Raffia Buttons

by Rit Guest Crafter Added 0 year ago

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By Beryl Taylor
Raffia is a natural, straw-like fiber that comes from the raffia palm. It is often used in making baskets and hats and in decorating, gift wrapping and doll making. Beryl Taylor, a mixed-media artist who specializes in creative embroidery and textile design, incorporates raffia into many of her decorative wall art quilts and other creative projects. She quickly discovered that raffia can be dyed and has developed a simple technique for creating raffia buttons. Beryl uses dyed raffia buttons in her wall quilts, but they can also be used as closures for books, journals, clutches or totes.

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Step 1:

- Raffia buttons are created by stitching raffia to a water soluble film using free-motion machine-stitching.

- Prepare sewing machine for free-motion stitching: Change to a darning foot, reduce machine tension to between 0 and 2 and lower the feed dogs. Stitch length is controlled by your movement of the hoop.

- Cut and insert a piece of “Solvy” water soluble film in embroidery hoop.

- Cut a 16” long single strand of raffia and lay it on the film in the hoop. Wind the raffia by hand into a round, wheel shape. Continue winding the raffia until you have achieved approximately half of your chosen diameter.

Step 2:

- Then start to free-motion stitch the raffia to the “Solvy” water soluble film, stitching down and then across in several passes. After the wheel is stitched in place, continue winding the raffia around the wheel/circle until you achieve the desired diameter. Then continue stitching down and across as before.

- Remove the raffia buttons from the “Solvy” by soaking the film in water. The water dissolves the film, leaving the buttons intact.

Step 3:

To Dye Raffia Buttons:
- Wearing rubber gloves, measure and mix ½ teaspoon Purple liquid dye in 1 cup very hot water (140° F). Shake liquid dyes before measuring. If your tap water is not hot enough, heat water in the microwave or a tea kettle.

- Pour dye and water into a plastic container; stir. Immerse raffia buttons and small 4” piece of cord in dye solution for 5 to 10 minutes. The longer the buttons and cord are in the dye solution, the darker the color will be.

- To dye small plastic decorative buttons: Prepare a Petal Pink dye solution following recipe as above.

- Rinse raffia, buttons and cord in cool water. Dry on paper towels.

Step 4:

- To further embellish the raffia button, hand stitch two dyed plastic buttons on top of the raffia button.

- Glue one small plastic button to underside of raffia button to create a shank. Let dry. Then glue raffia button to journal.

- Glue cord for button closure to inside of back cover on journal.

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Details

Category:Odds and Ends

Origin:The Rit Team

Difficulty:Moderate

Techniques:Wood and Wicker

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Materials Used

- Rit Liquid Dye: Purple, Petal Pink
- Raffia – 16” long strand for each button
- 3 Small White Buttons for decoration & making a shank
- Solvy Water Soluble Film by Sulky
- 8” Embroidery Hoop
- White Cotton Sewing Thread
- 4” Piece Cotton Cord for loop
- Sewing Machine & Darning Machine Foot
- Hand Needles
- E6000 Glue
- Measuring Cup & Measuring Spoons
- Small Disposable Plastic Container for dyeing
- Rubber Gloves
- Plastic Table Cover
Paper Towels

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Raffia Buttons

Raffia Buttons

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