Dress Of The Day with Angela

My paternal grandfather was a tailor, a master tailor, with a workshop. Not just a tailor who machined the seams and often cut out the pattern. He was the boss of the business, chatted up the customer, showed them the styles, took their measurements. He might employ one or two tailors, younger borthers, or youger members of the family such as nieces and nephews. His wife, my paternal grandmother, sewed the buttonholes. She could do it by hand, neatly. She was deft. She used to knit, very fast, whilst chatting to friends, looking at the friends, not at the knitting.  Making Buttonholes If you don't have a machine to make buttonholes, you can sew buttonholes by hand.  Basically, a buttonhole has a slit large enough to take the button easily, without letting it pull out easily while you are wearing it.  My first attempt at a buttonhole, I cut the slit first. You would want to mark the line with a pin or washable pencil or tailor's chalk, doesn't crumble, and which washes out...