How to sew a buttonhole by hand

In this video sewing tutorial I will show you how to sew a buttonhole by hand. Find out why you would need to make hand sewn buttonholes, how to do a knotted buttonhole stitch, what threads to use for making buttonholes by hand.
Here is the link to my blog post www.ageberry.c...
In this sewing tutorial I will show you how to sew a buttonhole by hand. There are other tutorials you might want to check out but I am doing it differently and it seems to me my method is simpler and faster.
First of all, let me tell you when we would need to sew a buttonhole stitch by hand. Most of the time we are making buttonholes by sewing machine, right? So, what is the point in learning to do it by hand?
This may be due to the density and thickness of the fabric, which your machine can’t cope with. If you are using thick wool fabric for your coat or jacket you may need to use hand sewn buttonholes.
Sometimes you may want to use a really big button but the buttonhole foot of your sewing machine is too small for that button.
You may need to make buttonholes by hand for small doll clothes (it can be a problem to put those pieces under the presser foot).
Or you may just want to add some exclusivity to the sewing project, so you prefer hand sewn buttonholes.
There are some details in the clothes that are invisible to the average person, according to which the professional seamstress can quickly and accurately determine the skill level of the sewist that made those clothes. These usually include sleeves, topstitching, and fit. But one of the most important points are, of course, the buttonholes!
And leading fashion houses and couturiers pay special attention to them. You may be surprised to know that buttonholes on couture coats and jackets are made exclusively by hand. And this operation is done only by a master with extensive sewing experience, you can not risk destroying a garment almost finished.
Hand sewn buttonholes are also used in stage costumes for historical accuracy in costume design. Designers who create authentic costumes for actors have to make buttonholes by hand if they want to accurately reflect the clothing appropriate to the period or to the environment.
Hand sewn buttonholes are also widely used in fine heirloom sewing.
Hand sewn buttonholes are a delicate matter, almost jewelry work ... Yes, it’s not particularly complicated, but everything must be very thoughtful, consistent and neatly executed, the missing detail will definitely affect the result.
Let's master this necessary sewing operation and learn how to make exclusive buttonholes, because your creations will benefit from this!
Buttonhole thread
There is no special buttonhole thread. So, what thread to use?
It depends on the fabric you are using for your project.
For fine lightweight silk fabric use 100% silk thread - it’s strong and flexible, wouldn’t twist or tangle and leaves a very clean edge.
For thick wool and other heavyweight fabric use Pearl cotton, embroidery thread #10, or embroidery floss.
I advise you to condition the thead you are going to use so it stays straight without twisting. Use a special beeswax for this - it strengthens and will not stain or discolor the thread.
Now let me give you some tips that will help you with the buttonhole stitch by hand.
Before making buttonholes on the project, be sure to practice on scrap fabric from which the item is sewn. This skill is reinforced only by practice and you will learn how the fabric behaves.
Sewing buttonholes by hand requires extreme precision and care.
It’s necessary to observe the density and length of stitches, also do not tighten the thread too much.
Sew with a single thread, since it’s difficult to avoid tangling and snagging when using a double thread.
Use special threads.
For hand sewn buttonhole I use double sided fusible interfacing or fusible web. It provides great stability and the layers of fabric will not shift during hand sewing.

[@smiths6311]

This is the best hand-stitched buttonhole tutorial I've seen. Thanks for showing us how. 😊

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you, glad it was helpful! You are definitely very, very good for my ego!

[@AwesomeMan2696]

FINALLY!! I've watched 10 other videos and none come close to how great yours is, yours is very very clear for beginners, thank you very very much! I was getting so frustrated, thank you for going at a slow and clear pace, much appreciated ❤

[@Nanoparticle7]

The Burt’s bees chapstick trick helped me keep all my stitches from tangling. Thanks my little babushka

[@urbanchili]

Thank you. I have watch a lot of tutorials about making buttonholes by hand. This is, by far, the best one.

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Glad it was helpful, and thank you for watching!

[@MoMadNU]

You made it nice and simple to encourage people to try! To get perfect distance holes, use a pattern tracing wheel. Make 1, 2, or even 3 passes over each stitch line by offsetting the wheel and transfer paper starting position. The number of passes depends on how close you want your threads. As you get better you can even reduce your thread size and place the stitch line at 1/16. Only use a slight pulling for each stitch. Happy sewing!

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thanks for the idea!

[@imatugwaddle2291]

BEST DEMO ON KZbin!!!!! 😻😻😻

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you!

[@janetryan9779]

Thank you for this tutorial. I needed to make buttonholes on a costume and did not have a lot of time to figure out how to use the somewhat complicated buttonhole feature on my fairly new sewing machine. I also feared making errors on the machine and ruining the costume. I found this to be simple, well-explained, and helpful.

