How to Make Better Buttonholes on Your Sewing Machine

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Are you having trouble making buttonholes? Do they always seem to stretch, bunch up, or not look right? I want to show you how to make better buttonholes with your sewing machine. With a little practice, you won’t be afraid and your buttonholes will look amazing!

I used to avoid making buttonholes because they stressed me out. I was always worried that if I made a mistake and had to unpick a buttonhole, I might accidentally snag the fabric and ruin my entire sewing project. After a few years of sewing, I’ve learned a lot of tricks for making buttonholes. I’m going to share them with you in this post.

Some Helpful Hints for Making Buttonholes

All sewing machines are a little different when it comes to making buttonholes. Older sewing machines have a series of steps you must follow in your user manual and more modern machines typically have an all-in-one buttonhole setting.

No matter what type of sewing machine you have, here are some tips for creating better buttonholes:

• Use interfacing or stabilizer behind your fabric to prevent your buttonholes from stretching. This is especially important on lightweight, slippery, and knit fabric.
• Use polyester thread or machine embroidery thread on lightweight fabrics instead of all-purpose thread.
• Loosen the upper thread tension if you see thread bunching.
• Use a water-soluble stabilizer on the top of your fabric to prevent tunneling and stitches sinking into your fabric. This is super important if your fabric is thick or has a nap, such as fleece.
• Use a longer stitch length on heavy and bulky fabrics.
• Sew slowly to catch any problems early because it takes a long time to unpick buttonholes.

Steps for Sewing Buttonholes on Modern Sewing Machines

If you have an old sewing machine, you’ll need your manual to create buttonholes. There will be a series of steps you must follow. The following steps show you how to make buttonholes on a sewing machine that has an all-in-one buttonhole feature.

Need a new user manual? Read: Where to Find Replacement Sewing Machine Manuals for FREE

• Step 1: Check to make sure your bobbin has enough thread. You don’t want to run out in the middle of a buttonhole.
• Step 2: Put in a new needle, if you haven’t done that lately. Buttonholes sew quickly and a sharp needle helps ensure you won’t snag your fabric.
• Step 3: Attach your buttonhole foot. It is usually the longest one you have. There is a little space in the back that you can adjust for the size of your button.
• Step 4: Place the button you’re going to use in the back of your buttonhole presser foot and slide the lever to make your button fit. This sets the buttonhole size for your sewing machine.
• Step 5: Pull down your buttonhole lever. Newer sewing machines have a lever to the left of the needle that you pull down and attach to your buttonhole foot.
• Step 6: Select the buttonhole you want to use on your sewing machine.
• Step 7: Use a scrap piece of fabric and sew a sample buttonhole. This way you can adjust the stitch length and tension settings, if necessary, before sewing buttonholes on your project.
• Step 8: Mark the position of all buttonholes on your sewing project with a fabric marking pen so you can make all your buttonholes in a series.
• Step 9: Position your fabric under your presser foot. Remember that your sewing machine will start by sewing in reverse.
• Step 10: Sew your buttonhole.
• Step 11: Cut the buttonhole open with a seam ripper, starting at the edges and cutting towards the middle.

Repeat these steps for all the buttonholes you want to make. Do you have any other advice for making buttonholes? Leave a comment below.

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