Module 3 - Chapter 7 - simple button toggles

The fabrics for the following beads were backed with bondaweb, before being cut, rolled around a wooden stick and ironed with a mini iron from Clover used for making bias strips. The diagrams next to the beads show how the fabric was cut,

Beads b

Beads d

Bead c

Beads e

 Beads f: ; different fabrics were inserted while rolling the beads and then cut into strips

 

Embroidered button toggles

Bead g and h: only one edge of the fabric was machine-embroidered with a zig zag stitch

Bead i: both sides were machine-embroidered with a decorative stitch

Bead j: the sides of this toggle were beaded, the felt was then rolled and further decorative with chain stitches

Module 3 - Chapter 7 - Toggles with meltable materials - Part II

I tried out different meltable materials/fabrics to make these beads and started by "melting" the sides  to keep them from unrolling. Care has to be taken to not put too much pressure on the fabric as the tip of the soldering iron would melt a hole right through the layers.

Of course this work has to be done in a well ventilated area. The fumes can cause headaches and are certainly not very healthy 

Bead 1: I used some acrylic velvet for this one. However, the result is a bit disappointing, the dots can't be seen very clearly. This is certainly not my favourite fabric for this kind of exercise.

Bead 2: the fabric used here is a painted orange one.  The lines are very crisp and the fabric melted beautifully

Bead 3: The orange "fabric" is painted Tyvek and the blue wrap is made of Lutradur. Both materials produce very interesting effects

Bead 4 : layers of nylon organza were wrapped and held in place with a fine copper wire. The incised line can't be seen very clearly on this picture.

Bead 5 is made of acrylic felt. This material melts very well, the lines (in this case crosses) are not very clear. This might be because of the fact that the painting of the felt is irregular. To achieve a better result I will probably have to find another way of colouring it, maybe by using transfer dyes or bonding nylon organza to it.

Bead 6: The materials used here are blue Lutradur wrapped with orange Tyvek.

Bead 7 is made of painted Lutradur. 

I think that some of the beads could be rubbed with paint after the melting process. This would make the melted lines more obvious.

Module 3 - Chapter 7 - Toggles with meltable materials - Part 1

These beads are fun to make and give room to experimenting

Toggle a is made with two layers in orange and blue painted Tyvek wrapped with coton thread and then zapped

Toggle b has also been made with painted Tyvek, however the basic shape of the rolled material is a rectangle. This bead was painted partially to add a bit or "zing" to it.

Toggle c: here I rolled Tyvek with a thick tubular embroydery thread and blue embroidery thread. Because of the thicker orange thread, the shape of the bead is changed.

Toggle d: The material used here is a blue polyester organza wrapped with copper metallic machine thread

Toggle e: the material used here is acrylic felt painted with blue acrylic paint and wrapped with a copper wire. The melting changed the colour and now it is more of a green that a blue. Of course it could be painted at a later stage

Toggle f: this bead is made of layers of cling wrap and blue polyester organza.

Toggle g is also made of cling wrap alternating wrap and layers of blue embroidery thread. The final orange ribbon used for the wrapping could also be melted.

Toggles h and i: these polyester beads were wrapped with a pipe cleaners in orange and blue. These also melt back to a hard material which could be painted at a later stage

Module 3 - Chapter 7 - Wrapped buttons

All of these buttons have a core made of Kapa board. This material has the advantage that it is not too thick and can be cut to any shape desired. The one I used has a glue side which helps to fix the wrapping fabric on one side. It also allows you to fix the fabric on the back with tiny needles.

Button a is a rectangle wrapped with blue and orange fabric and decorated with a polymer clay bead.

Button b has a half-moon shape which was a bit trickier to wrap. I used an orange dyed pre-felt as the wrapping fabric

Button c: a rectangle wrapped with an orange cotton fabric and a polyester organza on top. This was melted with a heating gun.

Button d is wrapped with orange pre-feld, a commercial fabrick strip and yarn. It is decorated with a polymer clay spiral

Button e has a leaf shape. It is wrapped with the piece of an old sweater and decorated with beads

 

Button f has a circular shape wrapped with blue pre-felt and embroidery thread and knitting yarn

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Button g: the core of this one is a plastic curtain ring wrapped with an orange polyester ribbon and embroidery thread

Button h is made of cling film wrapped with various threads and decorated with beads

Button i: the core of this button/toggle consists of a rolled piece of pre-felt wrapped with a light-coloured tight, wrapped with various threads a stringed beads

The core of the following button is made of aluminium foil. The idea was to form a spike which could be fixed to a piece of work. On button k you might be able to see that I inserted a wire "hook".

Button j is wrapped with  blue fabric and a piece of tight rubbed with orange paint.

Button k is wrapped with blue polyester organza

Module 3-Chapter 7 DORSET BUTTONS

 This is my first try at Dorset buttons. I had found plastic rings and had a go, using different threads and contrasting colors. My greatest difficulty was to center the spokes and I certainly will have to practice a bit more. Button number 3 was one of those were the center "wasn't in the center" so I tried to make a tree out of it. Also with this sample I had tried to make my own ring with wire. Covering it with button hole stitch was tricky as the wire was too slippery.

Here I covered the outer ring and the center with little beads

A giant button and also my favourite. The ring is made with thicker wire. The I used fabric painted fabric strips for the weaving, the spokes are wrapped with orange wool thread.

Further rings are waiting to be turned into dorset buttons

And another one

number 6

One of the thicker curtain rings was wrapped, the center is made out of tubular nylon knitting yarn