There was a time when this blog was about knitting. There was a time, too, when I was actually doing more than a couple of rows of knitting a month. That time is no more. Now? Now we have buttons:

Buttons until the end of eternity (or the end of this evening, whichever comes first).

I am a decent seamstress, but I like to cut corners because I get impatient. While I have been known to re-make a pattern 8 times until the garment in question fits me right, I am not comfortable doing this for someone else.

On the other hand, I have never done things for a Crown (in the SCA), as I’ve never interacted with them personally before. So when Lea told me she was sewing Their Highnesses’ garb, I jumped at the chance to contribute without making patterns (and a lovely meal at high table at Midwinter confirmed that Her Highness is completely delightful). Contributing means buttons.

Lots of them.

I had made some before, but never 100 and never this small (wool ones are a little bulkier than the linen). So far, I’ve got ~70 done. I will be making buttons this evening until I’m finished so I can hand them off to Lea and Rebinah tomorrow evening. But at this point, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the whole experience.

These things are damned easy to sew. Since I find them pleasant, easy work, allow me to show you the ease of creating said buttons (directions taken from this most excellent website):

Step 1 (the most time-consuming):

Cut out the buttons. I used the end of a spool of thread and drew my circles with a regular pen. Here’s a finished button next to the fabric circle:

Step 2:

Sew a running stitch around the edge of the fabric, roughly 1 mm from the edge (too close and your fabric unravels, and you have to stuff the button with extra fabric; I find that 1mm allows the button to be self-supporting).

Step 3:

Draw the fabric  up using your running stitch, into a tiny little bag (I made loads of these as a teenager, and used them to keep multi-sided dice; yes, I’m aware that I’m a nerd).

Step 4:

Flatten the little bag, and using a running stitch, stitch around the edge of the flattened “pouch,” as close to the edge as you can get.

And from the front:

Step 5:

Pull this tight, stuffing the raw edges into the button as you pull. Be careful not to pull too  hard and break the thread (I did this once or twice).

Step 6:

Secure your button. I made straight stitches perpendicular to each other, going through the drawn-up edges. Then I made a knot in the center.

Ta-da! Buttons.

This spool of thread is a standard spool, and should give you an idea of the size of the buttons.

I laid 50 next to one another and realized that 50 (what I initially agreed to make) would not be sufficient. Luckily, this is quick work and I should have them all done by this evening. Thank goodness for Netflix on demand.

Speaking of which, I finally saw The Big Lebowski and am unsure why I never saw it before. Truly I was missing something great. “That rug really tied the room together.”

Yo.