Fantastic fasteners worthy of permaculture clothing

Backstory: We needed new pants to go with Hubby's antique suit jacket. He was trying it on at the shop, when the suit button exploded into 6 pieces. On our way to the next errand, we detoured by a fabric shop and I was able to buy 2 lovely metal buttons for the front of the suit, but they didn't have matching buttons to replace the decorative sleeve buttons. We could order the correct size from the USA for the sleeves, but seriously, that would be three times the cost of the jacket at least!

I had already been thinking about what makes clothing and specifically fasteners, permie worthy? I've had plenty of zippers fail. And alas, I've had poorly made button fail. Some metal buttons were so sharp that they kept cutting through the thread! But the plastic ones - they eventually disintegrate.

Then there's the whole "fast fashion" industry that creates mountains of waste. How many barely used fasteners does that industry reflect? Maybe not as bad as it might be, as so much of the fabric is stretchy, button may not be required.

Don't even get me started on velcro. Yes, there are places for it. But my washing machine isn't one of them!

So this thread is all about permaculture worthy ways to hold shut clothing of all sorts. I am not a purist, so things which are upcycled get a bit of leeway, so long as they are of a quality that should last for decades, not just years!

So for the same event as the suit jacket needed new pants, I needed something dressy. I drew the line at "bling", and I totally drew the line at "all artificial fabric", which meant I needed to get sewing. The fabric is silk, I don't trust my sewing machine any where near it. So how to fasten it?

I decided to make homemade loops. The large "thread" is silk - some Great Aunt in England worked in a silk factory and I inherited a stash - yipppeeee!!!



How to:
1. make a loop and ensure the button fits through with a little extra space.
2. as you make a second loop, go around the first in a spiral - these small loops took 4 spirals only, a larger loop would take more.
3. Repeat step 2 several times depending on how thick you want the final loop - I did 4 loops for these.
4. Carefully do half hitches (child of the "Age of Macrame") all around the loop to hold the loops securely.

I suppose step 1 could have been put on some nice music - this does take time, but I did 4 of them during sitting down time over the last 2 days. They are surprisingly stiff when done - enough that it surprised Hubby when he checked them out.

I inherited my grandmother's button tin and I'm so glad I did.  Every time clothing wore out enough to go to the rag and bone man, she would cut off the buttons first.  Thread a string through the set and keep them.  There are a lot of buttons.

When I was coming of age, I started doing this tradition.  Or I tried to.  The first thing to fail on a garment is always my buttons.  They used to come with an extra button or three but now most clothes don't even have that.  I think it's the kind of plastic they use now combined with the dryer.  Now I'm hanging my clothes, the buttons last way longer and I'm even able to same some when I retire my clothes to the rag pile.

Here is a picture of some of the fasteners I'm using for my coat after the zipper stopped zipping. The fasteners started their life as vinyl gutters that were then chopped up to be tree tubes. One of the tree tubes broke and part of it was cut up into thin strips with holes drilled for thread. So far, the fasteners have been working rather well. I'm not sure they will last decades, but they will definitely outlast the rest of the coat which is taking a lot of abuse from the thorny things out at my new property.

I mentioned dirndl hooks when I was contemplating starting this thread.



This is the open version. Some are a complete ring. The downside of that is that you either need a long enough cord to loosen the cord enough to get the garment on, or you need to re-lace it every time.

What I haven't seen is a combo - closed ones for my right side, and matching open ones for my left side. That way, I could just pull each bit of cord on and off the left side to open the garment, and only need a small amount of adjustability in the cord. That would be particularly great for my farm coat which goes on and off too many times to count in a day!  However, this system may require as certain amount of "tightness against the body" to work, which also doesn't describe my farm coat.

Luckily, my current farm coat has snaps. I have not found the home installed snaps to last as long as industrially installed ones do. (Although I've even had some industrial ones fail before the garment cloth did.)

