquiring new vocabulary about the buttons, which soon became useful as I started buying buttons and needed to be able to describe them precisely (like, silver buttons made of glass are called silver lustre). So in the end it was a fairly good introduction, though I had to dig the Internet for more specific information.

So, in other words, I'm still looking for the Button Bible...
_________________________________________________________________________
Title: Button Button · · Identification and Price Guide
Author: Peggy Ann Osbourne
Published: 1993
ISBN: 0-88740-464-2

How to machine sew a button

Although it may not seem this way, machine-sewing buttons to your garment is not only easier, faster, but also stronger. One day I had virtually five minutes to go, and just discovered that a button was missing from a coat. I found the spare one attached to the label on the lining, but I had no time to look for the needle and sew it. I decided to use the machine. It took me less than a minute (OK, I admit that I had the right thread on the machine).


I will show you how to sew a button using your sewing machine it in a few steps.

1. First you will need a special presser foot, like the one in the picture above. Make sure the holes are right underneath and lower the presser foot.

2. Set the stitch length to 0.

3. The most important part is to adjust the width ofyoour stitching to the distance between the holes in the button. You should check manually if the needle lands in the holes, otherwise, you will surely break the needle and perhaps damage the button  as well.

4. Start sewing. If there are 4 holes, you will need two rounds.

5. Leave the thread a bit longer, than usual. You will need it to secure the button by pulling the thread to the wrong side, so that it drags the other end. When both are on the same side, tie them together and snip the excess.

OK, these were just decorative buttons. If you need buttons to actually fastene, and your fabric is thick, you will need to place a needle between the holes, just like when you hand-sew a button.

Pity you can't do the same with shank buttons...

Lobster craze

Have you heard of the Lobster Dress?

It was originally created in 1937 by Elsa Schiaprelli in collaboration with Salvador Dali, which can only give you an idea of the atmosphere in which it was designed (maybe some mayonnaise?). Initially it was meant to be a sundress, the length just below the knee, and with two lobsters crawling on the silky fabric among parsley leaves.

oops, I've just accidentally stepped on an octopus!

The final version looks far less frivolous, but is nevertheless impressive. It was very successful, perhaps in part thanks to Wallis Simpson, who was a great fan of the design, and was considered by many a fashion icon of her times.

Perhaps it would be too much to reproduce the dress as a whole, but even in 1930s there was a craze for the lobster design. And you could make your own version by adding just a few accessories. The one below is just one example of such detail, that can instantly turn any white dress into lobster dress.
It is authentic from 1930s, really huge piece!

To read more about the Lobster dress design and its history go to The Velvet Highway, who made a fantastic reproduction of the original dress!

'Old Buttons' by Sylvia Llewelyn - A fantastic little book!

I have bought this book because it was sold on a website dedicated entirely to buttons. The book is actually written by the owner of the website, which is also a shop, where you can buy a selection of vintage buttons. So I assumed it must be a truly interesting one. And well, I wasn't wrong!

The book is full of  beautiful close-up pictures and a brief history of both button-making process and the materials used over the centuries. I appreciate the fact that the buttons are photographed with no background, as the opposite is usually the case, which is pretty disturbing (the good side is that if the photographs are old, or the book is a bit aged, then you can guess the difference in colour from the original).

What also struck me in this book is that it included the history of the buttons from the very beginning, when primitive button-like forms were used. Although there are definitely fewer pictures of those, or, in some cases, none at all, the author tried to include examples from all over the world.

Buttons made of nuts? Why not!

I do recommend the book both as an interesting reading and for reference. There is always something new to learn!

To buy the book or read more, go HERE.

Hello World!

Welcome to my blog!

Me in a me-made dress, with one of the buttons

I have decided to start writing about my button experience. I have been selling sewing supplies for over two years now and I have learnt a lot in the course. I would love to share this knowledge, as well as experience with any button lover, retro sewist, or anyone wishing to pop in and take a look.

It all started when my fiancee brought a handful of weird vintage buttons home. I was fascinated! They were so different from whatever I had seen! And most importantly, they were huge! And... he said there were thousands more. I wanted to see them all, of course, and the next thing I remember was venturing along the dark corridors to the abandoned house which belonged to his grandma. To have the full picture of what kind of building it was, you should know that it is not an old cottage, lost somewhere in the hills, where no road leads. Not in the least. It is an old hotel in one of the main streets of our town, Ourense. Perhaps the hotel part is a bit run-down, but there are two prospering shops on the ground floor. And this is where the buttons originally come from.

This was that original hadnful. I still have some of the buttons, like the one in the lower right corner, which I made into a necklace. The scissors are here to give you an idea of the size of the buttons, though I use something else for that now.

In late 1950s a lady opened a haberdashery in one of the shops. I can't tell you now how the business was doing, but a few years later, in 1962 or 1963, the lady decided to marry and moved to a different town. The shop was closed and whatever stock she could sell was gone. However, there were lots of boxes full of buttons, along with some beautiful buckles, which did not find a buyer and were put upstairs, where her family lived. Years later, the family, which had had a successful bakery business next door to the haberdashery, retired and also moved out, selling their part of the building to the hotel owner. When she discovered the button tresure, she let it be where it was, in a small dark room upstairs, as she was a practical woman and knew she might need one or another button someday. Had she needed that room, the buttons would have been out long ago. But she didn't.

Buckles in their original boxes

When I got my hands on the buttons, they were still in the same boxes, piled up on an old piece of furniture, I guess from the haberdashery. It was so exciting! Of course, we were not able not take all of them at once, which may give you an idea of how many there were.

The buttons outside the boxes required cleaning, but those stored inside them were perfect. Some were still on button cards, a thing I had never seen before. Then, with thousands of buttons in my possession, I stared wondering: what am I going to do with them all?!

Just a small part of my button treasure. Most buttons you see here have sold out.

I am a sewist and I love sewing retro. I used to make a lot of the stuff. But even if I dedicated all my time to sewing, I would hardly find use for all the buttons. Then an idea crossed my mind. Etsy! Until then, it had been my primary source of vintage sewing patterns, some to use and some just to admire. But why not sell part of the button treasure?

I decided to invest just €5 as I didn't want to risk. If I sold anything, it would be great. If not, I can spare the €5. And that's when it took off!

Initially, my idea was to sell just some of my buttons, but I was encouraged when I met other people, even more passionate about buttons. I also met someone who had an even larger treasure of vintage buttons and wanted to sell them, so they asked me for help. Could I possibly have said no?


Now I regularly search the Internet for similar deals. Need to get rid of that box your granny or someone else stored for all those years? Someone closed down a haberdashery long ago and couldn't find a buyer for the buttons? That's when I step in, to save the old unused buttons, which may turn out to be really valuable. You wouldn't believe what treasure thinly avoids ending up in a landfill! And just because someone does not know what to do with it and needs to clear a space...