Buttonholes are thought to be every seamstresses nightmare. To be honest, they used to be my least favourite thing to sew. But, this tutorial will show you a few tricks, give some tips, and hopefully, after going through each step of the process, make buttonholes easier and less daunting for you to sew.
To sew a buttonhole on your sewing machine, you are going to need a buttonhole presser foot. Most machines, when you buy them, come with a selection of different attachments. If you do not know whether you have a buttonhole foot, then look in the manual that comes with your machine - as they always have a list of attachments - or you could always buy one as they are not expensive. If you do buy one, make sure it will attach to your machine as they are all different.
How to Sew a Buttonhole:
The first thing you need to do is find out how long you need to make the buttonhole.
On your fabric, place the button and make a mark, with a tailors chalk or pen, above and below the button.
Extend these marks into small lines and in the center of both, draw a straight line to create a shape like an 'I'.
The next steps will show you how to use your machine to create the buttonhole with three different stitches.
Place the guide you just marked under your presser foot, with the end lining up with the two arrows on your foot.
Select the stitch which shows the shape of a rectangle but with the line on the left side thicker than the rest, it may also have the number one next to this line.
Sew down the line on the fabric until you come to the end.
Lift your needle out of the fabric (it is important that when you change the stitch the needle is not in the fabric) and change the stitch to the next one on the right.
Sew a few stitches, you do not need many as it goes side to side, and once again, change to the next stitch on the right with your needle up.
Sew back down the line until you come parallel to where you began.
Now change the stitch back to the second one where it goes side to side, and sew the end of the buttonhole.
The next steps are tips on how to easily (and without ripping the fabric) open your buttonhole.
To stop yourself from accidently ripping your fabric, place a pin at the each end of the buttonhole as barriers.
Take a stitch ripper and carefully cut the center of your buttonhole open. Starting at one pin, and finishing just before the second.
Test your buttonhole with a button and you are all done.
You can watch this video for extra help:
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