How to chose your vintage pattern size

Vintage sizing is not what you may expect. It is not easily comparable or translatable to the modern sizing charts. When you discover the world of vintage patterns, you will be asking yourself: What is my vintage size? It depends on what decade of the 20th century your pattern is from, not just because of the number, but also the fit and the ease that was in vogue at the time.

Vintage buckles

You know that I'm into buckles as much as buttons. Nowadays they do not cause such a sensation as before. And no wonder. In the past they were so elaborate, so big, so colourful that you could not ignore them. Now buckles seem to have to blend with the rest of the outfit rather than stand out. That's why I absolutely love vintage buckles!

How to choose the right buttons for your garment

Although this may sound rather straightforward to some, choosing what button to use with your garment may be a difficult decision. Whether you are swapping them on a purchased garment, or one you are making yourself, there are a few things you should bear in mind. Especially, if, like me, you love vintage buttons and wish to use some of those (like from your granny's box).

To start with, it is important to remember, that the size of the button counts in its diameter, as well as it thickness. Then, there are flat, or sew-through buttons and buttons with shanks. The latter can be very beautiful, but cannot be machine-sewn. Obviously, there are lots of different materials to choose from, and finally, the finish, as some buttons may have rough surface and turn out unsuitable for certain fabrics.

How to clean vintage buttons

After the first thrilling moment of opening a box of vintage buttons and discovering some really unique pieces, we are faced with a problem of how to clean the buttons without destroying their unique qualities like colour, details or even the whole design.

   

How to (still) get found on Esty

Anyone wondering how to improve the search result for a shop on etsy has found that there are more questions than answers. We all need to get found in search to be able to sell. And with the recent changes, which appear to be happening all the time, I bet SEO is a hard nut on etsy these days. Needless to say that Google uses completely different algorithms. I must say my shops are both enjoying a constant flow of new customers, and some repeated ones as well and I have decided to share a few thought on Etsy SEO. I am aware it works a bit differently for different sectors, but there are a few things that will definitely work

Plexi glass / Lucite buttons - Glass imitation from early 20th century

There were a lot of kinds of early plastics, as experiments with synthetic materials continued. Plexi glass was an attempt to imitate glass, both transparent and opaque.

Sticky button cards

Throughout the whole 20th century buttons were displayed and distributed on button cards. I have some lovely Art Deco cards from 1930s, but also some more modern ones from 1960s. The buttons were usually sewn to the cards. I once met a woman who was delighted to see my button cards because they reminded her of her youth: she used to live in Paris, where she sewed the buttons to the cards for a large fashion firm.

Anyway, somewhere around 1950s-1960s someone had one of those 'brilliant' ideas to make things easier and instead of sewing - glue the buttons to the cards, usually using an adhesive tape. I saw this method used all through the 1970s and 1980s!!

Apparently, this looks easier. You spent much less time attatching the buttons to the display and if you rip them off, you do not let the rest of the buttons loose (which was the case of sewn cards).

Swapping buttons - winter coat makover

Have you ever owned one of those? Sad black coat, with little character or decoration? You probably still do, beacuse they seem to be universal, but in the end, they just make a silent existence in our wardrobes. I decided to give mine a new life.

As you can see, it is a classic short coat, with a hood, double breasted and with a belt. The buttons are really unexciting and just make it more classic. I bought it in times when I would go everywhere on a bicycle, so I needed something short but warm.

War-time era buttons

The second world war was a difficult time in Europe. Although Spain was not directly involved in it (apart from some help sent to the Nazi Germany), it was no different there, as there had been a terrible civil war, which had just finished in 1939.

Along with the atrocoities came hunger and scarcity. The former moved people from cities to the countryside, where they could at least access the basic produce, and the latter was caused both by insufficiennt resources, but also by the fact that most commodities were reserved for the military use. This was the fate of the plastic, whose use was restricted for civillians.

This is an example of metal military buttons for the navy.

The alternatives provided by the button manufacturers were metal and wood. However, plastic had already made it to the haberdasheries and now it was difficult to convince people to buy cheaper and more mundane materials, so the buttons were usually covered in a thick layer of paint in vivid colours, just to make them look like plastic.

How to fit a D-buckle, or how I fixed that old belt

I had this belt, you can call it boyfriend style. The trouble was that it had been worn out. The faux leather pieces were crumbling, ...so I replaced them with new ones I cut from a scrap of leather I had in a matching colour.

Now this looks really bad...

Mother of pearl buttons and their cheap imitations

Mother of pearl buttons, also called nacre buttons, have been used long in any kind of garments In the early 20th century they were the cheap and most popular material, used in all garments, from underwear to winter coats. Nowadays they are popularly used in cardigans, but sometimes also in blouses and dresses.

The light pink buttons are still available in my etsy shop

Recycle your bubble envelopes!

While it is necessary to use envelopes with plastic bubble wrap to cusion the buttons and other goods, there doesn't seem to be an alternative as yet, like paper filling for these envelopes or something (If you have seen one - do let me know!). However, there is a way to make it a bit more environment-friendly.

If you cut the sides of the envelope, you will sii that the bubble wrap and the paper are separate layers.

Sewing with vintage buttons

As you probably know, I am a sewist myself and the original purpose was to make garments using the my vintage button findings. I am still into it, though I must admit there is less and less time left for sewing. Today I would like to show you a few items I made using buttons from my collection.

The first one is a retro-inspired blouse with button closure. I used two small black buttons in ball shape. 

How to make a soft belt with a buckle

I love buckles without prongs, which make perfect belt sliders. They are easy to sew, easy to fasten, and turn out to be discreet if you have to loosen your belt after a meal. ;)

I made this belt for my retro-inspired dress. It is in a very light yellow colour and I had a plastic buckle in exactly same tone.

Black glass or jet?

There is a popular misconception that 'jet' is simply black glass. However, it refers to a completely different material, which was extremely popular in Victorian times, during the queen's mourning. The fact that black glass buttons became extremely fashionable is just because they were a cheaper substitute for the genuine jet buttons worn by the queen Victoria herself after the death of her husband. Polished jet looks so similar to black glass that it is difficult to tell the difference at first. However, there are a few details that can help us tell them apart.

Tiny jet buttons

Jet is a mineral, a stone, which means, these buttons are not cast, like glass buttons, but cut and then shaped, ground, polished etc. using some milling machinery. If they have a self shank, it is made from the same piece and is always seamless...

How to mend broken vintage pattern pieces

Everyone who has at least once attempted to sew a vintage style using old patterns probably found themselves in a situation, where they had to repair a damaged piece. Today I will tell you how I mend my sewing patterns. The main problem with repairing these patterns is that they have to remain fit for ironing.

This is a fabulous style with open back but the previous owner decided to make
an alteration and cut the main dress pattern piece.

This is the pattern before mending.

Etsy shop attributes

While frequent changes to the rules on Etsy may cause you a headache, the most recent one is particularly useful. Etsy has introduced attributes, which have to be selected for each item. They announced this some time ago, and that they will be introducing them gradually, without notifying about trials and tests. And one of these days I found out I could select a colour for my etsy products.

click on the image to enlarge

How to identify Bakelite

Bakelite is probably the most exciting plastic for every collector. Those who are not familiar with this early plastic will see it as simple modern and plain plastic. But if you look closer, well, better stick your nose to it, you will see (and yes, smell) the difference.

Cut and carved Bakelite buckle

Making a retro style handbag - tutorial

Recently I started selling retro handbag handles, made of plastic. Some of them imitate wood to the point that you may have serious doubts as to what they are actually made of. But let's stick to the plan, this post was to be a help to those who are not sure how to make a DIY purse using the retro handles.

Apart from the handles we will need some fabric. It may be matching or contrast, I am going to use black handles and some black-and-white fabric for my handbag.

Henri Hamm - A great button designer

Have you heard of Henri Hamm? I hadn't, until I discovered his buttons at that fantastic button exhibition in Paris. I took a picture of his name to learn more about this fascinating figure. To my surprise, there was not much about this great man on the Internet, not even a mention on Wikipedia!

When I saw this, I immediately decided to join and published a small article about him, as surely he was a great figure, worthy of an article.