Vintage Metal Buttons: Brass, Silver and Gold

I was searching through one of  my old button tins and found myself picking out some interesting vintage metal buttons. These brass buttons are threaded together with old string strung through the shank. Embossed on them in french is "Canal de Vieux" which means old canal. I can imagine them on a navy blue blazer!

Here's a beautiful silver button with lots of flowery detail. This one would be pretty on a flouncy white blouse.

A gold dragon embellishes this oriental themed button perfect for a silk jacket.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Button Collecting!

I'm A Floozie!: A Button Floozie That Is

I'm now a blogger with Button Floozies! The Floozies are a group of people who love buttons just like me.

You can check out my introductory post here.

Happy Buttons!

Knit for Who?: My Knitted Owl Hat

Another hat! Yes, this time it's the pattern Who? from Ravelry by Sara Amoroso. I saw this when searching for a pattern for a hat for hubby. I had to knit it. Making owls out of cables made me happy. I love birds. This will officially be my filling the birdfeeders hat.

I used up the rest of the grey Patons Astra I bought for Hubby's ribbed hat. There was no problem with the size using 4mm needles.

Love the cable owls with my vintage buttons for eyes, of course!

What's on my needles now? Another hat!

Happy Knitting!

Wool-less Wednesday: Button Blog!

I'm always amazed at the great blogs out there created by people with a passion. Button Floozies is a blog passionate about... buttons!

This group of button enthusiasts share their love of vintage buttons, button crafts, button jewelry, button collections and all things buttons.

Being a devotee to the humble button myself, I enjoy seeing other button treasures. Do you?

Here are some of my vintage buttons.

Happy buttons!

Sunday Summary: What else...More Fiber Art Jewelry

I was busy creating more fiber art jewelry this week. I procrastinated, but I finally finished this ring by completing the simple task of sewing the blue vintage heart button on.

I'm excited by this new bracelet design using crochet cording in organic cotton.

What am I up to this week? My local yarn shop is having a sale. As you know, one can never have too much yarn! Oh, and I signed up for belly dance classes to start this week....crocheting my veil as I type...not really!

Happy creating!

Sunday Summary: Rings and Things

My inaugural Sunday summary of my week of fiber art adventures and stuff. This post only happened with the permission of my cat once she vacated my desk (fuzzy picture owing to her attempts to nuzzle the camera)!

I finally finished knitting a purse for future felting. I'll felt it when I have acouple of other things to throw in the washer to felt with it. I'm looking forward to seeing how this lilac color looks felted. It's an Irish wool I've never used before called Galway Highland and Heather.

All I have left to do with this crochet ring is to sew on the blue vintage button shaped like a heart. These rings are simple and fun to make and wear. I sold one in my Etsy shop.

I became just a little obsessed this week (and last) with my upcycled needle felted brooches which I have been adding to my Etsy shop. I love cutting them out and punching pretty colors of roving into their centers with my felting needles. I also enjoyed choosing vintage buttons for the felted brooches I made with button centers.

This upcoming week...who knows what I will be doing! Happy Fiber Art Adventures and stuff!

Fiber Arts Friday: Felted Brooches from an Upcycled Sweater

I love recycling, upcycling, repurposing, reclaiming or whatever you want to call reusing something in a project! I felted a lambswool sweater quite a while ago with just this in mind.

Here's where my imagination took me:

I made funky fun brooches embellished with my vintage buttons which I blogged about in July.

I deliberately cut the shape of each brooch a little off kilter to add to their whimsical appeal.

Check out what other Fiberistas are up to on Fiber Arts Friday at Alpaca Farm Girl. Happy reusing!

My New Old Vintage Buttons

I was having a scavenger hunt in my mom's craft closet yesterday and discovered more vintage buttons! I've picked some of my favorites to share with you other button lovers.

Red and green makes for a pleasing contrast among these buttons.

These elegant white buttons are so pretty. The faux marble one is interesting.



