Embellish the story. Knitting and Crochet Blog Week.

Author: Chris

My mother sewed a lot when I was a kid.  She made our Halloween costumes, some of our clothes and, if she didn’t make our clothes, she embroidered them.  It was the 70s.  All my jeans had big, loopy flowers on them, done by my mother. 

As a sewer, she had a huge jar of buttons, buttons that fell off clothes, buttons that she cut off vintage clothes so she could use the fabric, extra buttons that came with new clothes, buttons that were purchased because they were pretty, buttons of every size and shape.  When I was little and it was raining, I loved to dump that jar on the floor and sort through them.  Sometimes I matched them up.  Sometimes I made designs with the different colours, sometimes I lined them up by size or sorted them by colour.  My mom still has that button jar and every once in a while when I visit, I put my hand it in and let the buttons pour through my fingers, just like I used to when I was a kid.

I have my own button jar today.  It isn’t as big or as diverse as my mother’s.  Most of my buttons have been purchased.  I don’t always have a reason for buying them.  I’m usually browsing at a tradeshow or in a shop and stumble upon a pretty design or a great colour.  Sometimes I have a specific kid in mind (like the ‘transportation’ buttons I bought for my nephew) when I buy them and no real project to go with them.  Having friends that are also crafters, I’ve been gifted some pretty fabulous buttons as well. 

I love searching through my button collection after a project is completed.  I still like to pour them all out to sort through them.  You can forget what’s in there.  It’s like a little treasure hunt.  I don’t always find what I need which sends me to buy more buttons.  I find buying buttons like eating chips.  You can’t just buy one set.  What if I get this one home and it doesn’t look right?  I’ll need the other set just in case!  I know this could be solved by taking my project with me but where is the fun in that?  How will I ever have a great button jar filled to the brim if I’m always buying just what I need?  I certainly don’t do that with my yarn stash. 

 About a year ago, I made a dark green sweater for a baby girl.  It was a really cute little cardigan that needed just two buttons.  Before I’d found the right buttons, I had laid the sweater out and thought perhaps I’d lost my mind with that particular colour for a new baby girl.  I’d also knit another sweater as well as a blanket.  As I sorted through the buttons it was in the back of my mind that perhaps this sweater would get put aside and gifted to the next baby boy that came along.  Then I fell about the delicate pale green flowers with yellow centres and instantly knew that these were the exact right thing to turn that dark green into a baby girl’s sweater.  At the baby shower, it was the dark green sweater that everyone cooed about.

Embellishments can make all the difference.

Aside from buttons, our labels of love also add a nice finishing touch to your home made gifts. Attaching one of our labels and adding a few mini-soaks in with the gift will help ensure that your hard work will be taken care of.