Shrink Plastic Letter Buttons

This post is inspired by one of my favorite bloggers ScissorsPaperWok.  She has a post where she used shrink plastic to make custom buttons.  This idea was genius!  I decided to expand on it and instead of punching traditional button holes, punch holes for letters.  So when you sew the button onto the garment it will have a letter on it.  Super cute for children’s clothing.Supplies need to make your own shrink plastic buttons:

• Circle cutter
• Fabric Markers
• Sharpies
• Shrink Plastic
• Cutting Mat
• 1/8 inch hole punch

Using the circle cutter, cut out shrink plastic in 2 1/2 inch diameter.  This will yield a 1 inch button after the plastic is shrunk.

To cut the circles, be sure to apply adequate pressure and go around 2-3 times, because the plastic is thick.

Draw or trace a pattern of your choice with sharpie or fabric markers.  I drew an apple for the letter A that I put onto the letter.

Fill in the drawing with fabric markers.  I love these fabric markers because the color was so vibrant.

Take a sheet of blank paper and punch out a template for the letter.  Be sure to punch the letters from the outside diameter of the circle, because the hole punch will not reach the middle of the shrink plastic.

Take the template and place on top of the shrink plastic and punch the holes.

Follow the instructions on the shrink plastic to shrink.  The plastic I used said place in 250 F degree oven for 5 min.  Do not be alarmed when the shrink plastic curls.  When it is done shrinking it should lay flat.

Carefully take out the plastic from the oven.  If the plastic is a bit curled, use an oven mitt and push down to flatten while plastic is warm.

Sew button onto garment.  I pulled off the top button from one of my daughter’s sweaters and sewed this A button on it.

About Rena

Rena Tang (aka the cheese thief) is a wife, mother, programmer and lover of all things creative. She especially loves to make unique, cute, simple and inexpensive things from everyday items. You can check out her ideas and tutorials at thecheesethief.com.

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