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.