Wirksworth Festival - 10th & 11th September

Art Trail

My next event is a new one for me, and a new experience too. I'm taking part in the Wirksworth Festival on Saturday10th and Sunday 11th September. There are many events including an Art Trail with around 140 selected artists and makers taking part and exhibiting their work in unusual places, from people's homes to shops and restaurants.

I will be in Totley Antiques on St John Street, the main street of this small but lovely Derbyshire Town.

I've got use of a cabinet downstairs and am planning to display my Vintage Collections (Vintage Noir, Vintage Mother of Pearl Buttons and Vintage Lace) along with some of the sewing ephemera I seem to be acquiring (like the lovely button sample cards in my last blog post) Hopefully it should complement the antiques in the shop.

I may even be able to incorporate some of the stock in my display I saw some nice Victorian jet beads which would look great with my Vintage Noir jewellery which I have made with black wire, hooks and eyes and press studs - the collection has a really nostalgic feel to it reminiscent of Victorian and Edwardian jet jewellery.

1930s card of Newey's hooks and eyes

Button heaven

I've found some great buttons recently. Like this great sample card from the early 20th century, probably the 1920s or 30s I think, for shirt buttons.

You can imagine some salesman carrying this sample card around to tailors and dressmakers and extolling the virtures of these buttons. It's amazing if you look closely, across the top are the different qualities of buttons from clear to strong to wavy and various combinations of these sadly I don't think the photos will show up the differences.

At the bottom are the different styles of shirt buttons, all of which I have met before when making earrings and bracelets in my Vintage Collection
But don't worry this card will staying intact!

Vintage mother of pearl button and silver bracelet 

Colourful buttons
I've been rummaging in boxes at a couple of antique fairs and have managed to find some lovely vintage coloured buttons which I will use to make rings and brooches like these.

A collection of these brooches are in my shop at madebyhandonline.com

1950s button card

Buttons from the 1930s, 40s and 50s