These personalized accents are easy to make, and take your creation to a new level. Make one using the same fabric as the rest of the project for a subtle effect, or choose a complementary color or pattern to make it pop. We like to use Covered Button Kits, but sizes can be limited. Making them yourself can expand your options.
Follow these steps to create your own covered buttons. The instructions are for making one button. Repeat for as many buttons as you’d like. Fair warning: covered buttons can be addicting because they look so dang cool. Once you start adding these pieces of “flair” to your pillows, it may be hard to stop. We’re here to help if you need someone to talk you down.
Fabric and Other Supplies
- Small square of fabric (enough to cover your button)
- A button with a shank (this is a button with a loop for attaching on the back, not a button with holes through the center)
- Fabric marking pen
- Hand sewing needle
- Embroidery floss
- Scissors
- Ruler
Make the Buttons
- Place your fabric right side down on your work surface.
- Lay the button on top of the fabric, with the shank facing up.
- Measure the distance from the center of the shank to the edge of the button. Your math teacher would have called this half the diameter or the radius.
- Using the measurement from Step #3, measure this distance from the edge of the button onto the surrounding fabric.
- Mark this distance with your fabric marking pen. It’s best if you mark the distance at various points around the circle, so you just have to connect the dots in the next step.
- Connect the dots from Step #5 to complete a circle around your button. If you have a compass, that will help you make a smooth circle.
- Cut out the circle on the drawn line.
- Using the hand sewing needle and embroidery floss, stitch a running stitch just inside the circle. (Keep this stitch loose, but consistent.) Do not tie a knot in the end of the floss at this time and leave a fairly long tail.
- Place the button in the center of the fabric.
- Pull on the floss so the thread gathers the fabric tightly around the shank of the button. (Not so tight you can’t access the hole in the button, but tight enough so the fabric is secure.)
- Hand knot the embroidery floss to secure the fabric. Trim thread tails.
- Done.
