Did you want to learn how to make couture fabric covered buttons? I will share my method with you step by step, including the right tools, fabrics and detailed demonstration. Making couture fabric buttons without a kit is easy and very rewarding.

Where to buy plastic rings: I got my on Amazon, but they are also available at fabric stores Pellon Easy Pattern is available on https://baudekinstudio.ca/

If you want to create a Chanel-style jacket and you are searching on the Internet (and on this website!), you will notice: the real vintage Chanel couture jackets often had buttons made out of fabrics. You will notice these buttons on modern Chanel jackets as well. You immediately want such beautiful and matching buttons too. And that's possible!

Fabric buttons  are still 'Haute couture' beautiful!
Coco Chanel started making handmade buttons, mainly from Tweeds and Bouclé fabrics. She used fabrics because buttons were expensive. But also because the fabric buttons gave more 'couture' appearance to the clothing. The buttons and the jackets were perfectly matching and everyone knew about the making process: a time-consuming and dedicated job.
Coco Chanel started her career as a hat maker. Because of this, she knew many sewing techniques and she could handle different types of materials. She also had an eye for details, which gave the jackets something extra's, but they were never 'over the top'.

Her motto: "Simplicity is the key of elegance"

The authentic Chanel vintage fabric buttons are real treasure and not easy to buy. This is mainly because Tweeds and Bouclé are not durable fabrics and the buttons had to endure a lot.

Baudekin Studio
If you are looking for fabric buttons in 'Chanel-style', Baudekin Studio is a great webshop.

Sometimes it is possible to find fabric buttons at a market, in a fabric store, or even in thrift stores. But you have to be very lucky that they will match with the fabric. Baudekin Studio has a few fabric buttons in its range. Affordable and above all: very beautiful.

The buttons are easy to match with many fabrics in terms of color and composition. Especially the black and white Bouclé buttons, can be used with almost any Bouclé fabric. But the colored fabric buttons also turned out to be a great option for a Chanel-Style jacket. This is mainly because Bouclé fabrics are often woven from multiple colored threads. Most of the times, there is always a color to match with the threads.

The example above: which color fits better with the dark green/black/blue/yellow Chanel-style jacket? The green or the yellow? Or both?

Chic couture clothing
Fabric buttons are also often the best choice for couture outfits. The example below shows it perfectly: a bridal cape or evening dress bolero with fabric buttons. The buttons make the cape extra beautiful and it is also much more convenient to match your jewelry. Are you going for gold or silver? If the buttons of evening wear are exactly the same as the fabric: go ahead and make your own choice.

Sewing Chanel-Style hasn’t been immune for creative vibes, especially not for those of female entrepreneurs owing small, artisan businesses. The idea to promote these businesses was always there but we are taking it to the next level. We can all do with some extra promotion, can’t we?

My name is Sybille Kramer and I live in the beautiful mountains of South Tyrol in Italy. My daily walks through mountains, woodlands and valleys, inspire me to draw my local natural environment. I am a colour pencil artist and learning coach. In both of my jobs colours and illustrations play a vital role. I have illustrated educational books, products, and recently I have moved into designing fabric prints. At Spoonflower (Berlin) my drawings and designs are printed on many types of fabric. With the help of an online fabric design studio, my drawings have transformed into dresses, tablecloths, face masks, skirts, and pillows.

I am also attracted to artistically exploring fabric design by using fortifying stitches, such as the running stitch, and using coloured, cotton yarn. Using embroidery on printed fabric creates interesting haptic effects (the feeling of a fabric caused by touch). My fabric designs are mainly used as wall hangings and table covers. Hopefully this short insight into my work interests you and will encourage readers to embark on similar needle craft adventures.

Working with thread is similar to drawing with coloured pencils. Line by line you add an idea, by creating shapes, highlighting colours, and emphasizing certain areas. Embroidering on printed fabric gives me the opportunity to add more details and texture to my drawings. When I work on several copies of the same fabric, each time a unique piece is created.
 
This photo shows one of my projects. I drew Black Fairy as a collage. Its small parts were drawn, cut out, and added together.  I had Black Fairy printed on fabric, after which I set out to add stitches. I scanned this piece of fabric again and used its design as a postcard. This is how I worked my way from paper to fabric and back to paper again enriching it with embroidered embellishments.
 
Printing one image on fabric or designing a repetitive pattern demands a different approach. I prefer to work with individual images, which each tell a story, express a mood, or carry a message. For about two years I have been working on a series of embroidered pictures that I would like to present at an art exhibition.

I might have to wait a long while due to Italian Covid restrictions. As an artist, I focus on better times by staying creative!

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