The Button Jars

Pure lazy describes yesterday. After almost a week of company, introverted me needed some alone time so I spent the day puttering around the studio and working intermittently on the Cindy purse.

Behind the French door to my studio is this small shelving unit that I picked up at Value Village several years ago. I'm not sure what the original owner built it for but it works perfectly for buttons. The jars with the green lids are recycled jam jars and the ones with screw on silver lids were a dollar each from the dollar store.

Having a button collection implies that I won't need to buy buttons because I have a selection already. Supposedly. The button jars are full and even so there never seems to be enough of what I need for any given project. With the purses, I've limited myself to making the best choice from what I have. Limiting yourself to what is in the studio can be frustrating but it also gets your brain working in new ways trying to resolve what if and can I questions. Problem solving is apparently good for the aging brain. I do a lot of problem solving in a day. Hopefully my brain is aging nicely.

The purse feet are a combination of two buttons as shown above with both positioned right side up. The buttons were tied together at the back with beading thread before being sewn into position. Note to self - add feet to the bottom band BEFORE stitching it to the purse. It's a lot harder to sew feet to the bottom of a purse once the sides are on.

With these pink buttons, they're sewn on with the wrong side out. Just as you can use the "other side" of the fabric if it works better for your project, you can use the flip side of the button. These buttons are shiny with etched ducks and flowers on the "right side" Yeah. NOT.

This green feature button has been in my stash for quite a while. I bought it at a button store in Kelowna that has been out of business for YEARS. There were three of them in the "one scoop for five dollars" grab bag but never a project where they were appropriate. It goes wonderfully with the hand fabric and fits in the curve of the line just right so this one was "obviously" waiting for this particular project - LOL. The blue buttons are basic shirt buttons. They add texture and interest without standing out. There are seven of them moving around the curve of the hand.

All in all, I used twenty-three buttons from the button jars. I think that's a record.


Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - a lazy day