Sew Easy #15, How to Make a Buttonhole

in unit construction we complete one unit  at a time before joining it to another we made the two blouse fronts and the blouse back  and then joined them together the shoulder seam so they could remain flat then we made the collar  and the two front facings so we've made six small units and joined them together and now we have  just one large unit and following through with the principle of unit construction we do everything  we can to this piece which means that next we're ready to make the buttonholes and sew  on the buttons while this is still flat when i put the facing and collar on and pressed  it back i left the outer edge of the facing free this needs to be anchored down permanently  before i put the button holes on so lay the facing back onto the garment and stitch in place some place below the seam line and repeat that on the other side here at the top the shoulder edge of  the facing needs to be anchored down to the shoulder seam of the dress  and that's done by hand tacking the kind of buttonholes you plan to use on  your garment will determine the way you join your facing and your interfacing i plan to use  machine made button holes so i joined my facing and my interfacing before i attached it to the  blouse in the next lesson i'll show you how to apply the interfacing to your garment when  you're going to make bound button holes and now let's get our buttonhole  attachment and our buttons the length of the buttonhole is  determined by the diameter of the button plus the thickness so select a template  it will take care of this length the template controls the  dimensions of the buttonhole sure you read the directions  before attaching your buttonhole because different machines have  different ways of putting it on then before we put the attachment onto  the machine remove the presser foot and then cover the feed dogs with this plate before you fast that down tightly be sure that the  needle comes right down in the middle of the hole in the plate and then anchor it down securely now we'll put on the holding  nut for the attachment this goes over the screw on the needle  bar and this slips under the holding nut then tighten the holding nut you'll want to check your buttonhole by making  a sample before putting it on your dress make this sample buttonhole and a scrap of  the fabric you're using to make your dress and put a piece of the interfacing in between the next we want to be sure that the  upper thread and the bobbin thread are both between the attachment and the  plate and here's an easy way to get that done slip your fabric under the  attachment and make one stitch and then pull those threads to the side we use this dot to represent this point of our basting where the  buttonhole will start on your garment slip the fabric under the attachment  put the needle down on that dot and then screw this adjusting knob until this pointer  ends up at the center back of your attachment then before lowering your attachment adjust  the bite with this side lever this could have been done before you put the attachment onto the  machine now i better tell you what we mean by bite it's the width of the stitch that makes up the  buttonhole this a narrow bite and it's a wide bite and the n on the attachment means narrow and the  w means wide when you make your sample buttonholes try several different widths for the bite and then  take the one that you like best for your garment lower the attachment and stitch make the first  few stitches by hand and then stitch slowly look at your buttonhole after  you've gone around it once for oftentimes the appearance and the durability will  both be improved by going around a second time an easy way to cut open the buttonhole is to lay it on a block of wood and  use a single edge razor blade cut first from one end and then from the other so that you aren't able  to let the razor slip and cut the end threads check the length by slipping  your button through the hole this is alright so let's turn to our garment the buttonholes are made on the right front blouse put your needle down at the point  where your basting stitches started remove your basting threads so they  won't get tangled up in the stitching then be sure that the threads of your material  line up with this edge of your attachment if you were making a dress instead of  demonstrating as i am you would go ahead and make all your buttonholes but i want to  go on and show you how to sew on a button to locate the position of the buttonhole match  up the center fronts and the buttonhole over your basting line and then put a pin in the end of  the buttonhole hold it in place and unbutton it then use double thread and make a stitch right  where the pin went in we're not using a knot in the thread so we'll fasten the thread with two  or three stitches right on top of themselves then bring the needle up through the button  and down through the other eye of the button and through the cloth and then slip a toothpick  under that last stitch bring your needle and thread up and over the toothpick several times  until you feel sure that the button is on securely this toothpick is giving us  extra length in our thread so that we can have that length to form a shank this time bring your needle and thread  up between the button and the cloth wind the thread around to form the  shank between the button and the cloth bring the needle back down to the wrong side  and fasten with two or three little stitches this buttonhole is neat and quickly made it will serve nicely on house dresses  and children's clothes and such items if some of you are planning to make dresses for better wear you may wish to improve  upon the appearance by using a bound button hole so next time i'll show you  an easy way to make a bound buttonhole