A TECHNIQUE DRIVEN Blog dedicated to mastery of surface design techniques. First we dye, overdye, paint, stitch, resist, tie, fold, silk screen, stamp, thermofax, batik, bejewel, stretch, shrink, sprinkle, Smooch, fuse, slice, dice, AND then we set it on fire using a variety of heat tools.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Button, button, who has the button?

Do you remember that game from when you were young?  I doubt than anyone under 50 remembers it now.  But since I was thinking about buttons, I thought  of the game.

First I read the post by Kit who said the melted plastic was so thick that no needle would ever go through it.  Then I read Lin's Arty Blog about making buttons.  The two ideas came together and I thought, why not make buttons?
 First, here is my wonderful husband washing the dishes while I am melting plastic and trying to turn them into buttons.  Aren't I a lucky woman!
Okay, on to my fun.  I saved my plastic shopping bag from Barnes and Nobles.
 I cut off one of the decorative sides, wrapped it in plastic wrap, folded it into 4ths, and proceeded to melt it with the iron.
I then cut the plastic with a pair of heavy-duty scissors into squarish and roundish shapes.  I could have made them neater but I then I like things with character.  I melted holes for the thread by holding a nail with pliers  over the stove burner till it was hot then poking holes in the button.   While I would think twice about using the buttons on clothing that would get washed frequently and go into the dryer, they are stiff enough to serve as reliable closures.

4 comments:

  1. What a good idea! You have a great bag there...such nice colors. I've never seen anything like that here. Now, I'm anxious to see where these "buttons" will be used.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a brilliant idea! Now somewhere (and I will have to see if I can find it) there is a lovely idea for making buttons by layering 'meltable' fabrics together and then cutting out round shapes using a soldering iron. It sounds very similar to this idea. Brilliant! Hilary x

    ReplyDelete

Although this blog is no longer active, we will get your comments so please feel free to share them.