Only a few days until we celebrate Christmas, we decorate our houses and spend many hours deciding on what gift to give to family and friends. The colours of Christmas are everywhere. The reds and greens; gold and silvers; and the lovely crisp whites for the snow that is meant to fall at Christmas but hasn’t for me since 1993!

Not to get despondent, this year I designed my Christmas Dorset Button for my December workshop around an icicle.  The Dorset Button was worked in a white and silver metallic thread with a single round of white voile ribbon finished with a droplet from a chandler.

Thank you all for participating and for your very kind comments on how much you enjoyed my workshop. And thank you to Claire and her team at the Hardy Visitor Centre for making us so welcome throughout the year.

Wishing you all Season’s greetings and a happy New Year.
Anna

I had great fun preparing for this workshop designed for experienced buttoners who wanted to test their skills with a new challenge.
Which button to base this challenge was by first decision so of the four ranges of Dorset Buttons I opted for the Dorset ‘Cartwheel’ Button. I wanted participant to experiment with different yarns and threads, including ribbons and lace, each of which has differing properties and effects when worked on a ring.
Sourcing yarns and trying them out myself before I was satisfied they would ‘past the test’ for their suitability for this workshop was great fun. I also decided to add beads to the challenge, glass crackle ones. Participants had to meet my challenge to incorporate 20 beads and the minimum of four different yarns to include ribbon and or lace to show off their individual properties. All had to be planned in advance with the overall design of the finished button in mind.
What I found most interesting was the choices of yarns and the colour mix each participant decided on, all so different. Thank you to all of you who joined me on this lovely morning at the Hardy’s Visitor Centre, I enjoyed myself I hope you did.

 Thank you all for making the Dorset County Show such a success for Henry's Buttons. 
The show was the ideal opportunity to find a name for this lovely lady I use to demonstrate how Dorset Buttons can be worked on all sizes. On the front of her dress I have worked 5mm buttons and I exhibited 600mm samples on my stand. Your thoughts on what this young lady should be called filled three pages of suggestions and selecting one was difficult.
With the help of my family from Australia each member was allowed to choose one name which was put into a hat and I picked the winner. I can now announce that from now on she will be called Demelza. Thank you to the person who made the suggestion.
It was lovely to chat to so many people, some already Dorset buttoners, whilst others were new to this heritage craft. Chatting about your projects and discussing potential projects made for a very interesting weekend.

​​Yve Sturgeon and Anna McDowell exhibit at the Wylye Valley Arts Trail.  The trail is now over and I had a  very successful week and thank you all for coming to view my work. 

Two of my demonstration pieces worked over the weekend.

What an exhausting weekend the Brockenhurst Needlework Fiesta was. Two days of nonstop chat. However, it is so rewarding when someone leaves your stall saying they have been inspired. It makes the whole weekend worthwhile. I even had a run on Marion Howitt’s book, Dorset Button Fact File, in fact I ran out of stock and had to contact Marion today to order more copies.
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Thank you for visiting my stall and for making this weekend so worthwhile.

Only three days to go before the Brockenhurst Needlework Fiesta opens its doors for, I hope, another very successful weekend. Over the last few years I have been lucky to have been invited to participate as a demonstrator. I expect you can guess what I demonstrate, yes Dorset Buttons. This year I have planned to use large hoops to show the lovely effects that can be made with working with different yarns and threads. Yes, I will still use the traditional methods to make my buttons. If you are interested why not visit the Fiesta and make yourself known to me. I will be upstairs with my Dorset Buttons. 

The picture shows one of my latest projects. Do you think I should display the finished button this weekend?

The Brockenhurst Needlework Fiesta is on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd April 2017 and organised by a dedicated  volunteer committee of local needlework and textiles enthusiast and well worth a visit.

​What a January. So much to do and so little time to do it in! After the festive week I started two Dorset Button projects and returned to writing my book on the history of Dorset Button. All was going well and I thought my New Year’s resolution was well on the way to being completed. But, as often happens, circumstances over took my well laid plans. And to crown it all just as I was ready to unveil my pie de resistance Dorset Button for Valentine’s Day I go and get the flu!

Not to be deterred here is the button that would have been displayed in the Cygnet Gallery in Shaftesbury, Dorset, ready for Valentine’s Day on the 14th February. I worked this button on a 26cm ring in a lovely Banana Yarn. The beads I found amongst my collection. The velvet ribbon, again from my collection, is a lovely vintage ribbon that I have been looking forward to working with.
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I will still display this button in the Cygnet Gallery but have renamed it “I Love Dorset Buttons” from its original title “Be My Valentine”.
My second project will be ready in a couple of weeks so will keep you posted. But for now I can get my head down and continue writing.

To me Christmas is all about sparkle – the star that lit up the sky to announce the birth of Christ and showed the way for travellers. Weeks before every Christmas starts with great ideas on what I’m going to make with my Dorset Buttons to celebrate Christmas. These ideas occasionally are turned into actual buttons. One year I had great fun turning Dorset Buttons into Christmas Tree Angles, another year, keeping to the Christmas tree theme, I made large button using a metal bangle and different threads and ribbons. This year I’ve gone really sparkly! I’ve used Anchor Metallic thread and matching ribbon to decorate my Christmas cards and tree with Dorset Button with tassels. This idea was also a theme for my Dorset Button Christmas workshops at Hardy’ Visitor Centre. Participants spent the morning having fun learning how to make Dorset buttons as well as how to attach ribbon and make a tassel.

I have a year to decide what to do next year!

Wishing you all peace and good will this Christmas 
Anna