Hi, my name is Jo and I work in a button factory

Do you remember that song as a kid?  I used to love it!  Emily learned it this year but only sang it for about a week. Pity.

But I'm not actually here to talk about a song.  I want to talk about buttons. I bought a set of half ball cover buttons last week so I could finally tackle a garter idea that's been brewing for a couple of months. This is a cover button:

See there's a domed top with little teeth and a wire loop on the back, and a backing piece that holds the fabric in place but allows the wire loop to poke through so the button can be sewn onto whatever. It is supposed to be so easy.  Cut fabric, insert edges into teeth, pop back into place, and get a button.

Button covering is not a naturally occurring talent!

It took me an hour and 21 minutes to cover four buttons.

 As you can see, only two of them are what you might call successful, and only one is good enough for me to imagine using it in one of my garters. Ugh!

The silk just kept fraying and the teeth weren't holding the fabric and the backs only popped on half the time.  The other half of the time they popped across the room and had to be wrestled away from one of the cats.

So this particular idea has to be tabled until I can do some research on button-making techniques. My advice to you? Do your research and reconsider using those scraps of silk.  They fray like the dickens!