Some of my large collection of linen buttons. I was lucky enough to find a big bag of these for sale some years ago, and I've been quietly dyeing my way through them ever since.
Originally for your pillow cases, long johns and other things that needed laundering regularly, these were flat enough to go through your mangle without damage. Of course, buttons get lost, so cards of mixed sizes were sold, as well as smaller cards of single sizes - I mean, no point buying a card of replacements for pillow case sizes, when it's only the Mr's long johns that keep losing buttons, is there?
Moving the shop to folksy is taking quite a while, not least because I'm stock-checking as I go, and in stock-checking these I found quite a lot of gaps!
So, the project for next week: soak, scour (for they are old and dusty), mordant, dry, dye, dry again and try to find enough light to photograph them in all their pretty colours!
And sell them, for people to make things like this:
