Day 138 : Charles

Day 138 : Charles

Today's button is my attempt at a reproduction of a button that is on a suit that is in the V&A. It dates from the 1680s, and there are at least five different buttons on this suit. Some are possible replacements, but they are in different places for different functions, so may all be original. The original used an even finer gimp thread (I've used our .5mm gimp) and in actual fact the original also had the mould covered first (for this, a No 24 mould), but the pattern is the same. And because so much of that pattern is at the side, a bit of a pain to photograph artistically.  I'm chuffed with it, and it is much simpler than it looks. Another for the forthcoming book! 

Size : 10mm / 3⁄8" / 16L

Day 137 : Reef

Day 137 : Reef

Today's button just made me think of a coral reef. I know it doesn't really look like one but...

It is made using a small piece of ribbon woven on our Little Loom as part of a demo. The first part was a plain weave, then there is a small section of tubular weave. I threaded some wire through the tubular weave to coil it and form the base of the button, and gathered one side of the plain weave for the outer section.

The lovely bead in the centre is handmade - part of a set I bought originally to make a medieval style paternoster, and the bead is a beautiful coral colour. The bead is from Tillerman Beads - they specialise in historical replicas - and their beads are quite wonderful.

If you'd like to know more about ribbon weaving (and using our tape looms) why not head over to the YouTube channel - I've got a playlist with shorts, including tubular weaving. 

You'll find it here

Size : (roughly!) 23mm / nearly 1" / 36L

Day 136 : Little Rose

Day 136 : Little Rose

Today's button is a variation of one that someone asked if I was able to recreate quite some time ago. It is actually quite simple to make, once you get the wrapping method. There is no button mould, only the ribbon itself. I've added a hand spun silk cord to represent the leaves - if used as a real button, I'd use a loop closure OR I would add the leave around the actual buttonhole... 

I might make a YouTube video for this - what do you think?

 Size (excluding the cord) : 13mm / 9⁄16" / 22L