[@wendydann8180]

Thank you. I am making a reversible winter coat with fabric that has lots of layers. I was terrified to put so many layers through my machine. I think I can do it this way!

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

You certainly can. You can also try bound buttonholes maybe.

[@airicastarwall1349]

Similar! I'm making a winter dress and with two layers of flannel and a layer of interfacing my machine wasn't having it with the button hole setting so I need to hand stitch it, a fact that terrified me as I have very little experience hand stitching--let alone a button hole! But this video was very easy to follow and I feel much better about making the button holes now. Thanks a million!

[@texasgirlsoutdoors2669]

This looks amazingly easy! Button holes have scared me for years! Can't wait to try doing them now! Thank you!!!! ❤

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you very much for your feedback! Happy to know the tutorial was helpful.

[@rockeysingh8841]

Hello nice lady. This is the best of the bests of all many videos on the makings of the holes of the buttonings. I says to you,please have my many congratulations for being's the numbers ones teachers.x

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you!

[@tanya9nithreus]

This video has helped me create many many perfect button holes, thank you so much!! :) I do have to say though that when you're trying to make it perfect it does take quite a long time if you're using regular thin thread haha. It took me about an hour or more.

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Glad it helped! I agree, it takes time. But one does not make a buttonhole often, at least I don't, and once made, it is there for everyone to see for many years. Of course it has to be nice! I could ot live with a failure to look at every day. I would probably ending up not wearing the piece, if the buttonhole is not nice,

[@Alpinewild444]

Thank you so much! Yours is the best of all videos on button hole making! You are a wonderful lovely teacher🙏🏻🤗💗

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thanks so much 😊

[@leepayk-bann3489]

Thankyou. My sewing machine cannot do buttonholes for big buttons. This is really helpful.

[@marthaarciniega8244]

She makes it so easy to understand thank you.

[@dorcasberthold3403]

Thank you !

[@ernestberry-songsrestored5637]

Thank you.love your voice..

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you for watching!

[@qetoun]

very helpful. thanks.

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Glad it was helpful!

[@angelikaminer8457]

Thank you so much. You made making a buttonhole easy. Not everyone has fancy attachments.

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Glad I could help!

[@salazam]

Attachments? I don't even have a sewing machine!

[@nzubeclifford842]

Thanks so much this was very much explanatory after watching so many videos

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Glad it helped!

[@dburgd99]

Perfect ! Thank you, this is exactly what I need.

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Glad it helped; thanks for watching!

[@daxtonsamir9583]

i realize I am kinda off topic but does anyone know of a good place to watch new movies online?

[@kanekarter1249]

@Daxton Samir Flixportal xD

[@daxtonsamir9583]

@Kane Karter Thanks, signed up and it seems like a nice service :D I appreciate it!!

[@kanekarter1249]

@Daxton Samir glad I could help :D

[@JaneThatcher89]

Best ever! You are the best and this is the best helpful tutorial. Thank you so much for teaching us! I also love your soothing & comforting voice.

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Wow, thank you! And thank you for watching!

[@pianoreturns]

I like the way you are teaching. ..very patiently

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you; I am always happy if what I post is helpful!

[@sydneyalmanza2768]

Thank you! First button hole wasn't perfect for me, but your video was very informative. Best one I've seen!

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Handmade buttonholes are seldom perfect, the one I made wasn't perfect either. But it is a useful skill to have because sometimes there is no other way.

[@normatorres4287]

Very good tutorial, thank you for showing step by step.

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Glad it was helpful, and thanks for watching!

[@living4ward2it]

Thank you! Excellent teaching!

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@robturner5146]

Thank you for an interesting and informative video. 'Transpore White' is a paper-based surgical tape which is manufactured by the 3M company. The tape is perforated every 1.25mm across its width. If you stick a length of it along the line you have drawn at 5.40 you can use the perforations as a guide to ensure perfect spacing of 1.25mm, 2.5mm, 3.75mm etc between your stitches. The tape is very gentle and easy to remove and can be re-used a few times; it will accommodate gentle curves. I prefer the paper-based tape to the plastic tape. I hope that I don't offend you by butting in like this.

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

It is never too late to learn a new trick; I will try the tape, thank you!

[@robturner5146]

@@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry 👍 I hope that you find it useful! Rob.

[@LisaAnnSpencer]

Thank you!!!! I’ll be sharing this video.

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you!

[@sandrathomas2079]

Thank you for this instruction.

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Glad it was helpful!

[@maria2964]

Thanks, this was very helpful.

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you!

[@deniselipsey5689]

Excellent video. Thank you.

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

You are welcome!

[@ameliaetienne8521]

bravo! thank you

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you very much!

[@jsilva7586]

Thank you very much for sharing that was very helpful

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you for watching!

