Name: Emily Eckel
Business: Artisan Buttons
Website: www.etsy.com/shop/ArtisanButtons

Artisan Buttons offers a selection of buttons not found in the big box stores.
My buttons are hand crafted from recycled or locally sourced materials.

I make reclaimed hardwood buttons from old rulers, instrument boxes, broken furniture, children’s blocks and wood workers scraps. The buttons are made in series and when the source material is exhausted the series is complete. For this reason all of the wood buttons are limited editions.

My hand dyed recycled buttons are salvaged from button collections of friends, or purchased at thrift shops and estate sales. These white or light colored buttons are carefully cleaned and sorted. Then they are dyed in a hot dye process and rinsed obsessively. They all take the dye a bit differently and no two are exactly the same. The colors are rich.

I also make buttons using pre industrial revolution techniques such as needle weaving embroidery floss onto rings. The Dorset cross wheel design is an example of one of these beautiful patterns. This technique was once a closely guarded secret among the button makers living in a small area in England. Their way of earning a living ended with the industrial revolution.

My cover buttons are made from wonderful textiles that I find in thrift shops or people give me because they are damaged. Currently I have buttons made from an embroidered tea towel, a textile made of woven ribbons and a Japanese silk scarf.