A Seamstress's Bargain - #1 (Covered Buttons)

I'm starting a new blog series wherein I share with you the most economical ways I've learned to purchase different items used in sewing projects. Some of them are just common sense ideas, others are specific items with website links.

Today I'm going to share my discovery regarding covered buttons. If you remember, when I created Regina's Riding Coat, I sewed covers for those buttons. However that was time consuming and risked fraying. So for my next project requiring covered buttons (which you'll see soon!) I got a covered button kit from JoAnn fabrics. It worked like a charm and I adored it - but a kit of 14 buttons cost $9.99! There had to be a more economical way to do this!

So I did some exploring online, and found that www.craftersvision.com has really great prices! Instead of paying around $.75 per button, I could pay about a third of that... and if I ordered 100 or more, I could get size 36 buttons for just $.20 a piece, or size 20 buttons for $.13 apiece! Plus my order had a free shipping option! I don't know if this only applies for orders of a certain volume, but it was certainly nice!

When ordering buttons to cover, you will also need the kit pieces for assembling them easily, and make sure you specify whether you want the backs with the wire loops (for sewing onto a garment) or no loops (for gluing onto a project).