[@burabaev]

Спасибо за видео! Очень пригодилось!

[@vijayadurga7531]

Simple and really useful video

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Glad you liked it

[@galacticjester6668]

This was very helpful. Thank you

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ericlakota1847]

Great work came out amazing

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you so much 😀

[@carolinechaney3287]

Excellent, thank you for sharing this x

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you; I had to do this, my own girls did not know it CAN be done by hand!

[@KorinMetz]

Thank you for this! I have a buttonhole foot, but i tried it on a very stretchy cardigan I'm working on and it didn't go well. Going to do the rest by hand!

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Glad it helped! It is indeed tricky to sew stretch material, perhaps you will have better success using the stretch buttonhole setting on the sewing machine, if the machine has it.

[@sameoldsonganddance]

Thank you so much my machine buttonhole works wonderful when I practice but it ruins my garments when I try it on the real item

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

If the practice buttonhole works well, there must be a reason behind the failures; contact me by email using the contact form from www.ageberry.com and maybe we ca sort it out.

[@rikalewis8684]

Same reason I'm here. It's like it will only work on a completely flat, loose piece of fabric . If the button hole foot feels any change( minor seam allowances ,or with strechty fabric in my case ) it just won't work . Which makes it useless for me . I don't work with wovens.

[@Claire-cky5]

Thank you very much, this so neat and easy to make, you've been a great help ♥️ South africa

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you; glad it helps!

[@zihardthahir3465]

Thanks 👍 dear.very informative

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

So nice of you! Glad you liked it.

[@elizabethanim9411]

Thanks u ❤

[@khieyar]

THANK YOU SO MUCH !! APPRECIATE IT !! 💕

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

You're welcome!! Thank you for watching!

[@vijayak9657]

Thank you.. you have a sweet voice

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you; glad you like it!

[@porkchop0711]

Thank you im going to give it a try

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thanks for watching! I hope it was useful.

[@nancyanderson1716]

This was an excellent tutorial! Simple!!!!! Thanks, Olga!

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Glad you liked it!! And even more glad it was helpful; thank you!

[@sbaumgartner9848]

You do a very good job of keeping your stitches even at the cut seam edge and between each stitch. I realize you'd have liked to have kept the stitches closer together but it was difficult when using your camera. I've seen some tailors who don't use a knot, they put the needle and thread into the back side of the fabric about 1" away from where they will start to sew. Thanks so much for the tip on what kind of thread to use. I wouldn't have thought Pearl cotton, embroidery thread # 10 or embroidery floss would be suitable. Question: What size of Cotton Perle do you suggest? DCM shows size 3,5,8 and 12.

[@1015SaturdayNight]

Your accent is so cute ❤️

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you for watching!

[@Tu-Vi-Dau-So]

This video is good. I am a guy who has never done this before. I think this is not that hard

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you! It's not hard but you still need to practice on scrap before you use it on a project.

[@KokanAgriculturegoatfarm]

Mam this is premier

[@manjularanasinghe3233]

❤❤❤

[@naomivandici4949]

Exceptional! Thank you for sharing your amazing skills and knowledge! Would you please let me know how you call the tool you used to cut the fabric (buttonhole opening) and where did you buy it? Thank you very much and many blessings!

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thanks for watching! I used a simple Exacto knife, where exactly I bought it I do not remember, probably on Amazon. It is a handle to which you attach all kind of cutting knife tips of different shapes.

[@naomivandici4949]

@@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry Thank you so much!

[@barefacedquestions]

At 3:49, how did you determine that the distance from the cut line to each side of the buttonhole is 1/8 inch?

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

This distance measurement is not based on any objective standard or rule but is entirely based on my individual preference. I just want it to be 1/8 inch.

[@elag5301]

❤

[@ericlakota1847]

So Glade she OK I was worried she would get that needle under her finger nail

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

No hand was harmed in making of this video 😅

[@Adan-v4f]

Today is my practicle exam of textiles and clothing😢

[@pamelasenecal8265]

I just subscribed. Thanks for the heads up about your facebook page and need for subscriptions to this.

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thanks for the sub! There is no NEED to subscribe, the tutorials are always free, but if you do, I offer to all subscribers many free patterns.

[@graaaah9080]

5:51

[@jeanpascalcear9595]

Pouvez-vous traduire cette vidéo en français svp?

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Je pourrais obtenir une version google translate des sous-titres et les télécharger, mais je suis désolé que mon français ne soit pas assez bon pour faire une version française.

[@lilymcg6230]

The video helps the verbal description doesn’t.

[@gogimanju3739]

Button hole looks horrible!!

[@SewingTutorialsByAgeberry]

Thank you fore the feedback!

[@kimberlycastleberry7850]

Thank you!

[@graaaah9080]

7:31

[@EnigmaticMindLLC]

Thank you!