Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Button, Button



A number of times recently, I have had my project all finished except the buttons. Then the hunt begins. Good, affordable buttons are getting harder and harder to find. There are fewer fabric shops around. And their selection is often lacking. More than once I have set my project aside due to "lack of closure." I have also been known to purchase buttons first, then design the sweater, or what have you, around them.

A couple of yarn shops in my area have some nice buttons, but I've also had difficulty finding the right size or quantity. Then there's the price...those lovely little tokens often cost more than all the other materials put together.

Shopping online hasn't netted me much either. I spotted a couple of Etsy shops that had some fun buttons for sale. Then the shipping costs were almost double the cost of the buttons, themselves.

So, here's one of my solutions. Since I'm already out in thrift shops and yard sales watching for sweaters to recycle, I'm now checking lots of other garments for buttons! Occasionally I find a rather ugly jacket or sweater that has terrific buttons. I feel no guilt in purchasing that item, stripping it of the buttons, and either re-donating or recycling the fabric. The example shown below was an ill-fitting, poorly made sweater. And yet, it had a zillion (not quite) colorful buttons around the yoke, cuffs and bottom! Aren't they pretty?!


5 comments:

Hattie said...

That's awesome! What a good idea. I've also read of people doing that with purses for the handles to reuse on their own knitted bags.

Twisted Knitter said...

Totally brilliant!

YowlYY said...

I do the same... in charity shops, I always have a look at what garnments are sold, and then snap those with pretty buttons. Despite my button stash, though, I still manage to end up with a finished piece of work, and with no buttons for it! It is a difficult thing to find the perfect button, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

That is such an awesome idea!!! Thanks Janet! You so creative! :)

Funessa said...

What a great find!

I will now start "hunting" buttons when I'm out at thrift stores as well! Thanks for the tip! :)