{DIY Weddings Guest Post} DIY Button Holes

Welcome to the first ever guest post here at DIY Weddings, DIY Button Holes created by the talented Chloe of Adore by Chloe! In her own words Chloe is a “tea-loving editor who loves unique, handmade, and pretty things.” With the motto “Eat, Craft, and be Married” Adore by Chloe is a wonderful resource for brides seeking creative wedding inspiration and so much more!

Chloe recently shared a round-up of ideas for non-floral button holes, or boutonnieres, and she created a tutorial for making your own especially for our readers! Be sure to visit Adore by Chloe for lots more ideas, inspiration, and even a handpicked shopping directory of UK suppliers! And now for the button holes:

To make them you will need…

Thin crafting wire
Patterned paper (I used some sheet music)
Buttons
A small piece of lace
Burlap or hessian
String
Glue
Scissors
A needle and thread

How to make them…

Step 1 ~ Make three little paper and button flowers by cutting little shapes from the paper. Place a button in the centre of the flower shape then push through some thin crafting wire from underneath, over and back through another hole in the button. Twist the wire underneath to hold in place.

Step 2 ~ Make a string flower using a small felt circle and some string. Tie a knot in the end then glue this to the centre of the felt. Now twist the string round and glue as you cover the felt. Leave a good length of spare string and attach some wire, twisting together the ends.

Step 3 ~ Make a lace flower by concertina folding a small piece of lace and securing with a few stitches at one end. Push through some crafting wire and twist to form the ‘stem’.

Step 4 ~ Cut two leaf shapes from the burlap material and thread the crafting wire up the centre to the tip then back down the back to keep sturdy. Twist the wire as above to secure and leave some spare wire to work with later.

Now you should have a selection of crafty flowers to make up the buttonhole!

Step 5 ~ Position the two burlap leaves then twist the wires together.

Step 6 ~ Add on the lace flower, button flowers and string flower, twisting the wires together as you go.

Step 7 ~ Tidy the twisted wires then wrap tightly with the spare string from your circular flower to cover all the wires. Secure at the back with a few stitches or glue.

For more crafty wedding ideas, DIY projects and yummy recipes visit my blog and say hello!

Happy crafting, Chloe x

As a knitter, I love a good sheep motif, so let’s take a look at some cute sheep cross stitch patterns.

If you want to stitch a little sheep, this mini square from Good Dog Needleworks is a nice choice. It uses just three colors and measures 32 by 32 stitches. That’s 2.2 inches or about 5.5 cm square if you stitch it on 14 count fabric.

I also love these two little sheep, which you can stitch together or in individual hoops and shown. The designs are form Threadbound Art and use six colors. They are slightly different in size, with one being 21 by 17 stitches and the other 21 by 20. They fit in four inch frames if you work them on 14 count fabric.

You can stitch a sweet sheep bookmark with this design from Kits by SA Stitch. This is not for the person who doesn’t like back stitch, because there’s a lot of that here, but it is really cute. It measures 30 by 91 stitches and uses 10 colors. That will make your bookmark about 2.4 by 6.5 inches, or 6 by 16.5 cm on 14 count fabric.

Stitch a pretty scene of sheep in a meadow with this design from Motok Nytok. It uses 21 colors and the design is 99 by 73 stitches. On 14 count fabric that makes it about 7.07 by 5.21 inches, or 17.96 by 13.24 cm.

This yarn full of cross stitch sheep has a bit of a knitting twist because the sheep all look like they have sweaters on. The design is from Soda Stitch Design and it measures 179 by 216 stitches. The full design uses 27 colors. On 14 count fabric it will work out to 12.78 by 15.42 inches, or 32.48 by 39.19 cm.

Another great one with a knitting theme is this one where the wool is coming off the sheep and straight onto the needles. This one is from Happy Cross Stitchers and uses 12 colors. The pattern is 137 by 137 stitches, which comes out to 9.7 inches or 24.86 cm square on 14 count fabric. This would be a fun one to stitch for the knitter in your life (even if that is you).

Or you can stitch the field of sheep of a knitter’s dreams with the Happy Sheep chart from Charts and Stuff. These per-colored sheep can be stitched as shown or worked in any colors you like. The eyes are French knots but you can just stitch them in white if you’d rather.

Have you read?