I'm all about the antiques when it comes to fasteners. Our local thrift ( former) store used to have a button bin you could sort through and fill bags. Over the years, between them and some auction buys, I have a big stash of shell, metal, bone and glass buttons and buckles. I find them not only much more solid and functional but beautiful too.
I did sell a bunch as well, in person and online and may get back to it at some point but we still have lots and it is so nice to be able to pick through to find the perfect option when I need some.

Jay Angler wrote:I mentioned dirndl hooks when I was contemplating starting this thread.



This is the open version. Some are a complete ring. The downside of that is that you either need a long enough cord to loosen the cord enough to get the garment on, or you need to re-lace it every time.

What I haven't seen is a combo - closed ones for my right side, and matching open ones for my left side. That way, I could just pull each bit of cord on and off the left side to open the garment, and only need a small amount of adjustability in the cord. That would be particularly great for my farm coat which goes on and off too many times to count in a day!  However, this system may require as certain amount of "tightness against the body" to work, which also doesn't describe my farm coat.

Luckily, my current farm coat has snaps. I have not found the home installed snaps to last as long as industrially installed ones do. (Although I've even had some industrial ones fail before the garment cloth did.)

That picture reminds me of what we used to call "frogs". They were made of thread. I'll see if I can find a picture on the internet.

I found some pictures. I'm also including the websites they came from.

Frog fastener 1
Frog fastener 2
Frog fastener 3









Edit: The photos are directly linked to the sites, so they are responsible for the huge sizes.

When I was young 20s, I made a pair of pants copied off of (military). sailor pants.

I have no idea why I didn’t use commercially available buttons, but whst I did was drill holes in copper pennies.

It worked well, but one caution if a person wants to drill holes in metal discs:  the newly cut holes have sharp corners where the hole goes down from the flat surface through the metal.  The corners cut the thread.  Not the kind of wardrobe mal function a dancing 20 something young woman wants!!!


I used a drill bit of a larger diameter to sort of ream out the first millimeters of the hole on each side, thus cutting away the 90 degree edge….

I still might have those buttons.  If so they are packed away, or I would proudly post a photo 😊.

I managed to get myself stranded in town a few years ago, with no coat, in February, and had to wait until well after dark for a train home.

I went into a second-hand shop and bought the only coat they had that fitted me.

It's rather awesome, and a bargain price because no-one else around here (apart from the original owner of the coat) is anything like as big as me so they priced it to tempt me.



It has the most beautiful toggle fasteners on it. The main coat is made of leather/suede and the toggles might be bone, or at least a very good quality plastic. Made to last, either way!



I don't wear it very often but have to admit it is very warm and wind-proof. And will probably outlive me!

Burra, I LOVE the toggles! So cool! This thread sooo reminds me of my mom and grandma. Both were avid sewing enthusiasts and there was no such thing a wasted buttons. When mom passed away, She wanted all her sewing stuff to go to the local quilting club...They were very happy to say the least...Mom didn't hoard material but, she was a very active collector;

My favourite coat ever was a duffle coat with horn toggles.   Got it dirt cheap at a charity shop because it had a cigarette burn.  A 50 cent patch was all it needed.  If I remember right,  I choose a patch like a strawberry cause it was cute.

I wish now I had kept the toggles.

Simple toggles are pretty easy to make from bone or horn or wood😊

Nothing like an antique, but functional  at the very least, and serviceable.  And in 50 years they’ll be old and treasured by future people.  Like planting oaks or other slow growing trees for them!

And if you got into it, like your chicken paintings, you might develop a knack for carving some really beautiful toggles that people would love now, without waiting for them to become antique, and develop the patinas of age.

Thekla McDaniels wrote:Simple toggles are pretty easy to make from bone or horn or wood😊

How about Rooster spurs? Too soft maybe? Too small for a coat possibly.

I could see trying rooster spurs, maybe not on a coat as heavy as Burra’s,

But on a cape maybe?

Monkey fist knots can be very effective toggles, and are often the main feature of frog fasteners. But, almost anything sturdy and stiff you can effectively shove through a button hole or loop can be used. I made some teardrop shaped ones out of a scrap of heavy-weight latigo, as a fastener for the latigo barefoot sandals I made, at the end of summer, '22. They're still holding up well, and so much easier & faster than having to wrap & tie them on. I even have some of the bones we've confiscated from the dogs (after they are too small to be safe for them, or so old I can't stand seeing them in our dogs' mouths), that I plan to use for buttons & toggles.