The prettiest is this shank button with the ornate flowers.



For a burst of color, I love these round chubby buttons.




I can't resist these very shiny and very blue vintage buttons.

Last but not least, this 1950's button is unusual.

For those of you who appreciate the beauty of the design and color of vintage buttons, happy button hunting!

Fiber Jewelry: How To Make Crochet Rings

Designing and wearing your fiber jewelry is a creative way to express your individuality. You choose the technique, texture, colors and embellishments for each piece.

I like using crochet to create my fiber jewelry. Crochet is a fiber art that both beginners and experts can easily use to create beautiful wearable fiber art.

This fiber ring is crocheted from organic white cotton yarn. You can use any fiber as long as it is not too bulky for your finger.

I used a 4.5 mm / U.S 7 crochet hook to work with this medium yarn.

Your best friend for creating crochet rings is the trusty single crochet. This basic stitch is easy to use to give your work structure and a closed stitch.

Start your crochet ring by creating a foundation chain that is long enough to fit around your finger. I made 10 chains with my cotton yarn using a 4.5mm/ 7 U.S. hook. My ring fits an average adult female finger. Remember, your ring will have some stretch room since it is crocheted.

When you have your chain completed, you must join the end of the chain to the beginning to form a ring with a slip stitch. Be careful not to twist your ring, as you are now going to crochet in the round. There will be no seam to sew! See my previous blog post for a photo showing this.

Do not turn as you will be crocheting around the ring.

1st row: Chain (ch) 1 and single crochet (sc) in each ch of the foundation chain. Slip stitch (sl st) to join the end of the round to the beginning of the round.

2nd row: Ch 1. Sc in each sc around. Sl st to join the end of the round with the beginning. Fasten off and weave in your ends. It should look like a ring!

Now, here is the fun part. Embellish your ring. For the fiber ring pictured above, I used a vintage button that has sparkle. You could sew on beads, sequins or use embroidery floss to stitch a design. Happy Crocheting.

My Mother's Vintage Buttons

My vintage buttons are special. From the 1960s into the early 70's, my mom sat at her Kenmore sewing machine often making clothes or doing alterations for others. But, she also found the time to make me clothes. My vintage buttons are those buttons she never used or had leftover from her many sewing projects.

Rummaging through her old cardboard button box often gives me the feeling of deja vu, as if I've met certain buttons before. I'm certain many of the buttons were used by my mom on dresses and coats she tailored for me when I was a child. Much to my frustration, I can never bring to my mind the full memory of what childhood clothes the most familiar of the buttons were lovingly sewn on.

One old card of Lady Fashion buttons bought for 39 cents, with two of the once four buttons missing, gave me the strongest feeling of deja vu. Where had I met these brushed gold tone shank buttons before? Staring at these buttons, navy blue was all I could think of while foolishly willing them to speak to me of their past.

Then I remembered, my navy blue jacket that my mom had sewn for me in the 1970s! My navy blue Nehru style jacket that I could remember wearing to school. Didn't I have a photograph of myself in that jacket? Sure enough, after flipping through my old photo albums, I found the black and white photo of me posing in the mall photo booth wearing my navy blue Nehru jacket with the brushed gold tone shank buttons. My buttons on the Lady Fashion card were still just as shiny as those buttons in the photo.

My jacket with all of its buttons is now long gone. The ability of that old card of buttons to draw out such an old memory from the very back of my mind is amazing.

None of the other old familiar buttons have been able to bring back any such memories of the clothes my mother made for me. I pass them on to others sewn onto my fiber art creations. Old buttons have stories to tell and mine continue on to gather the stories of other lives.

I said that there were two buttons left on that Lady Fashion button card. There is only one in the photo above. The other brushed gold tone button I used as the closure for a small felted pouch which I designed and made for myself. Now, I can literally carry that memory with me.

As for the other button left on the card, it will not be put back into the button box. It sits on my desk waiting to be sewn onto a special project just for me.