Make a Fashion Statement with a Hand-Dyed Button Necklace!

Do you like to make jewelry?  Elaine Schmidt created this amazing necklace by dyeing buttons with Rit Apple Green, Purple, Teal and Kelly Green dye. After dyeing, Elaine used nylon cord and a needle to stack and sew the buttons together.  By choosing your own colors, you can create a unique design to suit your style and make a dramatic fashion accent!

Rit is one of the few dyes that will color nylon.  Just be sure the buttons you select are nylon and not made of plastic or polyester.  Rit will not color those materials.  For bright, intense colors, Elaine mixed ½ teaspoon liquid dye with ¼ cup very hot water. Then she immersed the white buttons in the dye solution for 2 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the desired color was achieved.  Then the buttons are removed from the dye, washed in warm soapy water, rinsed and dried on paper towels.  It’s so easy to dye buttons!  Click here to see how the Elaine stacked and layered the buttons together to create this beautiful necklace. 

Elaine is a hands-on designer who loves to create fun projects with fabric, ribbon, needle and thread.  She describes herself as a fabric addict, ribbon hoarder, button and bead collector, yarn and thread junkie and sewing geek. Hop over to her website (www.elaineschmidt.com) to see more of her creative projects and be sure to visit her blog (http://elaineschmidt.wordpress.com/) for more ideas and inspiration.