Thekla McDaniels wrote:I could see trying rooster spurs, maybe not on a coat as heavy as Burra’s,
But on a cape maybe?

I think even a cape would be too heavy. I would think more like a vest, or a home-made bag with a flap that needs to stay closed? Not sure how they'd look on a shirt - it would have to be a very unique shirt! It would be a conversation opener!

Yes, the subject line does state clothing, but other things that need "closure" are fair game!

Pics, by request - though I was mistaken about the shape - little football shapes, not teardrops:

This is a subject I often think about. Do I use zippers??? Maybe second-hand zippers ... For the pair of trousers (pants) I recently made I used a second-hand zipper with metal teeth. It will be hidden anyway.
For my knitted garden jacket (I showed it a few years ago, the photo must still be somewhere on Permies) I used wooden toggles with crocheted loops. Here's a photo:

For my 'vegan' jacket (longer ago) I 'invented' a closure like old tents had, with loops over loops.

The 'dirndl' hooks here look like the traditional hooks of Norwegian cardigans. Norwegian

Long ago, in the 'pre-internet era' I collected old buttons. This was possible because the man selling 'haberdashery' at the local weekly market had a box filled with old buttons. Every time I was there I messed around in that box and often I found something interesting. Many of those buttons were made out of glass. That part of the collection I gave away to someone collecting old costumes. But I still have some bone and metal buttons and many made of mother-of-pearl and of white cotton over metal. Interesting, those white pillow-buttons, the older ones of that kind were made with linen, the inside is sometimes aluminium, sometimes (rusty) iron, some even have a sort of cardboard inside, so they are not washable!

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:The 'dirndl' hooks here look like the traditional hooks of Norwegian cardigans. Norwegian

Yes! I thought something similar should work the way the picture of the cardigans shows. The dirndl ones have the "hook" part facing towards the chin, rather than out from the chest the way the Norwegian Cardigan looks. Do you know if those fasteners are still easily available in Europe?

Jay Angler wrote:

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:The 'dirndl' hooks here look like the traditional hooks of Norwegian cardigans. Norwegian

Yes! I thought something similar should work the way the picture of the cardigans shows. The dirndl ones have the "hook" part facing towards the chin, rather than out from the chest the way the Norwegian Cardigan looks. Do you know if those fasteners are still easily available in Europe?

Everything for Norwegian traditional clothing is for sale in the Husfliden stores:
Husfliden
But this site seems to be only in the Norsk language (I understand a little, mainly because some words resemble Dutch words).

Jay, I was thinking about your dirndl hooks as a skirt closure conundrum. Frankly, I think using more than one or two pairs of them would be a pain, as a closure. But, for anyone wanting a cute way to add an adjustable the size feature to a skirt, top, jacket, or dress, they'd be perfect, paired with (hidden, if you want) buttons, hooks/eyes, or a hidden zipper, like many corsets are made. You put the item on, close it with whatever closure system you're using, then adjust the size with a ribbon through the dirndle hooks, and tie it. Then, you can take it off & put it on at the perfect size, only adjusting the size as needed.

Carla Burke wrote: Then, you can take it off & put it on at the perfect size, only adjusting the size as needed.

Exactly - part of this thread is not just about upcycling and using fasteners that last, but being able to add them to clothing that lasts. I've been given huge amounts of clothing over the years because the original owner couldn't fit into it any more, and it was designed to fit an extremely narrow range. Clothing that didn't do so, was often baggy or shapeless. Using the dirndl and ribbon to set an ideal shape, and then have other fasteners for dressing solves a big set of problems.

As little as 200 years ago, clothing had value. It was designed to be worn out, passed down, rebuilt, patched forever etc, and buttons also would have been reused as long as possible.

