Here's a new idea for your Yorkshire button loom - and I know that many of you will take this one a level or two and use the flowers on so many other textile projects. In fact, I'm reminded that quite a few of you already make cards with Yorkshire button flowers, and gorgeous they are too!
It's funny really - back when we created our first Yorkshire button kit 5 years ago, there wasn't one commercial kit on the market. We spent a lot of time testing the best tabs, material and sizes. Until then, people used cardboard looms or pins (as I describe in my Buttons book). Since then, we've been copied quite a few times - sadly, usually by people who have actually bought from us! And that is why we call our kit "The original & best". 😀
Don't forget, you can get our kit over on our website -
Hi Everyone! Back on track a bit. But only just! :)
I hope this week's video inspires you!
It is interesting, there are quite a few boring videos of specific techniques I'm keen to make, but they won't get the views. Which could be detrimental to my channel in the way that searches promote them. So I'm wondering if I should try to fit in two a week. Then I remember I sometimes struggle with one! And then I make mistakes that get through onto the final video!
How do people keep up?
So, this weekend we have two major jobs - list lots of exciting materials onto the website (yay!) and get photographing some step-by-steps for the book (yay!).
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
(PS. can you spot the error that I made in the intro to this video? Only some will...)
Of course, had I been working a button challenge this year, you would have all expected a commemorative button. This one took a little while to get right.
The silk thread Union Jack is over a vintage mould - perhaps even as old as the Prince. And I can call it a jack, as it is for a sailor.
The surround is a zwirnknopfe, not a Dorset button. A technique from mainland Europe to represent the ties he had to other European countries.
I have used purple silk - for royalty - and waxed linen. I chose this because it rather looks like horsehair so represents both the horseman and the down to earth person he seemed to be.
And, a little gold crown and his cipher of crossed P's.
I've had quite a few of you ask me for this, so here it is. A very simple version - I think the real beauty of this button lies in the extra doodling that each maker adds. Because you need a larger ring, there is more scope for decorative stitching and wraps.
We also have those larger rings available now (well as I finish the listing on the website haha).
Don't forget I'm on Hochanda on Monday evening - 5pm and 9pm. I will of course add another blog entry to let you know beforehand.
I've had my first covid jab - yay! Really does feel like it is an important day. This time last year I was at Hochanda and it was such an odd day. No one quite knew what to do, but everyone knew life was about to change. There was a real heavy feeling in the air, and a lot of stress flying around.
These are NOT Dorset buttons. They are made in France for a start...
You know when you have a pet hate and it drives you a bit batty? Well, mine is the hastag #dorsetbutton.
It's a great hash tag when used on an actual Dorset button. And by that I do not mean where the button was made, but the technique.
Of course, we live in an age of hastags - and so for social media purposes, if we want anything found we actually need to use the hastag #dorsetbutton (or search terms) in order to pick up the audience who follow these things. I try to counteract this with the hastag #notadorsetbutton, but I suspect that like so much in an ever changing language, all ring buttons will come to be called a Dorset button in the future. And I'll just have to take a deep breath! ;)
But, in case you were wondering...
Any ring button is not a Dorset button.
Ring buttons on cards made in Germany or elsewhere are not Dorset buttons.
Any lacy thread button is not a Dorset button.
Every fabric button with some needlework is not a Dorset button.
Crocheted buttons are not Dorset buttons.
Cord, braid, etc buttons are not Dorset buttons.
and the list goes on.
The cottage industry that was known Buttony in the Dorset area of England did make other types of button very early in the history of the trade. However, it is at the very beginning, (mid 1600s). By the time that ring buttons are being made the trade is quite specific, as it the technique used.
In Dorset thread button making, the ring is covered first.
Then the spokes are laid.
Then, the decorative weaving, or stitching is worked to strengthen the centre area of the ring.
This creates a very distinctive design and edge. The image of the back of a Dorset button below shows how the lines of the of the spokes is over the ridge of the blanket stitch covering.
The pre-revival Dorset industry used linen thread. Not silk. Not braids or cords. In fact, it is very rare that a pre-revival Dorset button is coloured although there are a few exceptions, most notably the black Singleton buttons (although the whole black Singleton button is perhaps another discussion!). There are a few coloured thread buttons in existence and it may well be that they were dyed by the garment maker after purchasing the buttons.
These white on white buttons buttons could be washed at high temperatures. Apparently, the alloy used to make the rings was invented by the Case family to be rust free and was a secret "recipe".
And that is the reason the industry was devastated almost overnight when a machine for making linen buttons cheaply went on display at the Great Exhibition. Within 9 years the Dorset industry collapsed.
At around 1900, Lady Lees attempted to revive the industry, and at this point you begin to see slight variations, particularly regarding the use of colour, and it appears, a change of thread if required. This button card clearly illustrates what she was offering, the thread looks shiny and there are colours and even beads. The thread could be mercerised cotton, silk, or "artificial silk" - first invented in 1855 and often used in dress trimmings. However, if you look closely at this card, you will still see the tell-tale signs of covering the button first, and then working the spokes. Also, every one of these buttons is still made over a very fine ring, unlike other fancy thread buttons of the era.
Photo: The Textile Society
This is the back of a Zwirnknopfe button - made in Germany, Austria, and northern Europe. I don't know how long their history is exactly, but they certainly seem to have been a viable alternative to machine linen buttons in the late 19th century (perhaps why Lady Lees attempted the revival). This technique often uses a flatter ring and works the spokes first - then covers any space in the ring. You can see the ridge is over the spokes, creating a solid line at the back. There is even a little machine that works the spokes used in Austria - the video below shows the machine. This results in quite a different look to the Dorset technique. And, if on a fancy printed card, the chances are the buttons have not been worked using the Dorset technique, as the Dorset cottage makers weren't using printed cards.
Modern Dorset buttons use all sorts of combinations of stitches and colours. But they still use the same basic technique, covering the ring first.
There is no evidence that other types of needlework button, those worked over wooden moulds or with embroidery were ever made within the industry. Instead, button cards exist of passementiers or button makers working these fancy designs in many colours.
Likewise, there is no evidence that any crocheted button was made as part of the industry.
