Polymer Clay Ideas - Buttons

Making your own buttons out of polymer clay is a good choice if you need a custom design, especially for handmade items like sweaters and jackets. You can design the button to fit the item rather than searching - and possibly spending a lot - for a button that might or might not come close to what you'd like. Polymer clay buttons can also be made in whatever size you want; you're not restricted to what's available in retail outlets.

Tips for making buttons from polymer clay
First, think about the intended use of the button. Will it be sharing space with others - for example, in a row on the front of a blouse - or will it be "on its own," in an area that gets more use and stress - for example, a waistband? The more stress the button will get the sturdier it needs to be. Make it thicker, use more holes (four instead of two), attach the shank more firmly, or cover an existing button or button form (available in the notions section of fabric stores).

What shape does the button need to be? You have quite a few options here, including round, bicone, toggle, and flat. And a flat button can be circular, rectangular, triangular - whatever will work for your design and intended use.

Buttons can have holes or shanks. Most buttons with holes have either two or four; do your best to make them as evenly spaced as possible. One suggestion I've read for insuring evenness is to use a corncob holder. These holders have two spiked ends, which will at least give you two evenly-spaced holes.

Shanks can be made from clay or from small pieces of wire. There's some debate over how well clay on its own stands up to constant friction by thread (the thread might eventually carve its way through the clay), so wire is probably a better choice. You can get craft wire and simple wire-cutting tools in a craft supply store, but you might not have to look farther than your desk drawer - one person uses pieces of plastic-coated paper clips! (Regular paper clips, though, might not be such a great idea, unless you can be sure they won't rust.)

Buttons will get more wear than many other things you can make from polymer clay, so the clay you use should be strong. Sculpey III is probably too brittle for buttons; Premo!, Fimo, and Kato PolyClay, on the other hand, should work well.

As for button designs - You can make buttons from plain clay, of course. But here are a few other ideas:
- canes, either individually (if they're big enough) or in thin slices covering a larger surface
- coiled "snakes" (small logs of clay)
- marbling, Skinner blends, or mokume gane color mixtures
- textured, by hand or with stamps

It's probably not a good idea to use a lot of surface treatments, since they might not last. You can always try sealing the surface with varnish, but it might not be enough to keep your embellishments from rubbing off. If you really want to add something to the clay, like mica powder to make the button look metallic, try mixing it in the clay. Just keep your inclusions to a minimum; remember that anything added to clay can make it weaker, and buttons need to be strong.

Caring for polymer clay buttons
There's also a lot of debate about whether you can machine wash or dry these buttons. Those who say "No" insist you should always wash the garment by hand. Others say machine washing and drying doesn't hurt the buttons at all, and may actually polish them a bit over time. I think the best course of actions is to consider what your own buttons will be made from and how they'll be used, and if you're really unsure, make extras and test them first. Then you'll know how well they'll do in the washer or drier.

The one thing most people agree on is that polymer clay buttons should never be dry cleaned. If they're going to be used on a garment that needs to this kind of care the buttons should be removed before the item goes to the cleaner. There's too much chance the chemicals will react with the clay - which is, after all, a plastic.

Buttons are such an ordinary part of what we wear that it's easy to ignore them. Make a few polymer clay buttons for some of your more prized garments, or as a gift for someone else. It's a pretty safe bet that those buttons will get noticed.