On Sunday I went to the South Downs green Fair, at The Sustainability Centre near Clanfield.  It was lovely, really beautiful place.  And there were stalls and lots of stuff going on.  Lots of visitors.  But because it was a large place it did not seem crowded.  And there is such an air of peace about the place.  I love it.

My daughter was in the queue to have her face painted so I had a wander amongst the stalls.  Oooh buttonssss!  On one stall there was a box full of buttons so I had a look through.  And decided to buy these ones.

Little yellow glass buttons

I really like yellow at the moment.  I have a couple of yellow tops and have been wearing them and really believe that they help make me feel all happy.  I am not sure what I am going to do with these pretty yellow buttons but I think I will sew them on a top.

I bought the yellow buttons and then went back to see my daughter. Still in the queue.  I was thinking about another set of buttons I had seen.   Being a bit of a miser (which is not true just a bit short of spondoolics at the moment) I had resisted them at £1.  Then I went back to buy them.



It was the button at the top right I really wanted.  And you know I think I might have paid £1 just for that.  I had thought they were plastic but it turns out most are glass.



Here is my lovely blue button in close-up. I love it because it reminds me of Austria, I think there is something Tirolean about it.  Or maybe I am just obsessed.

But I am rather glad I went back for those buttons.  

I told you a few posts ago, about how I rarely have photos of my buttons on garments, and that my sister was making a dress for a fancy dress party and had commissioned some buttons from me.

Well, as promised here are the photos.

The back of the dress showing the buttons.

3 Green Dorset buttons on the back of the Regency Dress

During the week I had a migraine. Bleugh!   During it, my daughter came back from my parents with a carrier bag that 'Nana sent'.  I was too ill to look.

But the next day I was better and peeped.

Looking inside the bag

Some nice handles, lovely leaflets, and some nice quilted cushion panels.

The contents of the bag

But do you see what I see?

The tin of excitement

Yes! It is a Tin. A Tin of Excitement. A tin full of potential wondrousness.

I shook it. It did not rattle. It was not full of buttongloriana.

I opened the Tin.

The contents of the Tin of Excitement

 AAAAAGH!!!!!!!

The Contents spread Out for all to See and Splendour in

My heart leaped. And I was struck dumb with delight.  Thread! Vintage thread. Look at the colours! How wonderful! How beautiful! Feel the silkiness! Oh you cannot! But believe me it is wonderful.


These are the two main makes, both I have never heard of so please enlighten me if you can. Vicars and Britex.  Both made in England.

Vintage Thread - Vicars Raylene

The back

More Vintage Thread

Britex Art Silk

Do you think Britex Art Silk is really silk?


when I was able I rang my mum and she told me that my Dad was given them by his sister to give to me.  And the threads were probably my Grans.  My Gran did fine work.  She died twenty six years ago so it is lovely to have that connection across the years.

And hey the tin is pretty lovely too.

So the cushion pads will be finished and made in to cushions, the leaflets I will add to my collection. The bag handles are really really nice, but I might share with my sister as I like to play nice.

And as for the silks. I think you know what I am going to do with them, don't you?










BUTTONS!!

Working on an order for a set of Daisy buttons.

If you want your own daisies then go here. 

I have just been reminded that I do not have any photos of buttons actually on clothes, in my etsy shop listings. The reason for this is that I have not had any clothes with my buttons on.  I keep meaning to but most buttons I make I put up for sale.

My lovely mum knitted my daughter this gorgeous cropped cardigan. She made one a couple of years ago in different colours and patterns and Mary loved it.  This one is so lovely too.

Mum asked me to make the buttons for it. So last night I did.  I was going to make just one colour but thought it would look nicer with one of each and  two of one.  Then I decided not to have the pink one on, then changed my mind.  So here is the cardigan with the button all sewn on.  And now I have a photo to put on all my listings.

Cardi with 4 buttons

Close-up of the purple button

My sister is making herself a regency dress for a costume party. I have made the buttons for it. So she needs to hurry up and finish it so I can take a photo!

I am trying to eat less bread.  I realised I was having toast for breakfast, and sandwiches for lunch and then maybe more bread in the evening.  So I am cutting down a bit.

I am also working on some new sets. There is the 3 colour 'Candy Stripe' and the other two buttons both use gold thread (not real gold I am afraid). One is all gold, and the other has a single strand of gold sewn in with the dark blue.

I also have in mind another set which involves pink (again).

My new website is still very much a  work in progress. I suppose a website is an ever growing and changing thing.  I wanted to have mainly a place where people can find me, then be directed off to the right place to find out more or buy my work.  I do hope that is what I have got.



I have just added a blog to the website too.  This blog is about me, my family, and my sewing.  The blog on my website will be more about the work that I make and sell. But do not worry if you only read this blog, as I will still keep you informed about my work.

I would love it if you went and had a look at my website, and visited the different pages.  Like I said, it is still being worked on so please be patient.  If you see any glaring errors do let me know.

Thank you

Alix

Hello,

Pop over to the button Floozies blog as I have just written a  post. 

Now me being me, I didn't follow the wonderful tutorial exactly. I cheated and used double-sided sticky tape. The fabric I have used is also designed with bands going across, so I just used one of these bands.  So I cheated big time!

I have re-used an old tape inner thingy to put my new fabric tape on. As you can see I have only made a little bit so far.


And here it is in use.

I have seen some gorgeous fabric and ribbon flowers.  With Mother's Day coming up, my boss asked me to help the children sew something for their mums. I had the idea of doing ribbon flowers but the ones I liked I found too fiddly for me let alone the children.  I am sure they could do have done them but I needed something simple but looked really good.  We have children aged 4 to 11 so it needs to be something all ages can do.

I remembered those lovely paper flowers and at the time thought they would be good in felt. So I hunted down a tutorial - I used this one but there are lots of good ones about.

Here is my felt rose.


I am really really pleased with it.

Here is how to make it:-

You will need scissors and felt plus brooch back if you want to make a brooch, or hair clip if you want one of those instead, or some sort of stem if you want to make a bunch.

I started with a rectangle of felt.

Then cut off the corners to make them curved.

start cutting at one end, or middle. You will be cutting a spiral.

Cutting the spiral

Leave a circle in the middle as this will be the base.

Thread your needle, and secure it in the end of the spiral.

Start to wind, starting from the end, sewing as you go.

Just keep winding and sewing.

At the end you will be left with the circle. This is the base so just pop it over the rest.

Circle base popped over the rest!

Then sew little stitches (which will be much neater than mine) around to secure the base.

Turn over and see your wonderful rose.

It is now finished and ready for whatever you want to do with it.

You can make big ones, little ones. Stick a bead in the middle. Decorate the edges with glitter. Try using fabric other than felt.  I like these as I know that each child's will be different.

Have fun and let me know how you get on.