Things I Wonder About

 I was looking at my buttons and got to wondering why the holes are so BIG in old underwear buttons.  Apparently I don't have enough to think about because I spent about an hour surfing around the Internet searching for an answer. 
As near as I can discover, strips of twill tape were sewn on the garment and then threaded through the holes to tie on the buttons so they could be removed for laundering. I guess they didn't hold up well to lye soap and going through the wringer.  That answer still isn't making a lot of sense to me.  I understand not wanting to damage them but if you were going to the trouble of sewing on the twill tape then why wouldn't you just use that to tie the garment shut and not bother with the buttons at all??  Does anyone know or has anyone seen a picture of the button ON a garment?  Sheesh, the things I wonder about!

Yes, I'm still playing in the altered book.  The page on the right was made several years ago and the one on the left was made last night.  I did use some of that pretty new ribbon to make a border around it.  Funny how something as simple as a new spool of ribbon can spark an idea.  I love it when things like that happen!