buttons and more buttons

I am a horder, I am the granddaughter of a horder.
I've posted glimpses of her chenille, but my Nanna also had buttons, lots of buttons and I have some of them. I also have some of mine, which means a healthy load of buttons.

But the other day after playing with them I headed off to do a google to see what I could do with them.

There were lots of necklaces but nothing exactly like I wanted, so I've mixed up those tutorials to get what I wanted. Try it, it is easy.

You need:
Buttons - vintage, those with holes and those that are shanked.
24 gauge jewelry wire
Clasps and those squishy jewelry making thingos.
Pliers and wire cutters

Cut about 60cm of wire.

Arrange a row of buttons on the table in front of you, starting with the middle button and working one each side outwards.
You can pick a huge button for this middle button (the pale blue button with the red and yellow little buttons on top in the photo above) or do a beautiful layer, with smaller buttons on top of larger ones. Build out the necklace in front of you, playing with sizes and colours. It works well to make the end buttons, those that will be around the back of your neck smaller than those at the front which are placed in the middle of your design.

Take the wire and thread through the middle button from the back to the front, pulling the button down to the middle of the wire. Holding the wire tight against the back of the button, grab the threaded wire and bend it so that it is at a 90 degree angle to the wire. If you are going to have a layered button, slip on the other buttons.

Then take the wire back into the button, threading it through the other hole to the back of the button. Using pliers, pull the wire as tightly as possible so that the wire sits flush on the front of the button. (see the botton photograph to see what it should look like at the back of the button)

Now repeat this until all the buttons are placed. I usually do one from one side of the middle button, then do the button for the other side, working back and forth until all are strung.

You don't have to have buttons all the way around, you can stop when you like.

Finish off with a loop and clasp at the back.

If you are using shanked buttons thread the wire through, then bend back and go through again, pulling the wire tight. Then bend back again, pulling the wire tight but made sure it lays on the other side of the shank. It's like a wire figure of eight and it holds the button firmly in place, it won't swing around on the wire and will also sit properly on the necklace.

Bracelets are the same, but I don't bother with working from the middle, I just pop the first button on, leaving a 5cm tail for the clasp.

You will always want to add quite a few extra centimetres to the wire compared to the finished necklace or bracelet length as all that going up through buttons and around and around shanks uses up wire.

Now enjoy. If you click here you will find another Nanna inspired tutorial.



AND OPPS: As we lost internets for a while here at home, Zgal has decided to stretch out the bangle competition (work out a great selling name for her knitting needle bangles and you could win one of three bangles, posted anywhere). So leave a comment or send me an email with some funky names for the bangles. So far there have been some rippers but it is my duty as a mother to present her with an eye popping list that will keep her quiet for a few hours while she works through it.

more nostagia - the nanna-list

After the wonderful time spent bending knitting needles into bangles, an activity that has been done quiet a few times in the past few days, my Zgal wants to know what else I used to do with my nanna.

It wasn't just my nanna that I did things with, there was also time spent with Grandma and other elderly women who taught me a huge range of things, from french seaming for babies clothing to how to get pastry just right to how best to peg out clothing.

It was all fun back then, but lessons were learnt so I've decided to try and work out a nanna-list of activities to do with my daughter.

I'm not going to do water colours with her and I don't have a massive art studio complete with a wheel and kiln, but I do have a french knitting 'thingo'. For years I've been looking through op shops trying to find old wooden spools with a hole in the centre big enough for french knitting. Of course I couldn't find one with a big enough hole, but then I realised that my french knitting was probably done with the left overs from the dresses she used to knit for herself and her daughters which was of course, 4ply, fingering or finer.

When the craft show swung into town and the wood turners had a bit of a show there too and I found a hand carved french knitting spool (could that be what it is called) so next on the nanna-list is to learn to french knit properly. She has already done french knitting at school over paddlepop sticks stuck to toilet rolls.

Also on the nanna-list similar to the knitting needles, is melting a record to make bowls.
I remember doing this as well with nanna who then turned them into pots for plants, cacti if I remember correctly.

So I'm going to go through my huge vinyl collection to work out what can be donated to the nanna-list. The Dead Kennedys, Kraft Work and my rare Nina and Frederick records will not be given the oven treatment, but I do have some first rate shockers (Tiffany anyone) that were bought to be spun at drunken parties.

So what did you used to do as a child with older people, what else can I include on the nanna-list.