How to make a buttonhole, post 516

 In the days of my grandmother, my paternal grandmother who was a seamstress, you would sew buttonholes by hand. How?

How to make a Buttonhole by Hand

You start by drawing a line in pencil or with tailor's chalk. What is tailor's chalk? 

Tailor's Chalk

A tailor's chalk looks solid, like coloured pencil lead. It doesn't crumble like blackboard chalk. The tailor's chalk is a contrasting colour, but washes out easily.

Another name for tailor's chalk is French chalk.


From Wikipedia.

An alternative in a washable felt tip pen. Check it really washes out on another scrap of fabric or the back inside hem  or half way up an inside side hem, anywhere which won't show.

Stitches

To stop the button hole from fraying, you sew several parallel lines of one long stitch across both ends of the slit. These lines must be close together. That conceals the end and prevents the fabric pulling apart each time you use the buttonhole to fasten or unfasten the button. 

Then you sew up the two long sides of the buttonhole. You use button hole stitch. But the verticals running perpendicular to the slit must be of even length and close together, creating an even effect. Before doing this for the first time, or after a long break from sewing or sewing buttonholes, practise on a spare piece of fabric. 

Sewing Machine Buttoholer

If you have a sewing machine, check to see if you have a buttonhole attachment. Or if you can buy one. I bought a set of attachments for a Singer sewing machine. I only wanted the buttonholer, but the seller had a complete set of attachments. As the machine was old and I would likely never see a set o attachments again, I bought them. 

So, what do you do with your buttonholer. After admiring it. Or hiding from it. 

You clip it on, screw it on, fix it on over a needle. It is basically a metal stencil which your screw on, a guide to sewing a straight line,within and oblong.  But not beyond a certain length. 

You might have to set your machine to two kinds of stitch, the longer stitch at the two ends of the buttonhole, and the closed up zig zag along the two long sides. The later models of machines have more expensive but simpler buttonholers, two step instead of four step, requiring less fiddling around and changing direction. 

My dream is to have a machine which just makes the whole buttonhole automatically. Second best would be  live in maid who knows how to use a sewing machine or is the practical type willing to learn anything.

Just look at any button hole, or several. You will see how buttonholes are created and sewn up securely.

For years I was afraid of using a buttonhole attachment, or any attachment.

If you are confident and want to try something fancy, try keyhole buttonholes.


Or leave the buttonholes visible.

Make them a feature, with contrasting cotton.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buttonhole

Machine maker brands

Please bookmark, follow this blog and share links to your favourite posts.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to repair a torn Mark & Spencer slip and make the hem wider, Post 294

Image
What is this? My repair.  I have a lovely shiny, smart black slip, from Marks & Spencers. It has a slit with pretty lace edging.  But it is slightly tight. It tore from the top of the slit, diagonally.  I looked for another slip. The ones I found onlin were twice the price and not in a satiny fabric. I wore it torn. I repaired it several times. It tore again.  I gave up. I wore it torn. Nobody sees. My husband saw. He complained. What could I do? It is useless to keep stitching it. It just tears again. I needed a new solution. I thought of adding a godet, a triangle of black fabric. I did not have anything to match. tht doesn't matter a godet is often a contrasting material. But that's when you have several godets and they look deliberate. I hunted in my sewing box. Boxes. All I had was teeny scraps of cloth in unsuitable fabrics. And ribbons. I thought about what I could do with the ribbons. They were not wide enough. But I could sew one each side of the slit. that would m
Read more

What to wear for a funeral? A black funeral coat from Marks & Spencers Outfit 291

Image
Angela Lansbury, wearing black for the funeral and funeral tea for Stephen Kennard. Photo by Angela Lansbury. This week I went to a funeral. I wore black.  Everybody else wore all black. The invitation said nothing about the dress code.  I know lots of funerals nowadays people were mixed colours. Some specify wearing jolly colours. My friend at the funeral told me, "Always wer black. Unles it specifies otherwise, the rule is, wear black." I had my usual blue anorak with the hood with me. I left it in the car. In the boot of the car, in case anybody broke into the car hoping to find money in the pockets or because they wanted a coat to wear or sell. The safest thing is to leave a completely empty car. At least everything in the boot so the car looks empty. I could have kept the blue anorak in my black tote bag. As soon as we drove into the chapel driveway, I looked at the other guests and their clothes. I saw all black. Off came my blue anorak. Thank goodness I had a black coa
Read more

271 hooded jacket with inside pocket from label Canda C & A

Image
 Inside pocket. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.  271 My vintage hooded jacket with zip off hood. Handy inside pocket. Label Canda, from Dutch company, C & A, which has been in Britain for years. I always found they had small size clothes, and were pracical as well as pretty, and keenly priced. Mine is vintage. Probably from st Luke's in Hatch End in NW London. You can buy from their current range online. Of their current range, in January 2024, i like the reversible gilet in wine and pink. Brand clockhouse. Standup collar. Zip. They call the colour purple. Price 29.99 Euros.Reduced to 19.99 in the sale. Sleeveless. Item number  2203144 The red quilted jacket with hood was 19.99 Euros. Webpage picture. They also have coats with huge pairs of front pockets and hoods. And drawstrings like the one on my jacket which is not as warm nor as brightly coloured as these appear to be. Sale reductions now in January. https://www.c-and-a.com/eu/en/shop Useful Websites https://www.c-and
Read more