I have a weak spot for vintage glass buttons and needles. I know I’ve shared some of my finds with you before, but here are few new additions to my steadily growing collection.
These 1/2″ wide shank-back blue buttons are pressed glass with a rose motif in the center. The rose has a hint of gold paint brushed over it, and the edges are faceted. Most of the time when I find vintage glass buttons, they come in an odd number. I’m happy to have eight of these though.
I don’t know why I picked up these jeweled glass and brass buttons. Jewels aren’t something I usually go after. But, I think these could be stunning on a black dress to add a bit of unexpected shine. When am I going to either sew or wear a black dress anytime soon? Psssh. I have no idea.
I am in love with these tiny 3/8″ wide ruby red buttons. They need to be cleaned up a bit though. The dark build-up in the button crevices may be paint, but I can’t quite tell. It easily scrapes off, so I’ll probably clean it out with the head of a needle to make them look nicer. In a weird way, they remind me of strawberry Jell-O.
These red round buttons came in the same bag as the ruby ones, but the two sets obviously aren’t meant to be used together. There is a little bit of silver paint on one of the buttons, but I don’t think the ones with “H” motif ever had any silver on them.
So where do I keep all of these? Honestly, I put them all in a Ball jar, until my collection outgrew it. While Rob and I were looking in an antique store in Washington, I saw this cookie jar and knew it would work perfectly as a button jar. Now my hand fits in it and I don’t have to dump the whole jar to get to the buttons on the bottom!
Looking through old buttons reminds me of both of my grandmothers. I remember seeing their button tins and jars and wondering how on earth anyone ever came to collect so many buttons! My mother’s mother gave me her button collection when I was fairly young. It was in an old toffee tin, and many years before, my mother and her sister had used a needle to carve things like “Joni loves Rick” and “Susan loves Tim” all over it. I’ll have to see if I can get my mom to bring it with her on her next visit so I can add those buttons to my jar.
My brother knows I love old sewing notions, and he gave me two really amazing vintage needle books for Christmas, along with a beautiful sewing machine print.
For me, finding antique needles that are still useable is like finding gold. I’ve written about how different vintage needles are from modern ones before, so I’m very happy to have more of them available for hand sewing.
I really like this steam engine needle book. It’s printed with a silver paint, and even the needle books inside are coated with a shiny foil finish. Some of the larger needles are 3″ long and still very sharp!
Who out there collects sewing notions, and do you ever post about them? I love looking at vintage patterns and notions that other seamstresses find, so please let me know if you have any fun acquisitions to share!
