Pat’s Custom Buttons and Belts in Lodi, California is a small but necessary resource for those of us who want the REAL THING. Pat Mahoney runs her business in an ‘old school’ custom one-of-a-kind or many-of-a-kind way. She can work by phone, or by mail and has an excellent spiral bound catalog that she can mail to you.
I haven’t seen this selection of covered belts and buckles for ages – it reminds me of when NYC’s Garment Center was a bustling district full of rolling racks, delivery trucks triple parked, carts of fabric bolts perilously barreling down the sidewalk and the cluster of Italian patternmakers took over most of the sunny side of the street in front of 525 7th Ave. You could send your fabric out in the morning and your covered buttons would be back that afternoon.
I was in a hurry, so we sent everything back and forth by FedEx. Snail mail works fine though, if you have the time. I love my giant velvet covered buttons, big as dinner plates, with the matching covered belt. She has 6 different styles of button backs to choose from, 16 styles of covered button, and 12 styles of covered button with novelty rims and centers. I won’t even go into all of the belt options.
Hooray for Pat, keeping the tradition alive. I don’t suppose she will mind if I say you can contact her at 209-369-5410, PO Box 335 Lodi, CA 95241.
Oooooh, gorgeous! Ever so much better than those kits you can buy in the chain stores.
Comment by Gigi — September 13, 2006 @ 9:55 am
Thanks Georgene! I will definitely keep this info – I do have a need for someone else to make me the perfect belt from time to time.
Comment by Summerset — September 13, 2006 @ 12:12 pm
Another invaluable Diva entry. Thanks for sharing this, Georgene!!
Comment by Mary Beth — September 13, 2006 @ 3:34 pm
*sigh* I’m in luv…
Comment by Phyllis — September 13, 2006 @ 5:36 pm
Every time I hear “Lodi” it reminds me of the song “stuck in Lodi again”. As a former Northern California girl I can attest that Lodi is nothing like New York City. Kudos to Pat for keeping custom work alive!
Comment by Diane — September 14, 2006 @ 7:53 am
I hope it is o.k. for me to post this comment? I love the information that you share. Because all of you have so generously shared your skills, my sewing has become more enjoyable as well as better quality. Your advice and tutorials for fitting and “special techniques” are wonderful.
Thank you.
Jerris Lane
Comment by Anonymous — September 15, 2006 @ 5:55 am
Oh this is wonderful! Thank you for such a helpful link.
Comment by Gorgeous Things — September 15, 2006 @ 11:49 am
Thank you so much for this post. I’m Pat Mahoney’s granddaughter and I’m getting ready to write a story about her and her business. She’s such an inspiration and I love reading these reviews. It’s amazing to see how she’s built her business over the years.
Comment by cdova — July 28, 2009 @ 9:36 am
I have used Pat many times. She is outstanding.
Comment by Jan — November 26, 2009 @ 2:06 pm
I absolutely adore working with Pat. She makes my belts for my clothing samples. Absolutely beautiful work.
Comment by Nicole — September 21, 2010 @ 6:15 pm