Buttons
- The Multi Purpose Accessory
Buttons have been around for centuries, usually for clothes.
But they can be used for jewelry as well, and as hair accessories,
brooches, hat pins, you name it, the list goes on.
On a recent trip to the Czech
Republic, we found a button maker with a stash of button molds
going back 180 years, with the first mold belonging to his family
that they acquired. It is quite simple, but with modern technology
can be very elegant. We call it a window button.
The rest of his molds belonged
to his grandfather, his father and have been handed down to him
now. The molds attach to a pair of pliers, which is then bolted
to the workbench next to the furnace, and he handpresses each
button by hand, one at a time.
After the buttons have been pressed
and cleaned, they are coated in whatever finish has been decided
on, such as AB, vetrail or gold wash, then baked to keep the
finish from peeling off. Each finish gives a different look to
the same button.
Some buttons are made with a transparent glass, and the back
is coated with a silver finish, which creates yet another look.
Some buttons have a metal shank attached to the back, and some
are molded with a glass shank. The metal shanks are an older
design, invented many years before the single mold of glass with
the shank included was made.
Each button is a miniture piece
of art, and can be used accordingly. Some examples are as centerpieces
or focal pieces in a beaded necklace. Here, peridot chips and
charlotte cut seed beads were used as the necklace, and a small
window button was used for the clasp, and a medium sized button
was used as the center piece, with tassles dangling below.
Created by J-Me of Wild Things Beads
Another quick and easy button project is the hair clasp. This
idea has been around for a while, so I can’t take credit
for it, but both metal shank or glass molded shank buttons can
be used.
Step One
Step Two Step
Three
The final result.
An easy stocking stuffer for Christmas.
Wild Things Beads is an importer of Glass buttons and beads
from Germany and the Czech Republic. Most of the beads and buttons
are newly manufactured in factories by custom order, but occasionally
vintage beads and buttons are purchased when found in basements
or attics. Just ask.
Examples of vintage buttons. We have a huge selection of vintage
buttons for sale.
We are found deep in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern
California. Our warehouse is by appointment only.
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