Creative Ways to Use Cover Buttons

Cover buttons are kind of addicting to make. They’re a great scrap buster because you only need a little piece of fabric for each button. You’ll need a couple simple tools to make them, but you can craft them practically anywhere. Spend as much time on them as you wish – you can make just a couple, or a whole pile. When you’re done, have fun putting them on everything – home accessories, seasonal decorations, fashion and more.

Make the cover buttons.

First, you’ve got to make the buttons. We’ve got a lot of resources for you!

Watch our video to quickly see how to make cover buttons.

To get an overview of the different types of Dritz cover buttons there are, review this technique tutorial that defines the parts and pieces of each type of button.

So, you’ve made the buttons – now what?

Turn them into magnets.

Some of our Dritz cover buttons come with flat backs (vs. a back with a shank to sew the button onto a garment or soft surface). One neat idea is to glue magnets to the flat backs of the cover buttons.

Cover them with embroidery.

Think beyond plain fabric! You can make cover buttons out of your embroidery. The embroidered design needs to fit within the size of the button, but from there you can apply embroidered cover buttons onto anything. These little succulent beauties have flat backs and were made into magnets.

Glue them onto hair pins and bows.

Get a jump on gift making and turn your cover buttons into cute accessories by gluing them onto hair pins and bows. Thoughtful making just doesn’t get any easier than this. You can find all kinds of clips and jewelry findings at your favorite craft retailer or online.

Load them onto a wreath.

Hello, summer! Hello, any season! Personalize your front door with a wreath that speaks to any holiday or time of year. That’s the beauty of crafting with cover buttons, the look of your final project is determined by the print or theme of the fabric on your buttons.

Make a wreath like this by wrapping a foam insert with fabric or dyed cheesecloth, then apply the cover buttons with hot glue. Customize this wreath for any holiday or season simply by adjusting your color palette and fabric prints.

Put them on pillows, of course.

A more traditional use of fabric covered buttons is sewing them onto pillows. Cover buttons are used commonly in home decorating projects because they provide custom looks. DIY pillows and covers are an excellent way to give designer flair to any room in your home easily and affordably. To make the bolster pillow above, you would use a large 1-7/8″ cover button with a shanked back.

Think outside the box!

This is a super cute project for your home or office. The cover buttons on this quilted calendar were machine embroidered with numbers. They “stick” to the base of the calendar with Velcro® that was applied to the flat backs of the cover buttons, so you can adjust them as needed for each month.

Need lots of cover buttons?

Check out our bulk packages of cover buttons. These packages each contain both flat and shanked backs, so you’ve got options when it comes to how you’ll use your finished buttons. Remember, flat backs are good for gluing or sticking onto other surfaces. The shanked backs are good for sewing the buttons onto soft surfaces such as pillows and clothing.

Happy making!