Sewing a button is an essential thing that everyone must know about. It doesn’t matter what type of clothes you are wearing, most of the time it will have buttons. Shirts, jackets, pants, trousers, etc. type of clothing have buttons as an important part of the clothing while in some clothes you may find buttons as a decorative add-on.
If you are someone who loves stitching and sewing then you must also learn how to sew a button. We have already posted a sewing guide for beginners on this blog and you can read that to know the fundamentals of sewing and stitching. Once you have cleared all basics, you can move on to the buttons.
Here in this post, we are going to show you how you can sew a button on almost any fabric you want. Remember that there are different techniques available out there to sew buttons but not all of them are suitable for beginners. You must stick with the basics and try to learn those methods first before trying something advanced.
Since there are different types of buttons available out there we are going to work with the ones that come with buttonholes in them. We have mentioned every possible information you might need to learn how to sew buttons so read this post till the end to know everything about sewing a button.
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Things You Will Need To Sew A Button
Needle – A needle is the most important thing you need when you are doing any type of stitching and sewing. It doesn’t matter if you are doing to sew the button with your hands or with a sewing machine, you will always need a needle to get the work done.
There are different types of needles available out there and for button sewing, we will recommend you to go with some slim needles like size 7 or 8. It also depends on the fabric and buttonhole which type of needle you will need but does not go with a thick needle as 7 and 8 number needles will most probably sew a button easily.
Thread – Another important thing is “thread” and you need to take thread according to the needle. If you have taken number 7 or 8 needles then you will need a thin thread. Do not take too thin thread as there are chances of breaking it. For a regular size button, you will need about 12″ thread and if you think your thread is thin then you can take 24″ thread and make it double.
Talking about the color, then take a thread that matches your fabric color and not the button. Since we are going to make stitches on the fabric it must match its color as contrast colored thread will decrease the overall appearance of the fabric.
Button – Since we are going to sew a button, not to mention, you will need it. You can take a button either with two, three, or four holes in it as the sewing process is the same for all. Remember that the more holes a button will have, the more will be the number of stitches and work you need to do on it. We will recommend you to try sewing a button with two holes first and then move on to the buttons with three and four holes.
Scissor – Even though we are taking thin thread to sew the button, you must keep a scissor or other thread cutting tools like a knife, blade, etc. to cut the thread when you are done stitching it.
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How To Sew A Button Step By Step Guide
Identify The Type of Button You Have
As we told above, the first thing you need to do is to identify the type of button you have for sewing. Make sure the button is not too big nor too small for the fabric you are sewing it on. If you are looking for buttons to sew on readymade garments like jackets, jeans, trousers, shirts, etc. then they probably have a pair of extra buttons available inside them.
Those extra buttons are exactly of the same size and design that are stitched outside. If you are using other buttons then you need to figure out if the button is suitable for the fabric or not.
Sewing Machine vs Hand Sewing
If you are a complete beginner then you can try sewing the buttons with hand first and then go with the sewing machine method. Sewing buttons with hands will help you in clearing the basics and you will get to know where and how you need to make the stitches. If you have some knowledge of stitching then you can go with the sewing machine.
Many sewing machines come with an automatic buttonhole feature for 2 and 4 buttonholes but we will recommend you not to use that function if you want to learn how to sew a button. Consider doing everything manually first so you can get to know everything about sewing a button. Automatic threading and buttonhole can be used later.
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Thread The Needle & Make A Knot
Now, you need to thread your needle and make a knot at the end of the thread so it doesn’t pass completely from the button while sewing. If you are using a sewing machine then you can refer to the manual to know how to thread the needle. If you have got an automatic needle threader function, then do not use it as you will never learn how to do it manually.
Once the needle is threaded, level both sides of the thread and position the needle in the middle of the thread. When you have leveled it simply makes a knot at another end from the needle so secure the thread. While sewing this knot will get stuck in the buttonhole and stop the thread from coming completely through the buttonhole.
Make A Mark On The Fabric
From the backside of the fabric start making the stitch to the front and then again from back to front. You must make the stitch in such a way that it forms an X and you can use also use the best sewing kit to do that. The intersecting position this X is the place where you want to center the button. This X will also help the thread and button to keep the button in place.
Remember that if you are using a sewing machine then you might face problems in creating such a mark on the fabric. Instead, you must do it with your hand, and then you can use the sewing machine to sew the button. For a beginner, making such indications are really helpful as you will know where and how the button is needed to be placed.
Sew The Button
Hold the button on the top of the X mark and push the needle from one of its hole right to the other part of the fabric. Now, turn the needle up and move it from the fabric to another hole on the button. You must do it slowly as doing it fast can be harmful. Also, thread only two buttons at the same time and not all.
Do it a couple of times for the same set of two buttons and then you will have to repeat this process for the other holes too. When you have made around 4-5 repetitions, then you will get a tight hold of the button on the fabric. You can remove your finger from the button and see if it is tight enough to keep itself in its place.
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Create The Shank
Creating a shank is important as it holds all of the stitches in its place. To make it, you need to go from the fabric to the button but not to the buttonhole. Moving your needle from the fabric and then keeping it in between the bottom part of the button and the upper part of the fabric will help you in creating a shank.
Just make some 5-6 rounds of the thread around the button and make sure you are doing it tightly. Loose shank will make the button hang and you might need to sew it again from scratch. When you are done wrapping the thread just dive the needle back to the backside of the fabric. You don’t need to change its place.
Tie The Thread
To secure your stitches, you need to make a knot at the backside of the fabric from where we have started. This can be done either by using the needle and with the help of hands too. Either way, you need to make the knot right below the button and in the center of the threads where they all are colliding with each other.
If you want then you can take the help of a pin. Use the pin in the center of the threads, then make some rounds around the pin and use your needle to pass your thread through the circles. When you will pull the thread it will tighten that thread and then you can use the scissor or other cutting tools to get the right of the excess thread.
Final Words
So this is all about how to sew a button step by step guide and we hope you have found this post useful. We have told how to sew a button with a sewing machine and soon we are going to post a button sewing guide without a sewing machine so keep visiting the Sewing Machine Portal to know about it and to read many more guides.
There are many methods available out there to sew a button but we have posted only the most basic way to do that. It doesn’t matter if you are searching for how to sew a button with two holes or how to sew a button with one hole, you can always follow this guide to sew button easily. Let us know via comments if you have any questions about it.
