I thought I’d write up some of my favorite places to find vintage and new buttons… and the first shop I want to spotlight is The Needle, right here in Portland.

It’s a tiny shop full of fascinating books, antiques, and ephemera, including bowls full of vintage buttons to sift through and choose your favorites!

I met Myrna Goldware through my neighbor Randy — she is a button collector extraordinaire and generously shared her magnificent photographs with me to bring the Vintage Button Primer section of Button It Up to life.

And she curates some of the incredible finds at The Needle, including a fantastic rotating exhibit of buttons, photographs, cards,

and even a charm string from her own collection of treasures.

The shop offers two bowls of vintage buttons to sift through… one near the register has a mix of buttons for 25¢ apiece,

and the other is a “clearance” bowl priced at 10¢ each,

also with plenty of treasures.

Here’s what I found one afternoon — maybe 2/3 of these are from the 25¢ bowl and the rest from the 10¢. I could have happily spent another hour looking!

If you go, The Needle is open most afternoons from about 1-5. You can call ahead to find out the hours and plan a visit, and be sure to say hello to Myrna when you are there!

The Needle Thrift Shop
1420 SE 37th Ave (a half-block north of Hawthorne)
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 234-7662