LTTSA: Just a Little Buttonholin'

January is flying by! Have you started on your projects yet? If you are doing the bear carrier like me, at least it's a fairly quick sew. And if you are like me, you tend to let finishing touches like buttons and buttonholes linger on these little projects far longer than they need to. Why? I don't know.

Since you are all such good seamsters, you probably know your way around a buttonhole. But maybe there are a few of you out there who have been avoiding them. I thought I'd show you how very easy they are, just so you know :)

I did not pre-mark my pieces as called for. I'm a bit of a hoodlum that way. But it's very ok in this case because it's the nature of the project that the button and hole don't have to be in exactly the right places, not like a shirt placket or something. Anyway, I've never really found a marking tool I was crazy about until I bought this chalk retractable pencil. Totally worth it. So the first step is to mark your line at the appropriate angle, about as long as your button.

Now find your buttonhole foot. This shouldn't be too hard- it's the one that's REALLY long. There is an adjustable bit in the back where you clamp your button in place. This will tell your machine exactly how long to make the hole to fit that button. Magic! Or simple mechanics, whichever.

So place your fabric under with the front of the line you drew under the needle. There should be little red lines on the foot or something similar so you can make sure things are centered. Then you lower the buttonhole lever, as I'm doing on the left there, and make sure it rests behind the latch on the foot. 

At this point, you should probably (definitely) make sure you have chosen the correct buttonhole stitch. You want the one with bar tacks at both ends. Consult your manual.

Now is the fun part- just gun it. The machine does the whole thing, reinforces it, and just stops when it's done. 

Repeat on the other side and you have two beautiful buttonholes. Except, you still have to give them the hole part.

Put a pin thru the top bar tack and use your seam ripper to make the hole from bottom to top. (Point sharp object away from yourself.)



Of course, every machine does things slightly differently, but most computerized ones will probably be similar to this. So read up in your manual. Mine also has a foot just for sewing on the buttons, which is fun since you know I like to avoid even the tiniest amount of handwork. But you really don't need a foot, you can also try dropping the feed dogs and setting a zig zag stitch on zero length and 3.5-ish width. (Width will vary with the button of course.)


So we still have a week to finish up, actually two weeks to join the link party at the end of the month since I always give a little grace time. And don't forget about this month's fantastic prize from Liesl Gibson. Have you thought about what digital pattern you would pick?? I would definitely go for the jumprope dress if I could win!