It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog. It would be great if you could do the same; make your Wednesday a button day too. Have you seen a lovely, beautiful, stunning, crazy button or button-related thingy, or did you make something with a button / buttons, or did you even make buttons yourself, blog about it on your blog on Wednesday, and give the link here via Mister Linky at the end of this post.
This week I want to show you the gorgeous wooden button I bought on the autumn market in the neighbour village. It has the most fantastic pattern and it is huge (6 cm diameter).
I always loved wooden buttons, so I gathered quite a few over the years. Some of the nicest in the mosaic above.
!!!!!!!!!! If you have something for The Button Wednesday, give Mister Linky your name and the link to your button post !!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog. It would be great if you could do the same; make your Wednesday a button day too. Have you seen a lovely, beautiful, stunning, crazy button or button-related thingy, or did you make something with a button / buttons, or did you even make buttons yourself, blog about it on your blog on Wednesday, and give the link here via Mister Linky at the end of this post.
I have two small buttons in my collection that looked very strange to me at first. They have 2 holes on one side (so nothing special there), but only one hole on the other side ! The two holes are not through and through; there is a cavern between the front and back side. A little research let to the following: the "whistle" button is defined as a button that has one hole on top, and two or more on the bottom. This type of button was designed because people thought that by protecting the thread, and keeping it away from the top of the button, it would be more likely to stay on longer. The name "whistle" comes from the notion that one could blow into one of the holes and make a whistling noise, like blowing into a soda bottle.
Here an article from Cecile T. Kohrs about the most amazing whistles, with lots of lovely pictures. And here the most lovely China whistles I have ever seen.
!!!!!!!!!! If you have something for The Button Wednesday, give Mister Linky your name and the link to your button post !!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog !!!!
After the metal text buttons from last week's BUTTON WEDNESDAY, I show you now aome plastic buttons with texts. Again, I have buttons with brand names, buttons with funny texts, buttons only "For Gentleman", buttons with old fashioned German texts (like "Solide Elegant"), jeans buttons, buttons with unreadable texts, buttons with only texts at the back, etc. etc. .....
Here some of the nicest :) The black ones were extremely difficult to photograph....
I managed to buy 2 skull caps from Uzbekistan for my traditional hat collection. I have always been in love with those colourfull exotic skull caps from Central Asia. They are called tubeteikas (tubete means top or peak in Tatar) and are worn by men, women and children. Tubeteikas are different between regions and vary in shape (round or squared), ornament, colour, embroidery, fabrics, decoration etc. They are made of two or more layers of fabric quilted and fixed by silk or cotton threads. Most often, black satin or velvet are chosen for men's caps, and silk, velvet, and brocade for women's caps. They can be embroidered in silk, decorated with beadwork, gold and silver threads, beads and metal pieces, and the decoration is full of symbols. 
The first cap is for a man from Chust, and is the most common one. It is black with four white patterns in the shape of a chili pepper flower capsicum (called "qalampur"); these flowers are supposed to protect a man's health from four sides, while the sixteen small patterned arches, located along the edge of the cap, mean a wish to have a big and friendly family with sixteen children.
The second cap is for a woman from Surkhandarya and has a very colourful embroidery in creed stitch (called "iroki"). Young Uzbek women often complete their modern clothing with a bright elegant scull-cap.
You can see some beautiful examples of Tubeteikas and read more about them here:
Tubeteika suits everybody
Hat Collection from Central Asia
Duppi-A Teapot cover? No, it is national headdress!
This next stamp is from 1939 and shows a woman in the traditional costume and lace cap of the Languedoc, again with a glass of wine in her hand :) She stands before the cathedral of Béziers. 
This stamp is from 1945 and celebrates the liberation of Alsace-Lorraine. The Alsace-Lorraine region is an area that switched nationality several times between France and Germany. The last time was during WW II. These two women show their French nationality by the little tricolor cockades on their traditional caps. The woman on the left wear the Alsace costume with the huge black bow cap; the woman on the right wears the Lorraine costume with the girly plied cap. They stand before the French flag, and the cathedrals of Strasbourg and Metz, respectively. 
