Blue Beauties: The Heirloom Button At Colonial Williamsburg
Since it is turning cool in my neck of the woods, I thought I’d show off these large coat or jacket buttons, which I spotted in the Tailor’s Shop in Colonial Williamsburg. Decorative or embellished buttons became a cottage industry in the 19th Century and you can still find them produced into the 20th Century. I found a box of such old buttons in an antique store.
The blue ones here are one of many types of covered button, here covered with heavy silk threads, undoubtedly over a wooden form as the shop in CW, like all the other shops there, is devoted to do everything as people did it in the 18th Century. Such wooden forms are hard to find today, so some people turn to the small wooden pieces that were meant for parts on children’s toys. For some styles of heirloom buttons, you can use small plastic rings too, or you can simply cover over a boring modern button. You can find directions for similar buttons in Nancy Hehring’s 50 Heirloom Buttons. After you read it, you may begin to feel that only by making a button to match your latest sewing project will you achieve perfection.