Talk About Buttons!

Have you ever seen buttons like these?  I hadn't until my SIL's aunt showed them to me.  I bought a whole bag full from her.  She is very generous though so I almost got them for nothing.  She loves to see her things actually used in garments.  I've only used them on a couple of things, so far.  They are crocheted teardrops.  They have a hard roll of cotton (?)  inside them that almost looks like the end of a large q-tip.  The sizes and shades of color vary from button to button.  Some are closer to a taupe and others, barely off white.  The stitching is looser on some than others, too.  But, since I have so many, I can usually find enough close enough alike to put on a dress.  

I also like the idea of mixing them up, though.  These are on the dress that I made for our oldest grand daughter last year.  I've posted a photo of this dress before, but not of the back or close up.  I used the open spaces in the lace as buttonholes.  The bodice of this dress is made from strips of lace and some antique fabric that already had tucks.  I also wove ribbon through the lace.  I dyed all of the lace and the fabric for the bottom with tea.  I may have already told you that in the other post with this dress.  I've included a close up of the embroidery that I did on the front of the skirt.  I love to embroider by hand.  I mixed up doing shadow embroidery with regular stitches.  Note the imperfectness of the design.  I just made it up as I went.  The ribbons are not the same on each side, etc....  I like it that way.  Note, the lace medallion inserts below the embroidery.  I also got these from my SIL's aunt.   Now, on to sewing for this year's Easter.  I'm in the middle of smocking the first dress.  I love how it's turning out so far.