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Dorset buttons
vary in size, but most of these are about 1.5 cm diameter.
To make a button
you will need:
- a curtain ring
about 2 cm in diameter
- some wool
- a short wool
needle
- "Casting"
Prepare a needleful of long thread (about 2 yards) enough
to blanket stitch all round the ring and also "lay"
the spokes of the wheel. Tie the thread to the ring and
work blanket stitch all round working the first half dozen
blanket stitches over the loose end. Keep them even and
fairly tight and close together so that the ring does
not show through. Slip your needle through the first stitch
so that the join does not show.
- "Slicking"
All the stitches are now turned inwards, leaving the outside
of the ring completely smooth.
- "Laying"
With your thread at the back of the ring bring it down
to the bottom of the ring and then up in front in the
exact centre. Turn the ring slightly and continue to wind
the thread over and over until all the spokes are evenly
spaced. (You may have to do this several times until you
are satisfied.) Now make a firm cross stitch in the exact
centre. The first stitch running from East to West the
second from North to South. The stitches should have caught
in all the loose spokes and form the hub of a wheel.
- "Rounding"
Still using your original thread work around the hub using
backstitch, turning the wheel as you go. After a few roundings
and when you have completed an exact full circle you can,
if you wish, end at the back and change to another colour.
You can fill the whole wheel or just do a few roundings.
During rounding, all ends and beginnings are made in the
centre back and carried up or down invisibly through one
of the spokes. They form a useful hump or neck to the
button and one or two threads can be left for sewing on
the garment afterwards. By arranging the spokes differently
a variety of designs can be made.
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