When I decided to update our bedroom and remodel our bathroom, I had a very hard time finding a bedspread with matching draperies. Ultimately, I ended up keeping the bedspread that I already had, but purchased coordinating draperies to match.
The cost of purchasing accent pillows from online stores was over my budget, so instead I bought an extra set of draperies and used them to make my own accent pillows – which matched my draperies and my bedspread.
In order to make my matching accent pillows, I needed to cover buttons in matching fabric. I used my covered buttons in several ways, from sewing four of them along the side of one pillow, and creating a tuft by placing a covered button on the front and back center of the pillow, and sewing the buttons together.
During this process I purchased a few different brands of covered button kits, but my favorite brand is Prym Creative. I found the Prym Creative 4 Cover Buttons/Tools at my local Walmart store, in the fabric department. It was a little more expensive than the brands that I bought from JoAnn’s Fabric, but the extra cost was well worth it to get the special tools that came in this kit. The next time I need to cover my buttons with fabric I can simply buy just the buttons since I already have the tools.
So what comes with the Prym Creative 4 Cover Buttons/Tools? The kit includes a small plastic “pusher”, the flat back of the button (with a shank), the curved button shell, and the soft plastic button maker. The directions are printed on the back of the package along with black and white illustrations.
To make professional looking covered buttons, you cut a fabric circle that is two times the diameter of the button shell. Then you place your fabric, wrong side up, onto the button maker, which is made of a pliable white plastic, with a hole in the center so you can push the shell down into the tool. As you push it down, the fabric forms upward along the sides of the shell, and you manipulate it with your hands to cover the shell.
You then place the back onto the covered shell (and tucked in fabric), then use the blue plastic pusher, which has a hollow center, to snap the back firmly into place. When you get it on properly you will hear a click. Sometimes it takes quite a bit of pressure to accomplish this. I was very pleased with the end result! This is the first time I have purchased metal button shells that came with special tools for making covered buttons.
Prym Creative Cover Buttons/Tools come in a variety of shapes and sizes, I was using their 7/8″ diameter button shells. The shells and backs seem to be made of a lightweight aluminum, in a silver color, but they seem plenty durable for my use.
If you are new to making covered buttons, I think the Prym Creative brand is a good choice, it makes the job easy!
