I bought this really cute mesh green sweater from an online thrift store and it fits great. BUT when it's in the light there is a giant oil stain down the front! It is possible to remove these stains sometimes, but after a few basic stain treatments didn't work I had another idea.
Que the button jar! I know you have one! There are so many pretty, mismatched buttons out there. Wasting away unseen in a jar. What a tragedy!
So, two tragedies collide in this DIY to make an eye-catching visible mended, button sweater!
Materials
Buttons, buttons, buttons!
Hand sewing supplies
Patience and time
Safety pins and a cereal box (optional)
Fancy thread (VERY optional)
I started this project by looking through my button collection and pulling out the ones I definitely wanted to include. I was going for a cohesive, intentional look so I opted for mostly white, clear, silver, and shell buttons. I also tried to include some of my more basic shirt buttons so that the real show stoppers stand out more.
I took some chalk and outlined a shape that the buttons would fill, I chose a heart. I also chose NOT to fill it in all the way, because WOW this is a lot of buttons!
Then get to button sewing! You do know how to sew a button on right? No? Check out this simple tutorial here. Basically, you'll need to run through the button holes and fabric a few times to anchor it. Since these are decorative buttons, I didn't tie off after each button or wrap around the stitches with extra thread that you often see for high use buttons like you see on coats.
I had a tricky time getting the buttons anchored on this loose knit, mesh sweater so I found that frequently backstitching and tying knots were helpful. Also to avoid accidentally sewing into the back of the shirt, I inserted a piece of cereal box between the layers and secured it to the neckline with a safety pin. It made a huge difference!
After a few hours of sewing on buttons, I knew I wasn't going to fill the whole thing and started to plan on a half-heart, with a yin-yang curve. It took 100+ buttons to get to that point, I stopped counting after 100!
If your shape is really obvious, you could stop here! I wanted to outline my heart shape and opted for a metallic silver thread I had picked up thrifting somewhere. Oof, that was a pain to embroider with! I used a lazy daisy stitch chain around the edge and the thread kept knotting and twisting horribly!
I'm glad I persevered though because I really like the finished look. What do you think?
Give me a follow over on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook to see what else I'm getting into! And please tag me if you use this tutorial to make something, I love seeing other people's creations! Happy upcycling!
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