Neat as a Button

Somehow I felt like my grandma was with me today as I was sifting through her tin of buttons. There are several hundred antique buttons that I’ve been saving for over a decade now. My grandma passed them down to my Aunt Carolyn, who in turn gave them to me.

Originally, I planned to sort through my grandma's buttons, separating and organizing them by color. But then I realized that I love to sieve through them, feeling the textures, and reminiscing about the past. They go as far back as the 1930’s and my grandma, Rachel Siopes, was an excellent seamstress. I like to imagine her sewing on these buttons; maybe hand stitching them onto my grandfather’s coat, or even on my mother’s dress.

I’ve decided not to sort my grandma’s buttons, because I love them just the way they are. They are still in the original tin with my mother’s childhood name written on the lid. They are a mixture of diverse colors and textures, with a couple of green Tiddly Winks circles tossed in (who remembers the game Tiddly Winks?) My buttons remind me of my beloved grandma, and what her life was like back then. Grandma’s tin of buttons are a link to my past.

Here is a part of the original label, with a list of ingredients for chocolate candy on the lid. My grandma used a candy tin to organize her sewing buttons! How cute is that?

On this note, do you remember when your own mother or grandmother taught you how to sew? Do you still remember how? Do you still like to sew now?

Happy organizing, saving treasures & collecting buttons,

Cathy