Do you have trouble finding the perfect buttons for your handmade garments? Don’t agonize. Make your own! Learn basic polymer clay techniques and create several stunning button styles with me, Suzann Thompson, author of Polymer Clay for Everyone.
(Polymer Clay for Everyone is out of print, but you can buy it online. Try alibris.com, abebooks.com, and amazon.com. It’s usually a bargain!)
I offer two 6-hour workshops for beginners, about making polymer clay buttons. Each workshop stands alone, so you can take the workshops in any order. I cover polymer clay basics and hints in both workshops.
So, even if you’ve never tried polymer clay crafting before, you are welcome to spend a day or two playing—and I do mean playing—with polymer clay.
You’ll take home at least two dozen delightful, machine-washable and dryable buttons.
To book this workshop, please email me at knitandcrochetwithsuzann at outlook dot com.
Make Your Own Buttons Workshop
In “Make Your Own Buttons from Polymer Clay,” we start with a fake or faux lapis button technique. The buttons are complete with sparkly inclusions, just like real lapis.
Easy but effective swirl buttons are next. They are quick to make and customize with the perfect colors for your garment or other project. These are my favorites.
Millefiori is a glass technique that polymer clay crafters have taken over and made their own. We’ll do a group millefiori project, and the buttons will turn out something like this:
After lunch, we make crazy polymer patchwork buttons and learn a clever way to use clay scraps. Here are some patchwork buttons:
Make More Buttons Workshop
“Make More Buttons” is another six-hour workshop for beginners. It is completely stand-alone, meaning that you don’t need any experience with polymer clay to take this class. All the buttons we make in this workshop are different from the ones in my other button workshop.
We start with imitation or faux turquoise, then move on to a traditional millefiori flower design. The word “millefiori” means “thousand flowers.” You’ll be surprised at how simple and versatile this technique is.
After lunch, we tackle mica-shift, a technique that results in sophisticated-looking and subtle buttons. Finally, we make polymer clay mosaic buttons and learn clever ways to use scraps.
Here are photos from my previous workshops. Participants had fun and made lots of buttons!
Grade school students made these buttons in a 4H sewing camp:
