How to Sew Buttons and Button holes.

These days buttons are readily available in all shapes, colours and sizes. Some are made from glass, others from plastics and metals.

They tend to be grouped into 2 general categories:

• Flat buttons have two or four holes for stitching through in order to attach them to a piece of material.
• Shank buttons are flat buttons without the holes cut all the way through. They either have a stitching hole cut into the back of the button itself or a metal loop at the back of the button to form a shank.

When buttons fall off, sewing them back onto your coat or blouse is fairly easy as you can see where your button has fallen off from and where to sew it back onto. (unless of course you lost it, try here for replacements of all types and designs!)

To prevent a button from coming off again it is best to sew it on with double thread. The easiest way to do this is to thread your needle, pull the thread through so the needle is in the middle, and knot the ends together.

Adding new buttons and creating button holes can be a little more tricky, here are some pointers on how to do this.

The Button

1)      Get the two fabrics together as they would be worn and mark exactly where you want your button to go on both pieces. Tailors chalk (rubs off when you've finished) can be useful to do this, mark the buttonhole with an ‘I' shape, or use pins to mark the area. Generally it is a good idea to allow 2mm on top of the button's diameter/width for the buttonhole length. For note your fabric for the buttonhole may require stiffening, interlining is useful for this.

2)      Place the button on top of the mark on the fabric you wish to attach it to. Double up the thread by moving the needle to the centre of the length and tying a knot in the ends. (15" of thread works well per button.) Pull the thread through from underneath the fabric through the button hole and repeat 6 to 8 times to be sure it is securely attached. Finish with the thread on the underside and tie a good knot.

The Buttonhole

1)      Sewing machines are good for sewing buttonholes. They tackle it as a small rectangle with bar tacking at the two short ends and zigzag or satin stitch (very close together stitches) on the long sides. First you need to get the piece of fabric with your buttonhole marking on from earlier. Some machines start with a long side of the buttonhole first but others may start with the shorter end.

2)      Place the material under the needle at the point you want put the button hole to start from and put the presser foot down. A buttonhole foot is very useful as it will have markings to allow you to line up your markings.

3)      Now turn the dial to the first setting (they are numbered with a little rectangle indicating which side of the buttonhole this step relates to, this guide assumes the first step is a long zigzag/satin stitch side. It helps to put the needle in the fabric manually first as you can then be sure you are starting in the right place. Then give the machine some power and guide the fabric through till the whole length of the button hole has been sewn.

4)      Now turn the dial to the second step of the button hole. You do not need to move the fabric round the machine will now sew bar tack stitches for the width of this button hole.

5)      Turn the dial to stage 3 and guide the material through to the top of the button hole, then turn the dial to step 4 and complete the final bar tack step.

6)      Cut the thread from the sewing machine and clip a little closer. Now you can cut the hole itself in the middle of all of these stitches! Some people find a seam ripper more accurate but I have a small pair of sharp scissors that work well for me!

7)      To do this By Hand you need to cut the button hole first. Then using double or thick thread, tie a knot in the end of the thread and pass the needle up through to the right-side of the fabric, just a small way from the hole. Then wrap the thread around the edges by passing the needle back through the hole, and bringing it back through the fabric at an even length to the first stitch. This has to be repeated until all ‘raw' edges of the buttonhole have been covered. Now you know why most sewing machines have this function

Useful Tips for Sewing on Buttons

• Coat the center of buttons with clear nail polish and they'll stay on longer.
• On a four-hole but-ton, sew through two holes at a time, knotting the thread and tying off for each set of holes.
• Use dental floss or elastic thread to sew buttons on children's clothing. The buttons will take a lot of wear before falling off.

Button History 

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2000 BC : The earliest decorative buttons were unearthed at archaeological digs in the Indus Valley. They were made from shells of various sea mollusks, carved into circular and triangular shapes, and pierced with two holes for sewing them to a garment. Historians have determined that buttons were purely ornamental for almost 3,500 years.

13th Century : Baggy, free-flowing attire was beginning to be replaced with tighter, form-fitting clothing. A belt alone could not achieve the new look, and pins were easily misplaced. Buttons became popular as garment fasteners.

16th Century : Metal and jeweled buttons were used in abundance! French King Frances I ordered 13,400 gold buttons from his jeweler, which were then fastened to a single black velvet suit. Louis XIV is said to have spent over $5 million on jeweled buttons.

18th Century : The first buttons were made in the United States by Caspar Wistar, a German immigrant. The design on buttons often reflected how the wearer felt about issues of the day, such as scenes of the French Revolution and engraved eagles after the American Revolution.

19th Century : During her long period of mourning, Queen Victoria used black jet buttons almost exclusively, setting a trend that resulted in black glass buttons becoming the most popular style of this era.

20th Century : Art Nouveau, two World Wars, the Roaring '20s and the playfulness of Disney characters all influenced buttons. In World War I, the British Army used 367 different kinds of buttons, and spent $500,000 per year just for the paste used to polish them.