By Carolyn Hanson
Many years ago I read Tracy Chevalier’s, Burning Bright, a historical novel about the Dorset button cottage industry in Dorset, England. Making buttons was the primary livelihood for many families in the 17th through 19th centuries. Each family had its own coveted design and there was much competition in the community. Nobility prized the high-top buttons made from the tip of a sheep horn and covered in linen and hand stitching.
Dorset buttons were created by Abraham Case in the 1600s. He was a soldier in the Thirty Years War. He may have been influenced by French soldiers making replacement cloth buttons for their uniforms or by Belgian lace. When he returned from war, he and his wife began making the buttons using sheep horns for the ring. Dorset was an agricultural location where sheep were plentiful. The horn ring was covered with yarn or thread making the wagon wheel design. The designs became so popular that Case had to expand his business. It became a lucrative business for many families in the Dorset.
Today button making is nearly a lost art. Crochet textile designer, Jane Crowfoot, aka Janie Crow, introduces Dorset button How-To’s on her website: https://www.janiecrow.com/uploads/1/2/3/4/123413584/dorset_button_janie_crow.pdf. The buttons are created by first covering the ring with yarn or embroidery floss, then making the wagon wheel design, and then filling in the spokes. These buttons combine colorful thread and beads and may be added to clothing or as additions to ornaments.
The most common Dorset design is the Blandford Cartwheel. It can be created in a single or multicolor design. Janie’s design includes beads in the open spaces.
Currently, plastic or metal rings are used to craft the buttons. Handcrafting buttons is an ideal means of achieving the look you want in the correct color for a cardigan. The button’s inner circle can be filled in or allow open spaces to show the underlying fabric.
Another variation of the Dorset button is the posy. This button can be made into a brooch and uses embroidery floss and French knots to create the posies. Add a pin to the back or make it into a button. For simple instructions, go to https://www.instructables.com/Dorset-Button-Posy-Brooches/.
An easy crochet button requires nothing more than a crochet hook and yarn. Depending on the button size, begin by wrapping the yarn around a dowl or your finger about 5 times. Then cover the ring with a round of single crochets. Keep layering single crochets over the prior round until the ring’s center is full. Cut the yarn leaving a 10” tail and use a tapestry needle to secure the final row of single crochet by making a series of Xs across the back. Leave the tail for securing to your garment. Directions can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKrWICUGgR0.
Try making one of these as a unique embellishment for your next project.