Thursday 28 January 2016

Crochet Button Necklace

Last week I was cleaning out some of my craft 'stuff' and came across a pattern for a crochet button necklace in an old Spotlight Get Creative magazine from 2011. As I used to do a lot of beading I thought it looked interesting and kept it but when I read through the instructions I realised you don't have to know anything about beading as you just need to know how to crochet a chain.


Do you cut the buttons off shirts when they can't be worn anymore? I had a look in my old button tin which belonged to my Mum....



...and I found lots of white buttons I had cut off shirts and tops in the last few years. You do need about 120 buttons for this necklace and if you don't have a collection at home the Op Shops usually sell them cheaply. I saw a container of them in our local Vinnies the other day which would have contained a few hundred buttons and the cost was $5. 



So if you would like to make one then grab a 4mm crochet hook and some crochet cotton. 2 ply was recommended but I only had 4 ply on hand and I didn't really like the colour  when it was finished so ended up buying some off-white cotton from Vinnies which I think is probably 4 ply as well. 

Count out your buttons and then thread them onto your yarn. I tried to vary the sizes as I threaded them so that all the same size weren't together.




Crochet 3 chain then move up the first button to the last chain then work 3 chain again.





Slide up the next button and repeat the process until you have crocheted all the buttons. 




Once you have done that and have one long length, then join the ends and tie off making sure you have done that securely as you don't want all the buttons dropping on the floor in the middle of the supermarket. LOL!


I actually found a little cube shaped button that I threaded the yarn though after tying a few secure knots, then cut it off and put some glue into the opening of the button just to make sure it wouldn't come undone. 

If you like these then experiment with a few different colours of yarn and perhaps coloured buttons as well if you have enough. I used reasonably small buttons from shirts in the main interspersed with larger buttons, keeping in mind the weight of the finished necklace as I didn't want anything heavy to wear. It's a great way to use up all those shirt buttons don't you think?


My sister rang late this afternoon asking if we had had any rain as there was flash flooding over her side of town. We had only had a few spits at that stage and just presumed we had missed out on the rain. A half an hour later it bucketed down and the driveway was just mud before long. I hope you had some rain if you live in our area. Supercells have been forecast for tomorrow in Queensland so stay safe everyone and hang on to your hats! Hail has been forecast so I will be putting some of my plants under the house....just in case ;-)








11 comments:

  1. Lovely Chel, you'll have to model that next SLT meet. Perhaps you could host a tutorial on it there. I also like the other button necklace you wear a lot.

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    1. Barb, I get comments on that simple button necklace most times I wear it. It is quite interesting. Perhaps we should have another button necklace workshop this year.

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  2. Chel I hope you are safe during today's storms. Thanks so much for the nifty craft idea, I am going to try that one.

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    Replies
    1. Sherri, we were okay in yesterday's storm. I hope you were okay when they headed north.

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  3. Very fun idea! Hope you stay safe during the storms!

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    Replies
    1. Kathy, there are storms forecast for the next few days so we have all been told to be prepared here in Queensland. There seem to be quite a few nasty storms right around the country at the moment.

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  4. I really like this idea Chel. A couple of years ago I had to pack up my mum-in-law's house in England when she went into care. We could only send a limited amount of stuff home, but I couldn't part with her buttons, and I have 4 old tins full. I've used some making the 'suffolk puff' woolies bags but have heaps left. Not quite sure I understand how to start it off but I'll get Blinky to sort me out! Should call ourselves SLSC - a sub branch of SLT!

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  5. Hutchy, just thread your beads onto the yarn then do a knot thingy to start off then three chain. Then bring the last button you threaded on up to the last chain you crocheted and crochet three more chain and keep going like that. I only do basic crochet so believe me, it is easy to do. You can be the Sunshine Coast branch of Simple Living Toowoomba....definitely!

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  6. Dear Nanna Chel,
    I love your Mums button tin! Gorgeous.
    I notice the creamy buttons look like Mother of Pearl or shell which is really lovely. I love anything pearly... this is great thank you! With love Annabel.xxx

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  7. It is a very old tin, Annabel. My mum was 97 when we lost her so the tin had been around for a very long time before it was handed down to me. It brings back lots of memories.

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