I'm thinking I need to collect some American dimes and make them into buttons for something. Technically, it's illegal for me to do so with a Canadian dime here in Canada. Banks won't accept American coinage up here, so I believe they're fair game!  Now if I can just talk a friend of mine out of that lovely pink silk robe she doesn't fit any more... Maybe if I take the skirt over that I think it will go with???

Jay Angler wrote:...
As little as 200 years ago, clothing had value. It was designed to be worn out, passed down, rebuilt, patched forever etc, and buttons also would have been reused as long as possible.
...

Even less then 200 years ago.
I have a vintage (Dutch) book here on sewing, it's from the early 1950s, and it has a large part in it on ways to mend, (invisible) patch, reuse, make clothes larger or smaller. Seams were cut of a size that made it possible to change something later. And how to choose the right fabric for the purpose (easy to wash cotton or strong wool that lasts longer).

We were going through some old family stuff with my aunt yesterday and, amoung lots of old coins, there was this great button! There are several more full and half pennies with it, so I could do a set, but I need to confirm that they are low value first. This one looks like it might have been used too.
I love the idea of being able use old family bits this way. I was also given my grandmother's button box so that will be fun to sort through as well.

Jay Angler wrote:Backstory: We needed new pants to go with Hubby's antique suit jacket. He was trying it on at the shop, when the suit button exploded into 6 pieces. On our way to the next errand, we detoured by a fabric shop and I was able to buy 2 lovely metal buttons for the front of the suit, but they didn't have matching buttons to replace the decorative sleeve buttons. We could order the correct size from the USA for the sleeves, but seriously, that would be three times the cost of the jacket at least!

I had already been thinking about what makes clothing and specifically fasteners, permie worthy? I've had plenty of zippers fail. And alas, I've had poorly made button fail. Some metal buttons were so sharp that they kept cutting through the thread! But the plastic ones - they eventually disintegrate.

Then there's the whole "fast fashion" industry that creates mountains of waste. How many barely used fasteners does that industry reflect? Maybe not as bad as it might be, as so much of the fabric is stretchy, button may not be required.

Don't even get me started on velcro. Yes, there are places for it. But my washing machine isn't one of them!

So this thread is all about permaculture worthy ways to hold shut clothing of all sorts. I am not a purist, so things which are upcycled get a bit of leeway, so long as they are of a quality that should last for decades, not just years!

Have you tried wooden buttons? Grandpa made them sometimes and I still have a few “leftover” extras from his carvings. Grandma often collected shells a “pretty rocks” that became buttons in grandpa’s hands.

Love this thread and thank you for starting it!
Back in 2010 I moved to super humid Florida. Love the beach and all that. However, the coastal climate seems to be very rough on the zippers.

Like other people in this thread, I have inherited a huge stash of buttons and threads from multiple generations of sewing kits belonging to the multiple generations of women in my family. One bag had a huge stash of Velcro.

Over the years I have managed to use the Velcro in various projects, from household curtains and screens, to rain-tub covers to, yes, replacing zippers on garments.

I inherited a huge stash of zippers along with all that, and have replaced many zippers with these zippers, until they get corroded as well and have to be replaced with other zippers. Or Velcro.

Sewing is something I enjoy a lot. And fortunately, I tend to prefer an aesthetic that is somewhat rustic and asymmetrical, so that makes things easier for me!

Jenny Nazak wrote: Back in 2010 I moved to super humid Florida.  

Does that mean beaches and shells? I suppose the best buttons weren't made with shells that just washed up on the beach, but ones that are dived for. I think it would be cool to try to make some unique, homemade shell buttons!

I just scored another local bargain - a burel wool jacket to match a skirt I bought from an online seller a couple of months ago who is gradually clearing out her old wardrobe after relocating from a farm to a retirement apartment in the nearest city. I suspect it dates from the 1970s and is an update to the traditional woollen hooded cape worn by the local shepherds and shepherdesses.



Burel fabric is pure wool from the sheep that graze on the Serra de Estrela mountains. It is woven, then tamped and washed in hot water to shrink and felt it, making a warm fabric that is both wind and water resistant, perfect for wearing while out on the mountain!

