This has been a goal for a couple years - my machines' four-step buttonhole looks like happy-hands-at-home at the best of times. I've been using snaps as much as I can but there's a limit. Especially when your snaps come from Joann's because you can never remember to just order a lifetime supply of some good snaps along with a decent snap setter. Even more so when your Joann's has six different sizes of snaps and four different size snap setters ... but only one snap and one setter that work together. Yes, the other five snaps cannot be put in with any of the tools Joann's sells. And the other three snap setters have no snaps to set.
Brilliant.
So I either needed to learn how to do a bound buttonhole or get a new machine. I'd like the second option but bank account is pointing to the first. Oh well. And since this pattern calls for bound buttonholes (which is looking less like a word each time I type it ... buttonholes buttonholes buttonholes) I figure it was telling me that it's time.
How'd it go? You tell me.
First I marked up the pattern properly. By the way, isn't that such a great looking pattern piece? I'm really loving the styling.
Tacked on the backing fabric (or whatever the technical term for it is)
Sewed 1/8" around the line ... that was pretty tricky. This is the wrong side of the fabric, complete with interfacing (sew in, of course). It's hard to see the stitches on the front.
Cut along the white line (just the horizontal one) and snip in the corners. Fold the little rectangle of fabric in through the slit and form two little piping-like bands. Carefully hand sew because I don't trust myself to stitch in this ditch without my thread or my fabric going someplace it shouldn't. And, while it's a little hard to see (stupid camera would NOT take a decent pic of this), it's a bound buttonhole!
All this was done following the directions in the pattern. My favorite 40s sewing book is on loan-out and for whatever reason I didn't check my other half dozen books to see if any of them have directions. I do want to look up other methods because this one, while not bad, didn't make the best bound buttonholes. The edges look a little wonky to me. But the buttons will be covering them up. And, besides, this is a wearable muslin. Perfection on the first try isn't bad but it doesn't give me much to aspire to in the next version, now does it?
Cut along the white line (just the horizontal one) and snip in the corners. Fold the little rectangle of fabric in through the slit and form two little piping-like bands. Carefully hand sew because I don't trust myself to stitch in this ditch without my thread or my fabric going someplace it shouldn't. And, while it's a little hard to see (stupid camera would NOT take a decent pic of this), it's a bound buttonhole!
All this was done following the directions in the pattern. My favorite 40s sewing book is on loan-out and for whatever reason I didn't check my other half dozen books to see if any of them have directions. I do want to look up other methods because this one, while not bad, didn't make the best bound buttonholes. The edges look a little wonky to me. But the buttons will be covering them up. And, besides, this is a wearable muslin. Perfection on the first try isn't bad but it doesn't give me much to aspire to in the next version, now does it?Even so, looking beyond the wrinkles (this is pre-iron), I'm really loving how this shirt (jacket? it's just heavy enough) is turning out!
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1 comment:
Awesome. Thank you for posting how you do button holes. I also have a 4 step buttonholer on my machine, but the results always look so bad the the thread always snaps and its really frustrating so I do snaps, hook and eyes, zippers, drafting out the button holes, etc to avoid them, but I think I may just starting doing these bound button holes.
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