Shank Buttons, Spider Stitches, Emile Pingat, and more...
Seemingly tangential topics, inspired by the season.
Halloween… button shanks… spider web stitches… Emile Pingat, French Haute Couture designer… and more. Oh my! This edition of Classic Cool Sewing is jam packed.
In this letter, you’ll find:
Shank Buttons, Button Sizing, & Sewing Tips
A Spider-Inspired Button Embellishment
Spider Web Embroidery Stitch How-Tos
Spider Web Stitch Inspiration, and
Emile Pingat, French Haute Couture Designer of the Late 19th Century
1. Shank Buttons
With Halloween around the corner, shank sounds like it belongs in a ghost story. But today, it’s nothing scary. Just shank buttons.
Shank buttons have a little “neck” on the underside that lets the button sit neatly over the buttonhole. They’re especially useful on heavy fabrics like coats. If the garment fabric is bulky, you can add an additional thread shank so the button will sit nicely on top of the fabric.
Button Sizing
On button cards, you might see “20L” or just “20” like below. L stands for ligne, a historic unit of length used in France and elsewhere before the adoption of the metric system in the late 18th century. The “L” stuck around for button sizing, and it’s still in use today.
To size a button, simply measure its diameter.
How do you measure a button that’s not round?
According to Mood Fabrics, oval, square or shape-specific buttons are measured on the diagonal from the outer largest diameter.
How to Sew a Shank Button
When sewing a shank button, the most important thing is to make small stitches at right angles to the buttonhole.
This will line up the shank with the buttonhole rather than spread it open. I also use a doubled thread. It feels more substantial.
Once the button is secure, anchor the thread with several stitches, then lose the thread tails in the facing.
How to Sew a Thread Shank
When shanks are bulky or too short, they’ll spread the buttonhole and cause the garment to pull when buttoned. This is when an additional thread shank saves the day.
Take a few right angle anchoring stitches. Then, pinching the button and lifting it away from the garment, bring the thread through the shank and back into the fabric. Keep the button lifted as you continue sewing through fabric and shank until the button is secure.
On the last stitch, bring the thread out of the button and wind it tightly around the stitches to form the thread shank. Then fasten the thread securely on the underside.
A Finishing Touch
Since I was replacing broken and missing buttons on a dress for my daughter, I added this tiny enamel shank button to the dress’s collar. It’s the little extras!
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2. Button Spiders, But Make Them Widows
Now that I’ve exhausted shank buttons, lets move on to spiders.
I’ve got spiders on the brain.
There’s nothing like the spine-shiver of an unexpected black widow. The other day, I opened the compost and found one tucked just inches from my fingers, right in the spot where you slide your hand to lift the lid. Days before, I’d watched a black widow crawl up the leg of the kids’ water table.
Inspired by these events, here’s a little twist on the button spider.
It’s seasonal enough to pass for Halloween (seam rip it off in November?) yet not so holiday-specific that it couldn’t work as a year-round embellishment.
All you need is an embroidery hoop, a few buttons, and some embroidery floss or thread and there you have it, a black widow.
You could also stitch one onto lace for fun.
3. Spinning Spider Web Stitches
And what’s a spider without a web? The spider web embroidery stitch, also called the woven wheel stitch or woven rose stitch, uses an odd number of spokes that are then woven around or wrapped with thread.
There are two ways to do this stitch. I’ll call them “the rose” and “the wrap” methods here to distinguish.
The Rose Method:
Draw a circle lightly, and mark your spokes. You can use 5, 7, or more, but the key here is an odd number.
Start at one spoke on the circle’s edge. Pull the thread and needle up through the fabric, then insert the needle into the next spoke, gently forming a loopy ‘V.’
Before pulling the thread taut, bring the needle up through the circle’s center to tighten the “V.” Pierce another spoke, then come up through the next one.
Return to the center and repeat until all the spokes are formed.
Start the web by weaving the needle over one spoke and under the next.
Then, it’s over, under, over, under, and around and around.
To change color, anchor and end off one strand. With the new color, make an anchoring stitch over a spoke and continue weaving
Try to keep tension consistent. Don’t pull too tight or too loose, or this will happen.
The 5-spoke rose method doesn’t lend itself to large webs. To make a larger spider web, try increasing your spoke number to 7 or greater, or try the wrap method, or see instalulu’s creative solution below: she anchors the weaving with tiny seed stitches.
The Wrap Method:
In the wrap method, you start just like the rose, creating the spokes the same way. The difference is that instead of weaving, you wrap the thread once around each spoke as you move around the circle.
4. Caught in a Web of Stitches
Creative takes on the embroidered spider web stitch.
5. Emile Pingat: French Haute Couture Designer of the Late 19th Century
I first learned about Emile Pingat when I saw his jet beaded butterfly evening cape on display. Even though it’s peak 1890s french couture, I also see it as a perfect piece for the Halloween season. Although, I imagine he might be horrified that I compared his exquisite couture creation to a cape worthy of a Halloween party.
Emile Pingat was a renowned Parisian couturier of the late 19th century, celebrated for his elegant outerwear and gowns.
Americans who visited Paris were known to fill their trunks with haute couture and often frequented the Maison Pingat. For those who couldn’t make the journey, licensed copies of his designs could be ordered from American dressmakers and stores.
Pingat’s designs became so popular that he licensed his creations directly to U.S. stores and dressmakers. His sewing patterns were also featured in Harper’s Bazaar, which gave a wider audience access to his designs at a much lower price.
You’ve probably heard of Pingat’s competitor, Charles Frederick Worth. Unfortunately, Pingat’s legacy has not enjoyed the same historical reverence and recognition.
“Pingat did not have children or hiers to carry on his successful and popular business like Worth, so when he became ready to retire, he sold his haute couture business and moved on. He sold his legacy to A. Wallès & Cie, and by August of 1896, virtually watched his name and business pass away from the haute couture world.”
To read more of his story —> Emile Pingat · The History and Influence of Haute Couture · NAU Museum Studies
I hope you enjoyed this October-inspired mix. Any questions, thoughts, Halloween costume plans…? Tap me a message or chat in the comments. Thank you for reading and see you next time!
~ Jane
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Every posting is a rich treasure chest of history and technique. I am delighted and honestly amazed.