Something using buttons - 50 makes for Christmas 14/50

Welcome to September the first of the "ber" months and it is certainly feeling brrr here today and doing Christmas makes is feeling more in keeping with the change in the weather.

When I was brainstorming ideas for the 50 makes of Christmas one of the the things I jotted down was make something with buttons. I have plenty of them! not quite to the point where people point in the street and whisper about me behind my back more to the point where they really ought to be organised and I really ought to pass some on to new homes.

This little pile came from a charity shop in Norfolk when I was on holiday last year, I have already dipped into them a couple of times and even after making the two little wreaths it doesn't seem to have made an indentation on them. I do enjoy the ethics of buying in a charity shop, you give directly to the charity so it benefits, the stuff doesn't go to landfill (at this point), you get what you want for less money than buying new and nothing new was made so no new resources had to be used.

I threaded them onto some quite robust florist wire, I tried to keep the buttons close together but sometimes the wire decided where it wanted to bend and that was that, one of the joys of making your own is that it's imperfections are part of its beauty.

I threaded about 18 to 20 buttons then joined the two ends together and fashioned a loop for hanging.  I pushed the finished wreath over a glass to get the circle shape.  I tried to put it round one of my star shaped cutters but some of the buttons were positioned where it needed to bend and it just looked a bit malformed so I abandoned that idea.

I think their neutral colours will act as a foil against some of the more strongly coloured decorations that I  have but they look a little bit lost on the olive tree on this grey day.

That is make number 14 completed out of my 50 makes for Christmas.

What is the weather like where you are, is it grey wet and cold or are you still basking in some late summer sun?

Felt Holly Garland - 50 makes of Christmas 3/50

I have accumulated bits and pieces of green felt in various shades and I think I have found the ideal project for using some of them up.

Felt Holly Garland

This is my kind of projects, simple to make but adds great impact.

I used felt in 3 different shades of green, but one shade would work well too

A holly leaf template taken from this blog post by Wild Olive, some of mine were a little mishapen but that just adds to the charm, if I wanted perfect i wouldn't be making my own!

Green thread to sew it all together, I used up the end of two different shades from my vintage stash

Red buttons to represent berries, these were raided from my vintage collection.

Adding Vintage Buttons

The amount of leaves you need will depend on the finished length of your garland as a rough guide I cut about 45 leaves and when put end to end they measured a little over 10 feet! I did lose a couple that got eaten up by the sewing machine.

I used my sewing machine but I think you could also sew by hand although it would take quite some time. Aiming for the centre of the leaf sew along, leave a few stitches before attaching a new leaf to the end of the previous one the short space between the leaves is to help with the "hang"

Holly Garland

I raided my vintage button collection for some nice shiny red buttons for a final flourish.

Vintage button stash

While I had no qualms about getting ahead and making this in July it did feel a little odd to be hanging it up but I wanted to give you an idea of what it looks like.

Hanging Holly Garland

I have stored it on one of my old industrial bobbins and I have tucked it away in the spare room ready to be hung a lot nearer to Christmas.

Vintage Industrial Bobbin

So that is 3 Makes for Christmas in the bag and just 47 left to make.

How are you getting on with your advanced preparations? or are you waiting until later in the year?

Sewing 30 minutes a day in October - week 1

How hard can it be to fulfill the challenge of sewing 30 minutes day in October?

A little harder than I had initially thought.  Of a potential 3.5 hours I succeeded with 2.5 hours and only one of these was a 30 minute stint. I found that once  I had started something I wanted to finish it or I had to get to a point where I could walk  away and easily just pick it up (not that there is anything complex about these makes).

One of the things that ate into my time was that I didn't think through the whole process of what I was making so I was running round getting buttons and trimmings and string and things.  There was of course the creative process of deciding what to use and how I wanted the finished item to look.

Grey felt heart

This was my first make, I blanket stitched the edge with embroidery floss using 1 white and 2 red strands I was trying to get a bakers twine type effect which is not quite there, maybe 2 and 2 might be better. I raided my vintage button collection and thought that the proportions of the little button were perfect.

Red felt heart

The second one took a little less time as I had everything to hand and I had learnt from the first make to include a hanging loop!

White felt heart

 
For the last one I broke out one of my Cath Kidston heart buttons, I have had them for a while and these seemed like the perfect project.


I am happy with my makes in the first week of this challenge and I am looking forward to next week.  I think I need to dedicate a little time to planning so that I do more sewing and less running around!

Grey, White, Red felt hearts

Did anyone else take up the challenge?  its not too late to join in, you could always do a mini challenge and join in for the week.