A lot of brides say to me when they have their dresses altered that they would like it to be made more personal. A fantastic way of doing this is by adding covered buttons. They add a vintage and sophisticated feel to a dress whilst making it more your own.
Covered buttons are available at most habadasharies and can be bought in a number of sizes in either plastic or metal.
The first step is to plan where you would like to position the buttons. Pinning the buttons on at different distances will give you ideas of how it will look. Measure even distances and mark with pins or tailors chalk.
Once this has been done you can work out how many buttons you need to cover.
At the back of the button packet there will be a template to use to cut out the correct size circles of fabric. As I was using lace, I also used an underlayer to create a base colour for the buttons. In this case I used excess lining fabric after altering the hem length, but any similar fabric would also work.
Once I had cut out the under fabric I placed it on the lace with part of the lace pattern that I wanted to be seen. By then using a running stitch around the edge of the circle I secured them both together.
Now here is the fiddly bit. This may take a few attempts but bare with it.
Place the top half of the button in the centre of the fabric circle and start to pull both ends of the running stitch to gather the fabric around the outside.
Once you are confident the button is in the correct place pull the thread tight and tuck the fabric underneath the teeth on the inside of the button rim. (I use the point of my scissors for this as the metal teeth can feel quite sharp)
Make sure both layers of fabric are being held by the teeth as this reduces bulk and makes the next step easier.
Place the back of the button on top and then push firmly for it to close. Depending on how thick and bulky the material is will make this relatively easy or hard.
Now you have your lovely covered button!
The buttons can then be stitched onto the dress as previously marked up. If stitching next to a zip ensure that the buttons are not too close to it that it prevents easy opening and closing.
Buttons can be added part of the way down the dress, to the bottom of the train and I also like the idea of putting smaller covered buttons on cuffs of long sleeves.
Enjoy!
