What I LOVE about this blogging thing is I get to rant about whatever I want without bugging anybody (unless, of course, they are foolish enough to read my ranting).
While I do not dislike the jacket pictured below, I am not happy about the buttonholes. The thread should be grey of some shade and I have two shades- one light and one dark. The lighter shade looked too purplish and the darker shade looked too, well, you see what it looks like.
I called Gutermann, my thread supplier, and they informed me that they no longer stock silk buttonhole twist, but that I could order it from Germany. Minimum order quantity is one box. $140. For buttonhole thread. I don’t know what the german for fa’ncullo is, but my dark ugly buttonholes are as close as it gets.
end of rant
Hi,
I’m curious, why did you proceed to finish constructing the coat if you were unhappy with the color of the thread?
Because I was even more unhappy with the prospects of paying $140 for a box of thread when I only need a few yards and will likely never need that color again. I’ll have to find a new supplier, probably someone in New York has some, but that means a $40 FedEx bill every time I need a $3 spool of thread. Harumph.
Hi,
Thanks for the answer. It is interesting that when the artisan is his own client the process is still one of compromise. Also, it was interesting to learn that the button holes represent several yards of thread. Obviously, even the smallest detail can represent significant labor in the construction of a handmade item. I tend to agree with your critique of the situation here but find it interesting that others see things differently: http://thelondonlounge.net/gl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7322
Very interesting article on LL, thank you! It sort of illustrates why I went dark instead of light (I said I had two). Rather than timidly try to make half-concealed buttonholes, I decided to make a bit of s statement. Of course, they have to be next to perfect to do that so it was taking a bit of a risk. It was my flipped finger at my thread supplier. I suppose buttonholes can be more of a statement than I had previously considered, especially since there is so much work in them (probably 3 or 4 hours, the way I make them). I will think differently about these now……
I just bought 1 box, 10x10m reels at GBP8.61, with shipping by airmail from England to Hong Kong, it was about GBP10. It take 6 days from ordering to arrive.
It is Gutermann silk button hole twist, R753.
I think it is much better than buy a $140/box.
Hi,
Here is another example which seems a bit or style melange, http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wbd-uMYmb_4/STCLmD7yvdI/AAAAAAAAEHI/C7xQr53d8AE/s1600-h/Green+Shetland.JPG but the button holes proudly say: “look at me.”
Anonymous, from whom did you buy this thread?
Helpslip, you have made me start to rethink buttonholes. Buttons are often just as decorative as useful and are not meant to disappear into the jacket; I wonder if the only reason we tended to make our buttonholes discreet is because they would have to be pretty perfect otherwise. And if the buttonholes are well made, why wouldn’t they be just as much an accessory to the look as the buttons? I’m still not sure about it, but probably only because I am being bull-headed. But thanks for the link.
Richard James Weldon (www.richardjamesweldon.com)
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Gutermann is good stuff and they have real silk thread. Here is another link: http://www.orag.de/Meine_Bilder_und_Dateien/Kurzwarenkatalog.pdf
It’s all in German though. So maybe this works better for you:
http://www.gutermann-thread.com/
Hi,
I know this is resurrecting an old topic but I saw the following picture http://sciamat.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/asole.jpg and thought of this discussion. Here the contrast seems to fit the context (that I assume) of the garment and the white is a nice complement for the blue. I am a very conservative (uh, dull) in my taste but this case the contrast seems to add rather than detract. (the fabric would require more courage than the buttonhole)