cufflink dimensions

[marna]

Hello! Can I pick your brains on cufflink dimensions please? I have never made any before and I don't have a shirt anywhere to test things out on.

I'm making up a pair of chain-linked cufflinks, with one large and one smaller silver disc. Does anyone know how long the chain between them should be? And how small the littler disc needs to be to slip easily though the buttonhole?

Thanks!

[Dennis]

Hi Marna, for a chain, the distance between the two buttons would be 18-20mm. The one which goes through the buttonhole is usually made as a long oval, or marquise shape, which makes it easier to use, so that would be about the same length as the chain, say 20x7 mm. Dennis.

[marna]

Thanks Dennis - you're a star! Is there any sensible reason to not make the smaller one a button-sized circle rather than an oval?

(these are for my partner, who wears a suit about once a year and cufflinks even more rarely, so ease-of-use isn't really a problem)

[CJ57]

It works a bit like a toggle Marna so once through the button hole it should then sit lengthwise across the hole. I have made a thicker button from PMC which worked well . You can always add a stitch to his buttonholes if you make them too small