These are the buttons I made for Michelle's Embroidered Button Swap. I had never made embroidered buttons before and it was considerably more challenging than I'd expected. As you can see, they're not particularly uniform!
I ended up making them like this:
First I cut a little whale out of fusible webbing-backed wool felt and pressed it onto some linen.
Then I wrapped the felt shape with perle cotton floss . . .
. . . until it was completely covered.
Then I backstitched around the whole thing.
Next, I added an eye and spout.
To create the "water," I sewed a little scrap of fabric directly under the whale embroidery.
To create the "waves," I hand-stitched a row of baby ric-rac along the top of the "water." Then I used a little template to cut the whole thing into a circle before stretching it over the button form.
They kind of remind me of those animals that JCrew embroiders on everything (which cracks me up). Hopefully whomever receives them has a preppy project in the works!
They are utterly divine! There's nothing un-uniform about them! The perle cotton gives them a fabulous texture and the feature fabric and baby ric-rac are just perfect! I can just imagine them on a little boy's navy blue pea jacket with hood!
Posted by: lily boot | May 13, 2008 at 01:33 AM
Amazing buttons! Love the embroidery and the ric rac waves. Very creative...
Posted by: Lisa | May 13, 2008 at 03:19 AM
They look great!!! congratulations! love them!
Posted by: Marta | May 13, 2008 at 04:29 AM
Cute!
Posted by: Lera | May 13, 2008 at 05:07 AM
I'm kinda blown away by these... maybe I'm out of the loop, but I never would've thought you could do that with buttons! Soooo cute!
Posted by: Lauren | May 13, 2008 at 05:20 AM
those look amazing!
Posted by: carrie | May 13, 2008 at 06:18 AM
Great buttons and great tips. This swap was my first time doing embroidered buttons too.
Posted by: Dallas | May 13, 2008 at 06:35 AM
I'm going to have to put a request in to Michelle to send me one of your buttons in the swap. That is so ingenioius. I spent hours trying to draw little animals and cut out little ones from scrapbooking papers and cards trying to get a clear drawing. Now I know! -- Michele
Posted by: Michele C | May 13, 2008 at 06:41 AM
These are really fantastic! You make it look so easy that I might try making them too.
Posted by: Terri | May 13, 2008 at 07:01 AM
I thrifted some buttons this past week just for this purpose. To create some embroidered buttons! Yours turned out SO CUTE! I love the idea of using a felt form as a guide. very clever.
Posted by: heather hales DESIGNS | May 13, 2008 at 07:21 AM
Those are adorable. And what an ingenious way to do them!
Posted by: MichelleB | May 13, 2008 at 07:30 AM
Cute, cute, cute!!
Posted by: Hege | May 13, 2008 at 07:45 AM
Those look really great.
Posted by: Lil' d | May 13, 2008 at 08:38 AM
These are crazy cute! And are you a perfectionist or what - uniform, schpooniform they look pretty close to perfect to me!
Posted by: jackie | May 13, 2008 at 09:12 AM
*faints* They are just to wonderful for words! I love them!
Posted by: Rashida | May 13, 2008 at 09:18 AM
These are just adorable!!!
Posted by: Bridget | May 13, 2008 at 09:41 AM
oh! when i first saw your post i thought that your embroidered buttons were so lovely and i was impressed with the wonderful job you did with the satin stitch! but then i was even more surprised and happy to see how you actually did it! thank you so much for the tutorial! i simply love those embroidered whales!
Posted by: Ana Lilia | May 13, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Do you think I could get just a fractional dose of your madly genious, creative mind? You obviously have plenty to spare :D
Posted by: janice | May 13, 2008 at 02:20 PM
these are absolutely adorable! That whale is so cute!
Posted by: Rebekah | May 13, 2008 at 06:44 PM
fanTABulous! Very clever, and excellent stitching. I'm more than mildly envious...
Posted by: maxine | May 13, 2008 at 06:56 PM
Wow! These buttons are just adorable. You did an extra-great job! I might try this myself and replace some buttons on my jackets! You've inspired me with your creativity! Thanks so much for sharing this!
Posted by: Lynn | May 13, 2008 at 07:10 PM
You just taught me how to make my embroidery stand UP or OUT! I have not before thought to put a piece of felt or fabric under the stitches -- I know I will use this technique some time very soon! Thanks!
Posted by: Miss Snips | May 14, 2008 at 06:26 AM
They look beautiful, well done!
Posted by: mildlycrafty | May 14, 2008 at 06:27 AM
Way too cute!
Posted by: Fuji Mama | May 14, 2008 at 06:28 AM
These are fantastic! I love the idea of using the fusible-webbing-backed felt as your guide. Is that something that is available at most craft stores or is it a speciality item?
Posted by: Dawn | May 14, 2008 at 07:11 AM