Removable Buttons

[Carolina Kiltman]

For those who want to use washers, probably the cheapest way is to drill an appropriate sized hole in a US cent. (they aren't solid copper any more, zinc with copper plating.) I haven't found any washers cheaper than that.

[svc40bt]

Many thanks to all who have provided pictures and explanations. Having seen and read them, I have a couple more questions.

Are the shanks of the buttons extra long to go through the extra material? If not do they then pucker the outer fabric when buttoned?

Finally, the silver buttons shown have a top and bottom, and the diamond shaped buttons used on the dressy Argyles have a verticle and horizontal direction; how do you keep the buttons from rotating?

[vmac3205]

You make the little holes small enough that the shafts don't turn. I just use my button holer as my machine won't do the circle. The shafts are long enough that they go through all the layers of fabric, no problem. Wlverine will be shooting some photos in a few days. You could OM him and see if he will send you some details of the buttons on his PC.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

how do you keep the buttons from rotating?

A gentleman has better things to occupy his mind than rotating cuff buttons.

[puffer]

A gentleman has better things to occupy his mind than rotating cuff buttons.

What ??? No Servants ??

Puffer

[Southern Breeze]

What ??? No Servants ??

Puffer

A kilted man has no need for servants. That's what the crowd of women kilted men attract are for!

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

What ??? No Servants ??

Puffer

Precisely my point. I have a small Punjabi chap who wears a size 5 hat whose job it is to attend to these things.

"There's absolutely no excuse for a gentleman going out with his buttons askew. If he does, and it transpires that it comes to his attention, he should flog his servant senseless when he gets home." excerpted from The Delicate Art of Dealing With Domestic Servants by General Sir Harry Padget Flashman, VC; London, 1914 (pamphlet, Gandamak Press, privately printed).

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

A kilted man has no need for servants.

Ah, but a kilted gentleman does.

[DTrain]

I modified a tailcoat to a PC and got some pewter buttons to go on it. These are diamond shaped thistle buttons from noonesbusiness.com. I used the "bent safety pin" method and this works great. The pins came about 50 to a pack for about $3 and the buttons have a shank that anchors them well. They don't pucker, spin, or float. They can be easily removed for dry cleaning and easily replaced.

This is easy and works well.

[Bugbear]

There you go, DTrain, that's the ticket. I just don't like the idea of making shank holes in all my jackets; it's fine if you're comfortable doing that though.