Thursday Tip with Hali - Buttonholes
Thursday Tip // Buttonholes
Let’s talk buttonholes! I’ve been seeing some great True Bias Marlo Sweaters popping up in my feed lately and it spurred me on to put the finishing touches on my own version recently. In typical fashion I left the buttonholes for last, wore the sweater several times without them and finally got around to finishing it up last week. I don’t know what makes me procrastinate on those last steps. The thing is basically finished, already wearable but I still put off those final finishes that really make the garment feel done. I guess it’s the same reason I wear unhemmed pants for weeks before finishing them. I’m sure I’m not alone. Anyone else struggle with this?
I sat down with my one-step buttonhole foot and decided that I should probably just get comfortable with it and then maybe it wouldn’t feel like such a daunting task. The one-step buttonhole foot attachment is usually included in the accessories with new domestic machines and most of them work in the same way regardless of the brand. However, it’s always a good idea to check your machine manual for instructions for your specific machine.
If you are just practicing you can use a scrap piece of fabric and fold it in half. When you are sewing garments with buttonholes they will usually have instructions for adding interfacing to the underside of the buttonholes for stability. This is always a good idea as the buttonhole will be under stress from putting the buttons through over and over. You can also use a fray check solution on the buttonhole before cutting it open to help secure the stitches. We don’t discuss how to cut a buttonhole open in this post/video but stay tuned for the follow up post about that next week!
Using a one-step buttonhole foot:
Grab your scrap fabric, the buttonhole foot attachment and a button.
Select the buttonhole setting on your stitch selector dial.
Adjust the stitch length to your desired length or the buttonhole setting. Machines will vary here. For my machine I can turn the stitch length setting closer to 0 for a very dense zig zag or closer to 1 for a more spread out zig zag. Other machines will have more adjustability here so you may need to fiddle with the length and width to get the type of buttonhole you like best.
Mark the starting point of the buttonhole on the fabric. My buttonhole foot starts sewing at the bottom of the buttonhole so I mark where I want the bottom of the buttonhole to be and then draw a straight line up from the middle of that mark as a guide. Some machines will start sewing the buttonhole from the top of the hole so this is a good reason to practice using the buttonhole foot on scrap fabric first.
Remove your standard presser foot and attach the buttonhole foot. There is a small metal bar that will click into the presser foot holder. I put the attachment on first and then put the button in in the next step. You might find the opposite is easier, button first then insert the attachment.
Open the adjustable slider and place the button inside and pinch the button so the slider is snug around the button. This allows the machine to measure the exact size of the button to make the buttonhole. Leave the button there while sewing.
Now locate the buttonhole lever to the left of the needle. It’s usually right behind the needle threader if you have one. The lever on my machine is labelled with a buttonhole icon and the word “Push”. Pull the lever down and push it backward gently until it clicks.
Place fabric under the presser foot and line up the bottom edge of the marking with the grooves on the foot. (If your machine starts at the top of the buttonhole then align the grooves with the top of the button hole.)
Now you can decide whether to put the needle thread through the hole in the buttonhole foot so it is under the foot, or start with it above (as shown in the video). I have done it both ways and I find it is a little easier to maneuver the thread out of the way of the stitches if I start with it above the foot and not through the hole in the attachment. The buttonhole foot has a lot of small teeth underneath to keep the fabric in place and when the thread is under there it’s just a little tricky to keep out of the way. This is personal preference and won’t affect how the buttonhole turns out.
Start stitching the buttonhole by pressing the foot pedal. Continue stitching until the buttonhole is complete. Most machines will go around the buttonhole once and then it’s complete. Others will stitch around twice automatically. Depending on your machine you may find that the zig zagging isn’t tight enough and you have the option to go around the buttonhole a second time to make it really secure. To do this, just complete the buttonhole once and then before moving the fabric, push the buttonhole lever back again and continue stitching another time around the same buttonhole. If your machine doesn’t have as much adjustability then this might be a good option for more secure buttonholes.
When your buttonhole is finished, raise the presser foot and trim your threads or use a hand sewing needle to thread them to the back of the fabric and trim them there.
Any questions? Feel free to comment below or drop us an email. We love to hear from you!
