Monday, March 23, 2009

Dorset Buttons

Last week I learned how to make Dorset buttons, which are really fun. I can crank out a few of them during a movie. I've been looking at them online, and there are so many different kinds, including some that look like honeycomb, some that are raised up like domes (I don't like those ones very much), ones that look like dream catchers, and beaded ones. I started with these basic ones, and next want to try these bird eye buttons:Dorset buttons came from Dorset, England, where they know of them being made as early as 1680. They were originally made using the horns of sheep, but now the base is a curtain ring that you can get for like, ten cents at the craft store. Mine are an inch, but they used to be made an eighth of that size! In the 18th and 19th century, lots of women made dorset buttons for money, because it was something they could do from home, while still caring for their kids. Dorset looks like a pretty little place:

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