It seems weird to me how difficult it has become to find buttons. I have a few mail order sources but sometimes, you just want to see them in real life and match them up to the project. There used to be a little sewing shop here in town and they had a fair selection of buttons but they’ve closed. Walmart used to have a pathetic little selection of buttons but now they have none. Hobby Lobby has buttons but they’re mostly not the kind of buttons I want for sweaters. It’s a lot of children’s type novelty buttons, a lot of plastic looking buttons. I used to could find most anything I needed at the JoAnn’s in Joplin. The last time I was there, I went in with swatches and notes as to what size buttons and how many I needed for each sweater. Their button selection was down by at least half and it was a lot of novelty and children’s type buttons. It really is kind of a problem. I’ve heard people say they go into thrift stores and buy sweaters just for the buttons but in this area, sweaters aren’t a real popular item, simply because of the lack of winter. I’ve looked at thrift stores here, Brady, Abilene and have never found a single sweater with buttons I would use.
Recently, on a Facebook knitting group, someone mentioned this book, 50 Heirloom Buttons to Make. Quite a few people had the book and seemed to think it was great. Because I couldn’t find a new copy, I ordered a used copy (which looks brand new) from Hammond’s Books through Amazon. The website seems to be down for repairs now so if it isn’t working if you click on it, give them some time and check back.
They sent this cute little panda puzzle, it’s about 3 or 4″ square. I’m going to send it to Addie with her birthday card. I wanted to get on the website to see what else they had that she might like because that little puzzle is the cutest thing ever!
I haven’t even had a chance to look at the book yet but I’m pretty excited to have it and hope there are at least a few buttons in there I might can make for my sweaters.
Leigh Ann says
Can you give your readers an idea of the type of buttons you need? We might have some you could use.
Rebecca in SoCal says
When I started garment sewing again, I was very disappointed with the button selection at JoAnn. I remember spending a very long time choosing just the right button when I was sewing many years ago. I used to replace buttons on ready-made garments as a simple upgrade!
It’s like fabric buying. When I started quilting, I was so happy to have a dozen shops nearby(-ish) and there isn’t that much difference between cottons. Now so much garment fabric is bought on-line (I just haven’t done that yet) along with those elusive buttons.
Janice says
There was a home business in our city about 10 years ago called the button lady. A very old button factory had closed in Montreal and she had bought the entire stock-2,000,000 buttons. There were some very very old buttons all the way up to the present day. They were just spectacular!! Then I heard she had sold the collection. I managed to track down the new owner who was in another province. Turned out she had opened her business about 5 miles from where my sister lives. On our next trip to visit to visit my sister we went to see the new button lady. She had an even more amazing set up than the first lady. On my next visit, the next year, I wanted to go see her again and I was told that she had moved, maybe to the coast, but nobody knows where. I was so disappointed as I haven’t been able to find her since. Like you say, trying to find decent buttons is almost impossible.
Nelle Coursey says
Very interesting! Never thought of that. Vita has special ordered a lot of things for us knitters. Come to knitting there one day and look through her catalog. You might find something!
dezertsuz says
Well, I have a gallon jar full, but you probably couldn’t find enough matches, even if you found one you liked. I love buttons, though. Have since I was a little girl. Wish I had THAT button can!
Judy H says
It’s difficult even to find shirt buttons for my husband’s shirts. Occasionally he’ll lose a button and then the shirt has to be set aside until I can find buttons. I’ve bought old shirts at Goodwill just for the buttons. There’s a store in Houston in Rice Village that has a HUGE button selection, but it’s definitely not convenient to my location. It’s easy to spend hours there looking through buttons, because they have so many. But there’s nowhere near me. Goodwill is my best bet. If he ruins a shirt I cut off the buttons before we get rid of it. I don’t really understand why nobody carries them anymore!