I went on a short study course yesterday run by our local AE centre on making buttons.
The type we made were Dorset buttons. They are made by blanket stitching round a ring, in our case a plastic ring of the type used for roman blinds. The thread is then wound round at clock face positions, ie 12 to 6, 5 past to 25 to etc. Then the thread is stitched round the thread.
A good buttoner, back in the day, would have made 6 dozen a day and would have earned 3 shillings. They were then sold on a card for 1 shilling a dozen.