Sunday 22 July 2012

Fun With Fabric On Friday

I brought in a guest teacher to the Chertsey Museum Fun With Fabric class - and Jacqui taught us how to make Dorset Buttons and their history:

These were traditional way of making buttons about 350 years ago: whole families would be involved, in Dorset, making them for pay of 3 shillings and sixpence for a gross!

It look us the best part of an hour and a half to make nearly one each:





The Museum has a particular interest in fabrics and costumes, and Jacqui had arranged with the curator, Emma, for these examples to be shown to the group:

You can click to see them in more detail, but they were only taken with my phone so they aren't fab.  These might have been quicker to make as they were tiny (the first one is photographed on Emma's hand) but by golly those Dorset Button makers must have had good eyesight!

Thank you Jacqui - a very enjoyable afternoon x x x

8 comments:

  1. Interesting technique to learn :o)

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  2. Oh those look beautiful and so unique! Would be nice to try! x Teje

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  3. Dorset buttons are pretty amazing, aren't they. Several years ago I saw some really, really tiny ones in Dorchester Museum and I found it hard to figure how the girls that made them could possibly see. There is a local lady who demonstrates making Dorset buttons and she has a website,http://www.dorsetbuttons.co.uk/

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  4. How fantastic that someone out there can do this! You are so talented Great Aunt Benta!( Congratulations to you and your family!)

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  5. I was given a box of buttons recently by an elderly neighbour and there is one in there - I hade no idea what it was until today. Thanks for info.

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  6. What thread was used to make them? They are fantastic!

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  7. One of my Indigo Sisters made us a Dorset button each and they were so exquisite. It never fails to amaze me to see the intricate work that was created by hand, by people who laboured all day and by less than perfect lighting well into the night, we don't know we're born!!

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