Crazy Button Necklace!

Materials:
Neutral fabric, buttons, length of 1cm width ribbon, a few beads

This necklace was inspired by the wonderful collection of ‘odds and sods’ of buttons I have acquired over the years and didn’t want to lose in the depths of my button box…..coupled with the wonderful gift of some gorgeous buttons from my lovely daughter!

First, I cut out two identical pieces of some neutral coloured fabric in a loose ‘v’ shape and sewed them together leaving a small gap for turning right side out.

After turning right side out, I ironed the fabric paying particular attention to the seams and neatly oversewed the gap. Then came the fun bit. I sorted through my copious button collection, vintage and new, large, medium and very small and selected my favourites, laying them side by side and as closely to each other as possible to make sure I had enough to completely cover the fabric. Once I was satisfied, I sewed them on one by on.

I then then finished off the necklace by sewing a length of ribbon to the top of each side of the ‘v’ with a few neutral wooden beads threaded and knotted on for good measure. I love it!

So You Live In Bath?

I love being able to say that, yes, I do live here!

1. My walk home from University. It is so beautiful!
2. A visit to Royal Crescent.
3. and 4. Being a tourist around the Circus.
5. Walking over Pulteney Bridge.
6. and 7. The wonders of 'sew'n'sew' inside the Bath Guildhall Market - Sewing heaven!!

I have fallen head over heels in love with Bath and can't wait to explore more!

Double-sided Vintage Mother-of-Pearl Button Hanging Heart

Among other things, my grandmother left me her button box. In amongst all the 'usual suspects' was a card of beautiful, old, handmade mother-of pearl buttons. I tried to think of a fitting use for them that would also be a tribute to my grandmother's memory.....the button heart!

I decided to make the heart doublesided so that it would look good from whatever angle it could be seen from, it also had the added benefit of making it a bit more robust.

Take a length of craft or beading wire and attach your first button, leaving a short length for tying off at the end once all the buttons are threaded on.

Next, thread the wire through first one hole (from the wrong side over the front of the button) then the other, turn your second button wrong side to wrong side with your first button with the second hole of the first button lined up with the first hole of the second button and pass the wire though the holes.

Thread the wire through the second button's second hole then put your third button wrong side to wrong side with the second button lining up the holes as before. Continue in this way until you have threaded enough buttons together to bend the wires into a heart shape (I used 18 buttons for the front and 18 buttons for the back).

Once you have formed your heart shape, twist the wires together neatly and snip off any ends. Attach a pretty ribbon for hanging the heart.

I have since made several more hearts, all using different coloured wire and buttons. They make beautiful Christmas tree decorations too!

B•B•B.....Big Button Brooch

Simple, simple, simple! Whilst browsing our local haberdashery, we spotted this gorgeous huge orange button for 99p. Bought it, took it home, glued a brooch pin/safety pin on the back then sewed thread through the holes to make it look as though it is really sewn onto your clothes when you are wearing it and hey presto! :)

Tape Measure Rosette and Bracelet

After coveting 'How To Make Jewellery' by Tatty Devine for many weeks, we finally got our hands on a copy! But what we didn't forsee was the problem of deciding which of the incredible projects to make first! We chose to play it safe and create a tape measure rosette which, from the tutorial, only requires a punch and two split pins. You can't go wrong with that! The rosette only took ten minutes to make and we were so pleased with the result! The second item is a bracelet made from a scrap of tape measure fastened by a press stud. This bracelet (which is not from the Tatty Devine book but is an A & C idea) took even less time, with only minimal stitching involved. All that was required was to stitch the press stud on after cutting the tape to fit. To add extra detail (and cover up the stitching) you could glue on a button as we have; this really finishes the piece.

There is something so adorable about these tape measure items, especially knowing that they are simple and cheap to make. An absolute essential for any craft-lover! 

Buy the Tatty Devine book online here - https://www.tattydevine.com/shop/the-tatty-devine-book-and-tools.html