This one is a more modern interpretation on the theme, and has obviously been kept 'for best' as it is in pretty much immaculate condition.

And just look at the toggles!







I'm pretty sure that the jacket and skirt are the only two items of clothing I've ever owned with an Alta Costura (haute couture) label. And amazingly, the shop is still open.



I may just sneak there one day and pose for a photo in my outfit in front of it...

Burra Maluca wrote: And just look at the toggles!

So do the toggles appear to be made of felted wool which is simply rolled up?

Are they fastened to the garment with the same thread that is keeping them rolled?

Is there a reinforcement patch on the inside of the garment?

That seems like an incredibly simple fastener, which has the advantage of being laundered the same way as the rest of the garment. I've heard concerns about wood toggles in the laundry for example.

I love the simple decoration on the hood and upper back, as well.

Jay Angler wrote: So do the toggles appear to be made of felted wool which is simply rolled up?

It's the same woven-then-tamped-and-shrunk-and-felted woollen fabric as the rest of the coat. I presume it's just offcuts. Not hemmed, as this fabric doesn't need hemming, just cut and rolled.  It's hard to get the lighting right on it to show it, but here's a photo...

Are they fastened to the garment with the same thread that is keeping them rolled?

No, thinner grey thread. I guess cotton but not certain.

Is there a reinforcement patch on the inside of the garment?

Nope, just sewn through. Which seems a bit strange to me. I guess that whilst it is based on a traditional shepherding cloak, it's really a fancy thing for wearing on special occasions. Mine's going to be used for walking the sheepdog though!

It seems to be stitched through two layers of felted fabric, with a virtually invisible stitch on the other side.

That seems like an incredibly simple fastener, which has the advantage of being laundered the same way as the rest of the garment. I've heard concerns about wood toggles in the laundry for example.

I admit to being a little anxious about laundering. Though the way they treat the fabric with hammers and hot water I guess it should be ok with a gentle cold wash. No way am I getting into dry cleaning, for so many reasons!

I love the simple decoration on the hood and upper back, as well.

Me too. Subtle but classy. The skirt has rather nice embroidery on, but this isn't the thread to share that.

Here's the link to post wtih photos of the skirt

Liz Haywood has a great post on compostable fasteners. I’ve made a number of the thread buttons she describes, and they’re a nice simple project for an evening. Cotton or linen string, crochet cotton, or perle cotton, are best to use, as they’re smooth enough to go through buttonholes, not stretchy, and are washable. Here’s my take on them (though I recommend Liz’s book for a more thorough description, as well as lots of neat zero-waste sewing things):

1. Cut a length, roughly a yard or so. Thread one end into a needle.
2. Holding the loose end down with your thumb a little bit below, wind about 30 times around a smooth stick of some kind that’s a bit girthier than a pencil. I like using a size 12 knitting needle. Thicker string needs a larger item to wrap; it won’t take many for you to figure out what works well for you.
3. Slide the wrapped bundle off the stick, carefully pinching the end to the bundle and without losing the hole in the center of the bundle. This takes a little practice.
4. Bring your needle up through the center and begin buttonhole stitching around the bundle, keeping your wraps tight together. The button will start out very floppy, but will get more rigid as you go. Make sure to secure that loose end you started with.
5. Once you’ve covered the outside, decide which side is the back. Bring your needle across the back and stitch into the opposite side  of the button. Cross back again and again secure the thread with a stitch into the original side.
6. Cover these two long threads with buttonhole stitching, tight together.
7. Bury your thread in the outside twitches and come up a quarter of the way around the circle. You’ll then repeat steps 5 and 6, but this time perpendicular to the original cross thread.
8. Use the remaining thread to stitch on your new button. The cross-piece is very convenient for sewing on.

These buttons are washable (so long as the material you used to make them is, anyway)! They’re less rigid than plastic, wood, shell, metal, etc., of course, but so long as they are fairly small they work quite well. They can be made in colors to match or contrast with your clothes, and they’re a bit addictive to make.

Thread buttons were common in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. There’s a nifty video on their making here: