I digress. I began my night with the intent of showing you how I work with buttons. I'm not sure my explanations will help, but if nothing else it'll remind me of what I did to make it work for me.
Supply List:
Collection of buttons
Peaches and Crème cotton yarn
"H" Bates hook
Thin tapestry needle (I say this because I have two sizes and one was too thick to go through my buttons)
Best collection of swear words and/or annoyed snippets - very important, this
Found these at Walmart in the craft aisle rather than the sewing aisle.
I decided to coordinate the purple and white. Threaded my needle and got ready.
Then I decided I wanted them stacked instead of separated.
(I should've made the headband two stranded and put the purple buttons on the white yarn and vice versa, but I didn't think of it until halfway done.)
Go through the purple button, then the white, and back through the purple. Slide it out of the way and proceed to the rest.
Step 1: Thread your needle. Arrange your buttons (or beads) in the proper order. Slide them on and slip them down the line. This is probably your most aggravating step. Some button holes make you work for it. I stabbed myself an embarrassing number of times. Remember that the first ones on will be the last ones off.
****As long as you get the buttons on the string, you've done it right. Don't stress it too much, especially if it's your first attempt.****
Make your slipknot and move your first-to-be-used button so that it's rightnexttoit, even to the point of touching your hook.
Step 2: Leaving a rather lengthy tail (see how mine is a little looped and still goes out of frame?), make your slipknot to begin your work. Slide your button all the way down. Catching the yarn as it exits the buttonhole, chain 1. If it's too loose, wiggle the button closer to that initial slipknot and pull your stitch tight.
* * * You want your buttons to be on there tightly. Otherwise you'll have a loose chain that looks a bit gap-py. There's no easy way to fix it later, so I recommend the hassle of futzing with it at this step. I have to pay attention to get mine tight, but make sure you aren't so tight that you're stressing the strength. Acrylic especially will tear if you really, really pressure it. * * *
After you chain a bit, slide your next set down, crochet it in tightly, chain a bit more.
Step 3: Chain 15, next set, chain 15, next set, chain 15, next set, chain 91.
Step 4 (commencing headband): Skip first chain. hdc in back ridge of second chain from hook. hdc in next 75 chains. Connect with slip stitch to first hdc made.
*If changing colors, do so here.*
It's really just like any other connected round except that the "hangy down part" is a chain instead of the first tail. You'll go back later and use your end tail to stitch that gap together.
Step 5: Chain 2, dc in same stitch. dc in each stitch around. Connect with slip stitch to first dc made.
*If changing colors, do so here*
*If changing colors, you may cut color here. It will not be used again.*
Step 6: Chain 1, hdc in same stitch. hdc in each stitch around. Leave a long tail. Using a tapestry needle, weave tail from top to bottom. Use tail to close gap. Weave the rest in.
Step 7: Go back to that long tail you started with. Work yarn back through button to make sure it's secure. Weave tail through back ridge of chain up to second button set. Secure second set, hide end, cut yarn. - Yes, this bit is a little fussy, but you can do it. It's also not strictly necessary, but I'm paranoid.
After securing the button and working on weaving through the back ridge.
This is simply another styling option. All I did was take the bottom button and slip it through a stitch.
My coworker gave this her vote of confidence, which made me quite happy. This did come out a bit long. That works for me, but if you have shorter hair you might want to either remove a button set or do fewer chains between them.
Again, as before, you have some style options with this.
- Wear it as a necklace.
- Wear it to one side or the other.
- Loop the button back up or leave it loose.
- How about looping that button further down the side and letting the chain drape across your hair?
- Whip up some loopy flowers (or your favorite open-middle flowers) and pop them on.
- Make some basic open-middle circles if you're not into floral.
- Leave off one of the button sets and toss a flower in there.
- Make a purple chain to accompany the white.
- * - As I'm typing this up, I'm thinking a purple chain with some buttons would be cute. Then slide both end buttons through a stitch to let the buttons and chains rest across your hair.
- * - If you wanted to go really hippie with it, add flowers to all of those buttons and it'll have that vague look of braided stems flowing through your hair, especially if you used shades of green.
- Make the headband a real headband pattern instead of straight bland stitches.
And so on and so forth. I hope I was clear enough to help.
As always, I'm ever so glad you stopped by my little hidey-hole. :)
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