As much as I enjoyed seeing how zippers are made, there was no way I was going to get my hands on any of them. Imagine my surprise when I came home with all kinds of buttons instead! Ross the salesman also represents other trim companies, he had many button cards he no longer needs. It was a win-win for both of us, less clutter for him, more for me!
Quite a few of lovely rhinestone ones. You notice, there is only one button of each size and style, for me this isn’t a problem, I am very capable of incorporating these in my projects.
Although I didn’t get zippers, I did get zipper pulls! I’ve already put one to good use.
A project I’ll be sharing later.
Buckles and trims.
This calls for a project where I can use the gradated sizes.
Buttons all the same size, different color! That is much easier to work with.
Turns out I had a few cards with these buttons, so I can repeat the red ones.
Perfect match for this shirt. Gertie Hirsch has been designing professional patterns, Butterick B6217 is one of her newest ones. I actually really like the big four pattern companies. I’ve been burnt a few times with the newest indie pattern designers. There are some good ones out there, but just being Indie does not make one a good designer. The big four (Butterick, McCalls, Vogue and Simplicity) know what they are doing and often their patterns have more complexity in the design. 
I opted for the simplest version. With me nothing stays simple long. 
Trimming with another very busy fabric may seem counter intuitive, but I feel it actually makes the floral fabric pop more. Such an overall small floral can just look like a blur. Picking up the blue and red in another print gives it an oomph that using a solid trim wouldn’t.
And now, onto more sewing, with or without my wonderful new buttons and trims.
Leah