Replacement button in green on Savida Top, dress of the day 343

 Green replacement button. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Start colouring dark green 31, water colour pencil. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

I bought this jumper in St Luke's charity shop in NW London England. It was reduced to under five pounds because it wasn't selling.

The garment was missing one of the buttons on one of the sleeves. On the cuff. No spare buttons supplied.

I wore it, with the missing button, to a dinner party at a private home. I discussed with a couple of friends what I could do to restore my top.

The missing button was in position four out of five counting up from the end of the cuff. If it had been the last button I could have folded the ends of the cuffs up. But I needed another solution. 

Remove the end button and sew it in the gap? So I would have five buttons on one cuff and four on the other cuff. I could turn back one cuff, or both.

Remove one button from the other sleeve. So that I had four on each sleeve?

Sew on one odd button? Remove button in position 2 on the lost button side and buttons 2 and 4 on the other side. Leave the four gaps. Or sew on four contrasting coloured buttons.

The next day I looked up velvet covered buttons in green. They came in at least four sizes.

I measred my buttons.

Some buttons were too large. Others were too big. I did not have buttonholes to worry about. But they had to look right. Others were too big. 

Others were the right size but only available in pink. I spent about an hour on Google, Ebay and Amazon.

I finally found what I wanted but in wholesale sets of ten or more at about ten pounds plus postage, a lot more than the garment. In addition to being a nuisance if they looked wrong.

The following day I looked in my button boxes. Did I have a fabric button the right size?

I had lots of buttons with two or four holes. But I needed a button with either a protruding shank or a double ended tunnel in the centre back of the button.

The white button had the latter. Could I sew over the top with a green embroidery cotton, or a scrap of fabric? If I had pale fabric, I could dye. Or paint it green. I had fabric paints and earlier colour pencils. How about painting the white button with the green pencil before sewing over the button. So the paint would conceal any glimpses of white background between the embroidery thread.

I sewed on the button first. Then tried the paint.

I used the coloured pencil to paint the button green. The effect was so good. You would hardly notice the different button.

The best size was a white button, but the contrasting colour looked odd.

I was really pleased with my ingenuity and success.

Of course the paint might wash off or rub off. I could carry the coloured pencil in my bag. 

Even I have to look twice to locate which button is the odd one. 

Having lost one button, I wondered if the other buttons might be coming loose. I checked. They all seemed firmly sewn on. If I were ultra cautious, I would have sewn on all the others more securely. But for now, all is well.

I had considered tracking down Savida and asking if they had a spare button. I suspect my garment is from a previous year. 

I have managed to wear the top several days running with the painted button, although the paint is now starting to wear off. So I have invested in buying two buttons. I hope they will be the right size and colour. I could have bought ten, to ensure having a maching set, at a cheaper price per button. However, in case I didnt like the at all, and to save money, as the buttons woul have cost mroe than the top, I opted for two buttons.

See next post on buying buttons.

Useful Websites

Ebay - plush velvet upholstery buttons in various colours

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204489731773?var=505205524394

Savida

https://www.dunnesstores.com/c/women/our-brands/savida/view-all

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