Day 364 : Regal

 

Day 364 : Regal

Today's button is a bit of gold embroidery on velvet. A small piece of silk velvet that I dyed with madder many, many years ago. It is such a perfect colour for gold threads. It is another one of those small pieces that you hold on to - like a paper crafter and their Graphic 45 - but really, it should be used. I am going to try to use more of these bits next year in my projects. 

Only two more days! Gosh. 

Day 362 : Byzantine

 

Day 362 : Byzantine

More beads and bling again today. It is nice to spend a little more time and thread the beads. Although for some reason my threads all wanted to tangle today. Very frustrating.

I hope that last night's storm wasn't too bad for any of you. Boy did that wind howl! I thought for sure we'd have some damage. But, thank goodness, nothing bar a few light branches broken.

Otherwise, today has been a bit of a cheese and wine sort of day. I hope you are all having a good day.

Day 360 : Cheers!

Day 360 : Cheers!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Today's button is a bottle cap button. But, instead of the elaborate creations by my friend Yoko, mine uses a cap from a mini bottle!

Baileys to be precise. A heck of a lot of Brits love a Baileys at Christmas! So I think that the cap, and gold thread and lots of sparkly mini spangles - not real gold - suit a celebration such at Christmas.

I know it has been a very different Christmas this year for so very many. But I do hope that, despite everything, you have had a good one. 

xxx

 

Day 300 : Cluster

 

Day 300 : Cluster

More golden braid! I just love the colour at the moment. And back to my stash - these little spangles are sterling silver, so in a few years they will tarnish. It will be interesting to see the effect of that.

Mark has designed a lovely stacking box to hold all of the challenge buttons. He's made two - so 2016 buttons can also be put into one. I now need to get them decorated. 

The year is really rolling along now. There's barely any blank space on my wall. I'll try to take a picture of it this week.

Size: 28mm / 1⁄8" / 44L

Day 178 : Shine

Day 178 : Shine .

Today's button uses a really old, traditional technique with some modern thread. I'm afraid the photograph doesn't do the thread justice - it is one of the DMC light effects (I am currently working on a kit using this), and it has all sorts of beautiful colours running through it. It really is best in person.

I've just done one of these buttons with very expensive gilt thread as a sample for a large group I will be doing as a commission. It will eventually end up as uniform decorations being made by Hawthorne & Heaney embroidery specialists in London. As I said, they are very traditional, these days you tend to find them on tassels most often. 

Size: 10mm / 9⁄16" / 22L

Day 139 : Metta

Day 139 : Metta

Today's button is another from an extant item of clothing - apparently from the 1640s, in the MET. Those who study garments are unsure of it. The buttons and buttonholes aren't particularly suspicious, if a little unusual. The five divisions isn't very common anyway, and nothing screams at me as being wrong with them generally, from the images I've seen. And sometimes a replacement button really does scream out to me! There is a lot wrong with the garment on the whole for others, and so this may be a little addition in the new book, not a main :)

I have used a gold thread that I bought many years ago as vintage. As there is no tarnish at all, I reckon I got a good bargain on this, there must be some real gold in the metal. The green is Au Ver a Soie Soie Ovale, and the mould is a No 1. 

And the name? It started out as me being silly - MET Museum = Metta - then I did a quick search and Metta means all sorts of lovely things and is a form of meditation for directing well wishes. Perfect.

Size: 16mm / 5⁄8" / 24L

Day 71 : Kismet

Day 71 : Kismet

This button includes a fingerloop braid made with gold thread. This gold thread was specially commissioned by a group of medieval textile enthusiasts I was involved in many years ago, and it does have a silk core - that's quite rare these days. Suffice to say I had a fair bit at the time!. I had already made the braid and knot - it has been in my goldwork tin. The centre domed embellishment is an antique - part of a few that I bought at auction some time ago. There are some interesting pieces in that tin, and I like being able to use them when I can. The person who originally owned them was, I think, making items for the church. These have been stitched to the silk ground, and I have added a double stem stitch in Soie Perlee silk to enhance the overs-and-unders of the knot. I've also used a No 4 mould.

I've had a few people ask me about how I finish the back of my embroidered buttons. To be fair, I don't tend to! I leave them the way 18th centruy buttons were left. After all, no one is going to see the back. Here is the back of this button to show you what I mean.

