Category Archives: tutorial & how to

I was given a leather coat about a year or so ago.  I was delighted, as I have always wanted one.

But…..

I ended up leaving it in the closet…. it just felt frumpy.

I thought that perhaps I might turn it into a leather skirt, as I have always wanted one of those, too.

But then, my daughter showed up wearing a great leather jacket that she had just bought at the second hand store. She looks fabulous in it, and it made me think….. hmmmmm…..

maybe I should look again at the leather coat.

I realized that it was the buttons! Boring, boring boring….

So, I decided to get adventurous.

I consulted Tottie Tomato, who suggested:

that I use some of my stash of treasured arbutus wood (aka madrona) twigs.

I LOVE arbutus, and when we make our yearly visit to the west coast, I always bring home twigs that my sister in law saves for me when she prunes their arbutus tree. (Arbutus don’t grow where we live, sigh.)

So, I cut up one of the arbutus twigs, drilled holes and sanded the ends.

Voila!

a box of fine buttons!

Next step: Spool knit 4 or 5 inch long cords for the buttons:

and sew the ends together to make a loop

and choose flat buttons to be the anchors on the inside of the coat.

Then, sew the buttons on:

and now the coat is REALLY fun to wear!

I am just loving it.

The arbutus twig buttons remind me of one of my most favorite places on earth, and an old coat that was languishing in the back of the closet has a whole new life.

By the way, the wire pin doll on the lapel is one that I made with wire from a yard sale.

I’ve been making wire dollies since I was a little kid. My dad used to bring home scrap wire from work for me.  I was a dollmaker even then, and designed the little wire people and gave them to all my friends and relations. And, here I am , a million years later, still making little wire people from left over wire…..

I was born to be an eco crafter.

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright