The Monday Project - 2 Tier Button Necklace

I have a million variations I think on the button necklace, and over the next few months I'm going to try and get them all on here for you - as well as some other button projects as and when I come to them. For now, here's a variation on a simple theme - the double stranded button necklace:

What you need:

• 30-40 mixed buttons. I like smaller (up to 20mm ones, but bigger ones work just as well.) My necklace only used 30 buttons, but I like a shorter necklace than many people.
• 2m of 1mm or 0.5mm waxed cotton cord. (This is much longer than you will need, but trust me, it's just easier having more than less.)
• 1 lobster clasp
• 1 calotte (crimpy thing)
• 1 split ring (any size will do)

Here's how to:

Thread your lobster clasp onto your cord, approximately 3/5 of the way, and tie a knot (as shown.) The different lengths of the cord will help with your two tiers.

Start threading your buttons onto your cord. Always thread from the back to the front. For 4 hole buttons (fig.1) thread diagonally, and for shank buttons (fig.2) tie on with a knot at the back.

(Here's a secret to button jewellery: people ask me all the time what keeps the buttons from twisting around and not facing the front all the time - after all, they do it in the books, right? - wrong. They only lie flat in the books because the photographer has laid them all out flat. You know for sure as soon as it's picked up the buttons will twist around in whatever which way they want. They're buttons, they like to thwart you in their un-neatness. Deal with it.)

Space the buttons a few centimetres apart. The thickness of the cord should hold them in place. If your cord starts to fray and it gets hard to thread, whatever you do, don't suck it! Trim it off with a pair of sharp scissors - that should do it. This, and the knots, is one of the reasons you want extra cord to start off with. If you are working with children, their sticky fingers will mean you probably have to cut off twice as much as you do with your cool, dry hands.

Hold the necklace up to yourself several times to check length. This is a personal thing - some people love it longer, some people shorter. I guess I'm a short-to-mid kinda girl myself. When you're ready with the length, tie both the ends together. Pull the knot as tight as you can to make it as small as you can. Make sure you are ready to knot, 'cause unpicking this will be a pain! Because of your different lengths of cord when you started, when you hold it up to yourself, you should now have two tiers!

Get out your calotte (I had to look up what this was called, before this I knew it as 'one of those crimpy things'), and lay the knot across it. Close the calotte, trapping the knot. Before you do this you may want to fix the knot with a dab of glue or clear nail varnish. I sometimes bother, sometimes I don't! Trim the loose ends. Excuse the fluffy ends on my pic, I didn't have my nice sharp embroidery snips with me. Fold down the loop, trapping your split ring in it.

Check you like the placement of the buttons. If you don't, just move them about a bit until you're happy. And that's it. Make again in as many different colours as you have in your wardrobe!

a x

Creative & Contemporary

It's time for another customer profile! Let me introduce Victoria Avery from Creative & Contemporary:

Creative and Contemporary is my company which i run from my home in Surrey. I specialise in making handmade decorations for wedding and parties, helping to add creativity and quirkiness to special occasions.

Making things by hand has always been something which interests me, and the idea for Creative and Contemporary came about after helping my sister with her wedding preparations. I was given the task of creating all her decorations as she just didn't have time, and she didn't want the standard decorations you can buy in the shops. Helping her made me realise that there must be hundreds of people who want handmade, beautiful decorations which are different to the norm. So I decided to create a range of unique, affordable decorations, and launched my first products in January 2011.

Customising products for individuals is really what I love doing. Creative and Conte

mporary allows people to add their own special touches to my creations, be it customising text which is stamped on, or matching colour schemes. I am also always happy to think of new ideas for interesting themes.

I currently sell my products through my website www.creativeandcontemporary.comand also through Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/CreativeContemporary

Thanks for getting in touch, Victoria, we're loving the button name place hangers!

If you would like to be considered for a customer profile, let me know, I am planning on doing some more over the coming months!

Alpaca Select & The Button Company

We always like it when we find people using our buttons in creative ways, so we were delighted when we found that Liz Baxter, an English knitwear designer, was using our buttons in her designs for Alpaca Select.

This is the Thea kit, which uses our vintage theme bag. I usually associate the vintage themed buttons with more period tones, so it's really refreshing to see them on a pink background - I think it really works.

And this one is the Asha kit, which also uses the vintage buttons (but I think would also look great with Wuthering Heights, don't you agree?)

So after this I've decided I really want to know where our buttons have found themselves after we send them out into the world. What projects have they been used on? Let us know what you are using our buttons on - we'd love to see!

Rule Britannia... Rule Buttonia

With Royal Wedding fever upon us all, we had to have some appropriate buttons. If you look closely, one of those buttons in the picture even has Britannia on it. Get us.

And if you've seen some of our felt rolls, ric rac mixes, & button jars in John Lewis over the past few months, you may fancy looking out for our new colourway - Rule Britannia. I think mini felt bunting in red, white and blue with a bit of button & ric rac embellishment would be perfect for all your Royal Wedding street parties. I may even get around to doing this myself. These felt rolls are only available in John Lewis, and are of a limited quantity, so get your hands on them quickly or they may be gone before you get a chance!

And the winner is... drum roll please

None of you!

Haha, only joking.

Before I tell you, I should tell you what inspired this colour mix. It was a range of fabrics from a French company called Mas d'Ousvan - I don't have any left but here is a link to one of my favourite prints: Angele Bleu

I didn't want to tell you the inspiration because I like people to make up their own minds without interference from me. And I loved all the ideas of beaches and vintage and linen, but at the end of the day what still kept coming back to me was the idea of provincial france. And while I'm not going to go with quite that, I think it's only fair that the winner is:

I am inspired (email me with your address and I'll get your winnings on their way to you!)

So ladies & gentlemen (although I get the feeling it's MAINLY ladies!)

Here is is:

"En Provence"

But fear not the rest of you - I may have another naming competition coming up soon, and with that one I promise I don't have any secrets. Keep your eyes peeled.

Oh, and by the way. If EVER anyone feels like coming up with a new colour for us - we are always looking for new ideas. And if we use your ideas we will of course always give you buttons in return!

Help! I need a name... but I'll give you something in return, I promise!

So, usually I am pretty good with coming up with names for our theme bags, (in fact, often the name comes before the colour!) but sometimes the names take longer to come up with than others. It's then that I usually turn to the rest of the ButtonCompany team, and usually they come up with something that helps. But this time we are all stumped.

Soooo, I turn to you, button fans. I know I have severely neglected you, but hopefully I can make this up to you.

Come up with a name, and send it to me either as a comment here, or send me an email.

The winning name gets a 100g theme bag of this new colour. But I need it soon, as our trade show is coming up, and I need all the paperwork done for that. Ok?

Purlesque Launch

Hi, we are Purlesque, a little craft/ knitting boutique based in Liverpool city centre, and we absolutely fell in love with the new Kokka fabrics from the Button Company!  We just had to get some!

We also thought they were worth throwing a party for, so on the 12th of June we hosted a launch night for the new fabrics, more of the Button Company's scrummy buttons and some of the stuff we made from these gorgeous items. 

 We transformed the shop into a summer haven planted some flower buttons into some plant pots and crocheted some cacti.

  Sarah baked some yummy cakes and a good time was had by all! The fabrics have been a huge success and customers always comment at how unique they are and unlike anything they have seen before. Can't wait to order more!

To keep up with more from the Purlesque team, check out their blog !