How can I include buttons with shanks in my embroidery designs?

I have some spectacular buttons I'd love to peyote stitch around to make a beaded bezel. I then want to incorporate them into bead embroidery on Lacy’s Stiff Stuff. But how would I accommodate the button shank? It protrudes so far out the back that it’s hard to get the button to lie flat on my backing! Thanks for your help! – Melissa Phillips, New Mexico


Thanks for your question, Melissa. I know lots of people who want to include buttons in their beadwork but don't want to alter or ruin the button by removing the shank. If you use the button as a clasp, the shank is actually helpful; but when it comes to bead embroidery, the shank can get in the way. Some shanks are short enough that if you stitch them right to the beading foundation, it may curve gently around the back of the button without skewing the rest of the beadwork or harming the button. It also may help to use a softer backing, like Ultrasuede, rather than Lacy's Stiff Stuff beading foundation.

Here are a few other suggestions:

 • Extend the beaded bezel from the outer edge with increase peyote stitch rounds or netting to build up the height of the beadwork. Then, stitch the outer rounds of this extended beadwork to your backing, enclosing and hiding the button shank while adding texture and depth to your piece. This technique would work well with pointed-back crystals, like rivolis or dentelles, or any other unusual components without a flat back. The components may sit higher than normal on the foundation, but you can incorporate some other tall components throughout your project as desired, creating a piece rich with texture.

• You could cut a hole in the Lacy's Stiff Stuff to let some of the shank “sink” into the backing a bit. You’ll probably be covering the beading foundation with fabric or Ultrasuede anyway, right? That would hide the hole. If necessary, you could use a thicker beading foundation to accommodate the height of the shank.


• Construct a “doughnut” with beading foundation: Using more than one layer if necessary (glue or stitch all the layers together first), create a spot for the button to sit so the shank is protected in the center. You could hide the sides of the doughnut with a ring of larger accent beads or the above idea of extending the stitching out. Or, once your button is attached to the backing, stitch a ring of beaded backstitch with seed beads around the base of the doughnut, then begin tubular peyote around the doughnut to hide it, continuing in peyote until your beadwork is just barely taller than the height of the button, then switch to a smaller seed bead to snug up the last round or two to the button.

• One option to consider is to embroider a layer of beads on your beading foundation, and as you get closer to the spot you want to include your button in the design, increase the size of the beads until they are equal to the height of the shank. Leave a small area to stitch the button in place, and the button can just sit on top of the beadwork. This would be helpful if the button isn't very large or if you don't want to cover any of the detail on the button by beading a bezel around it.

If you'd like to see some embroidery techniques in action, check out this video. I hope these suggestions are helpful, and if anyone else has any thoughts about this, please feel free to post them here!

Comments

SnyBee wrote re: How can I include buttons with shanks in my embroidery designs? on Mon, Aug 15 2011 6:11 PM Depending on whether you want to keep the button in its original form with the shank (should you ever want to take your bead embroidery apart and reuse the button), have you considered removing the shank? Depending on the material the button is made of, you should be able to use a pair of wire cutters to remove the shank if metal or plastic. You probably won't end up with a totally flat surface but won't have the protrusion of the shank you're having now.

wargcat wrote re: How can I include buttons with shanks in my embroidery designs? on Wed, Sep 14 2011 11:17 AM To further expand the idea of removing the shank altogether - on ceramic buttons I've used a Dremel to grind the shank down flat.