Old School

Confession time: how many garments do you have that you don’t wear, because a button has come off?

The Damsel understands. You don’t have time. You’re not sure how. Your mother always did it for you, but now she’s not handy. You’re afraid of needles.

Actually, it’s very simple, and with a little practice, you can be a pro at sewing buttons on. The Damsel is here to take away your fear.

Notice she titled this post “shirt buttons” rather than just “buttons?” There are a few different kinds of buttons, and the procedure is slightly different for each. So these directions apply to shirt-type buttons…the flat type with two or four holes in the middle.

It’s great if you still have the offending button. If you’ve lost it, you can either 1. check the garment to see if extra buttons have been sewed to it anywhere, 2. check your stash of little envelopes of buttons that come with some clothing, 3. take the garment to the fabric store and see if they have anything like it, or last resort…4. take a button off the garment from a place that needs it less than the one that’s missing (for example, the last button in a row, on a shirt that tucks in and won’t show that the bottom button is gone)

Now then. Look at the place where the button used to be. Can you see a tuft of thread, or a little hole, or anything showing where the button should go? If so, skip the first step.

Button the shirt and lay it flat. With a pencil (or even a straight pin, if you can’t or don’t want to use a pencil) make a mark through the buttonhole where the button should be placed. It’s SO ANNOYING to sew a button on and then find out it’s not in just the right spot, which will make your shirt hang funny. There are plenty of other reasons shirts might hang funny–no use adding another by sewing the button in the wrong spot.

Thread the needle (with thread that matches the shirt, if you can). (For hints on threading, see this) Use 12 to 18 inches of thread. Longer and it might tangle, and you don’t need a ton.

Pull the ends so they meet–so the thread is double–and tie a knot in the end.

With one hand, hold the button directly over the spot you marked. Poke the needle from the back side through the button and pull through until the knot catches.

Go back down through one of the other holes. (Now you’re going front to back.) Repeat this process 5 or 6 times, going back and forth through the same two holes. It may take a few pokes to get the needle coming from the back to hit the right hole, but you’ll get the hang of it.

Then repeat with the other two holes. Some people like to criss-cross between the four holes instead, and the Damsel won’t flunk you if you do. But the other buttons will probably be done this way, because they were sewed on by machine–so it matches better this way. If you care.

And if you think people are staring at the threads in your buttons, the Damsel would like to gently suggest otherwise. They’ve got other things to stare at.

Turn to the back, and take a couple of stitches.

Make a knot…

and trim the threads…both the sewing thread and the threads hanging from the original knot.

This method is sufficient for a basic shirt-type button, and takes only a couple of minutes. Now go and rescue those poor lonely shirts out of your mending pile, okay?