Now, if I were to make the buttons for sale, I would finish according to the end use. For most modern applications, this would mean fabric or felt stitched on the back to hide the working. I'd probably also include a stitched shank. If for a costume, I prefer to keep the back in keeping with the period. If for one of my couture customers, the back will get a special treatment, in keeping with the rest of the garment. I'll plan up a blog post on the 'regular' blog showing some different types of backs soon. 

Size : 31mm / 1 1⁄4" / 48L

Day 62 : Anniversary

Day 62 : Anniversary

As usual, my Monday button is being posted late in the day, thanks to all of the work things that need sorting!

Today's button celebrates our 35th wedding anniversary. It is supposed to be 'coral' so I figured coral coloured - aka rose gold - will do ;) 

I've used faux leather for the padded heart and to wrap around the ring. This is the first time I've tried faux leather using the traditional technique - usually kid leather is used - and it worked just fine. This is a nice quality faux leather too to be fair. I've couched the metallic threads using a madeira copper embroidery thread from my stash - had it literally years - probably 20, as I have a tassel made with the thread. The embroidery is covering a No 3 mould, and the outer ring is a plastic ring I picked up somewhere... And, still resting my thumb as I should!

Size: 33mm / 1 1⁄4" / 50L

Day 39 : Pentadecagram

Day 39 : Pentadecagram

Something a little simpler perhaps today - although getting everything even was actually harder than it looks. I've covered a cover button with silk fabric and then worked the spokes in silver thread. The sad thing is that eventually the silver will tarnish. Many many years ago (pre internet) I read that before the industrial revolution (and the vast amounts of coal pollution that came with it), silver tarnished much less quickly. Which is why it was used in so many garments, it was not expected to go black too soon. 

Size : 30mm / 1 3⁄16" / 48L

Day 20 : Skep

Day 20 - Skep

This little button is based on some that have survived on a 17th century sleeve. Well, I think that's the date. I cannot, for the life of me, find the reference that goes with the image that I have. Which is terrible of me. I am usually pretty good at keeping details when I find images. So I am hoping I'll be able to track it down.

This was worked over our specially made wooden moulds (sorry, one that's currently out of stock...). I've used a fine silk and gilt ( real gold plated) thread. 

A bit of a pain to photograph, because the gold messes up with the camera, but got there in the end. Named because it is a little like the shape of a skep. 

Size (across the bottom) : 12mm / 7/⁄8" / 18L

Day 14 : Sprig Aire

Day 14 : Sprig Aire

Today's button is based on a staybright (anodised aluminium) military button. In an old journal of the British Button Society - Issue 71 from June 1992 to be precise - there is a little piece about a military button given as an explanation to the term death's head asked in issue 69.

"The design, on metal buttons, was used by certain staff officers of the British Army from about 1780 until 1900. It was also known as 'German' and 'Sprig Aire'."

The article goes on to state that in April of 1991, this button design was chosen to be used by the new Adjutant General's Corps, calling the button design the death's head.

Alongside this, is a line drawing of the button provided by Firmin & Sons, makers of the said buttons.

The design supplied by Firmin & Sons

It is obvious from the drawing, that the design was taken originally from a thread wrapped button, although the leafy springs along the edge are, I think, a metal button design feature. They are quite similar to the surrounds of Victorian "perfume" buttons.

Today, a slightly different design tends to be called a death's head (especially when referring to those of the 18th century) - no doubt as a result of deeper research by various button collectors over the years. That, and the fact that in some areas (the clergy and QCs for instance) the 'original' thread deaths head seems to have been in regular use, if a tailor could be found to supply them. When simplifying to create the design in metal, unless you know how to make the buttons, many people still refer to this as the death's head, which makes complete sense.

The silk deaths head above is worked with single strands, but could be worked with groups of threads, to create a more stepped design.

I enjoy reverse engineering non textile buttons that were obviously based on textile types. It is always interesting to see how the button designers interpret the techniques that they are not familiar with.

I've used fake gold thread - DMC Diamant thread. It was actually much harder to work with than real gold thread, especially for the wrapping. They look less smooth that they would have looked with real gold, so I will need to revisit this now I have a way of working it. The mould is a tagua nut mould, No 15.

Size : just over 20mm / ¾ " / 32L