Buttonsplus

Just for a bit of fun I bought these novelty elf buttons in 2008. Surely they would only be of use in a craft or quilting project. They are bright and cheeky and that is all I can say about them.

These porcelain buttons are made by Melissa Grant under the name Giggle Buttons and are mainly used as craft embellishments. These four belong to a friend of mine but I have the bottom two. They used to be advertised in various Craft magazines in the early 2000s.

I rather like modern coconut shell buttons and they have been in the shops over the last few years; perhaps not just now. I have a nice collection of them be they natural, painted or glazed. Here are three with different designs and quite colourful. I guess they were fairly easily made and plentiful and I think not too costly to produce.

These black glass with silver lustre are new to my collection and have some lovely designs. Although I have a fairly large supply of black glass none of these are duplicates. I have always wanted to see a button designer’s sketch book of their doodling and how they come up with the designs. I know that will not happen but in my dreams . . . . .

This card shows several bird buttons in flight apart from the kookaburra. They are plastic (probably casein ) and from I think the 1930s – 40s. They are not so easy to come by these days I find. Maybe a lot of them were washed to oblivion over the years. They are realistics and fairly plain apart from a tiny bit of carving. I enjoy them for their simplicity.

Here is a card of black glass buttons with gold lustre. There must be thousands of this type of button and no matter how many you have they are all different. I guess Queen Victoria can take the credit for their popularity over the years. They always look good and would enhance a garment.

I do not like this button as it is too frilly for me and I think a few on a blouse or dress would just be too much! It is moulded celluloid with flowers in a bunch. To me it sort of resembles cake icing decorations. It measures a little under 2 1/2 cm.

This Gay Nineties button has a nice purple glass stone surrounded by a wide brass decorative border then again by a narrow rope like border. It is quite large at 4 1/2 cm. I imagine it would have been worn on some type of coat as it is too big and heavy for a light weight material. It sort of looks regal. If only there were more books with photos of garments from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

This bone button has been completely dyed with the sepia colour all over the edges and the back. It has then been carved away leaving the natural bone colour showing a flower design. It is a modern button and I wonder if it was made in Nepal. It is a two hole sew through type and measures just on 3 cm.

Here is a button with two materials; mother of pearl set in metal. There was a craze at one stage ( I’m not sure when ) when Egyptian symbols were very popular. This button is just that and shows a Pharoah’s (or King’s ) head which is similar to the Sphinx in white metal centred on the MOP. I can’t imagine wearing a button like this but then if it was the fashion anything goes! The button is well made and quite heavy and measures a little under 3 cm.