Honing My Craft

What an interesting word 'Honing' is.  Is sounds odd as it rolls on your tongue.

'Hone' means 'sharpen on a whetstone' - so it means giving a sharp edge to a tool.   My tool, I suppose, is my needle and my fingers. And if I 'give them a fine edge' it means I am making my skills better and better.

I was looking at my flickr page, this morning. I have a set 'Dorset buttons' and there right at the bottom is one of the first buttons I ever made.  Here it is:

It is off-centre and the stitches are wonky.  Compare it with these which are the same size, more or less:

and these which are much smaller:

I am getting better. I am honing my skills, sharpening the old metaphorical tool on the old metaphorical whetstone.

It is good to look back and then look forward.

Blueberry and Spider

I made a couple of hair snaps today.  The first was this pair of Blueberry and White. Such a lovely fresh combination.

The next hair snap was this Halloween inspired Spider on a Pumpkin.  Last year I made a smaller version for the bobby pins that I also have in stock.  But I thought it would work better on a larger button.  I added a pair of red eyes too.

Both are available now in my etsy shop. 

My Buttons in Use - Regency Dress

I told you a few posts ago, about how I rarely have photos of my buttons on garments, and that my sister was making a dress for a fancy dress party and had commissioned some buttons from me.

Well, as promised here are the photos.

The back of the dress showing the buttons.

3 Green Dorset buttons on the back of the Regency Dress

My sister in her bonnet which is so lovely I wanted to show you all.

I am very proud of my sister as she made a lovely outfit.  I will have to get a photo of the whole thing to show you.