Grandma's Button Box

I learnt to sew from my Grandma, but the one thing that always fascinated me was her button box.  I would play for hours with it, or just simply put my hands in and swish them around.

When my Grandma sadly passed away, it was the button box I wanted to keep as a memento.  I have her sewing box and tools as well, but they are not as tactile as her buttons.  I can spend hours with my hands in the tin, (yes it's a tin, not a box, but box scans better with button) sometimes getting them out, sorting them or just choosing one. I have tried to split them into categories, but they never seem the same, so I put them back together, just loose playing with their buddies, together in the tin.

In there are odd ones, or full sets.  The ones that I love the most are the ones that came from garments my Grandma made and wore.  At the end of the garment's usefulness the buttons came off and were put in the tin.  When I find a button the catches my eye, I remember my Grandma using it, or, if it is one I have never seen her wear, I image what garment it could have been on.
Some buttons have shouted at me and one set have really made an impression.  So much  so that I had to find the right material for them to make something to show them off.  They are 8 purple shanked hexagons and when I was given 3 metres of purple lining the hunt was on to find the right fabric.  
I eventually found it at Knit and Stitch and I knew I wanted to make a Navy Pea Coat Style jacket, and here it is -

A hip length jacket with double breasted front and slash pockets

The purple lining is a great splash of colour

With some scraps of purple silk I made bound buttonholes

Thanks to my Grandma's frugelness I have a jacket that is unique and not only because of the skills she passed on to me, but also because of the buttons, her memory lives on.