Hello sew-friends! Today, I have a quick little video for you showing how to sew a one-step buttonhole and how to sew on buttons using your sewing machine. This is my favorite way to sew buttonholes and buttons because it's so quick and easy. The one-step buttonhole foot makes sewing a buttonhole nearly foolproof. Plus, did you know that you can sew on buttons using your sewing machine? It took me years to attempt doing this and it was a total game changer.
In this video, I’m using the Brother cs6000i sewing machine. It’s a great entry level machine. Using these feet is similar with other models/brands of sewing machines as well. If you want to see how it’s done on my Janome MemoryCraft, I made some reels on Instagram a little while back. You can check those out here and here.
Watch the video above or if it’s not working, you can watch it on YouTube here. To skip to the section about sewing buttons, go to timestamp 5:24 in the video. And if you’d prefer to read the instructions, just scroll down.
TOOLS USED/MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO
Brother cs6000i sewing machine
Simflex Sewing Gauge
Micro-Tip Scissors
HOW TO SEW A ONE-STEP (AUTOMATIC) BUTTONHOLE
Step 1: Place the button in the buttonhole foot and set your machine’s stitch setting to the buttonhole stitch.
Step 2: Attach the buttonhole foot and lower the buttonhole lever. Make sure the lever goes behind the knob on the side of the foot. You shouldn’t have to move it very far to get it behind the knob on the foot. This lever will tell the machine how long to make the buttonhole.
Step 3: Mark the start of the buttonhole in the center of the button band with a T-shape. Slide the fabric under the presser foot. Center the top of the T (the start of the buttonhole) right under the needle. Use the hand crank to test that the fabric is in the correct position.
Step 4: Hold the threads to the side and start stitching.
Step 5: When the buttonhole is done, the sewing machine will stitch slowly in the same place. Lift the needle and presser foot and trim the threads.
HOW TO SEW ON BUTTONS USING A SEWING MACHINE
Step 1: Attach the button foot to the machine. Set machine to the button stitch, if available. Or, set the machine to the zig zag stitch. Set the stitch length to zero, or drop the feed dogs. (This will keep the fabric in one place.)
Step 2: Mark the button placement. Place a piece of clear tape over the button and tape it to the fabric.
Step 3: Slide the fabric and button under the foot and lower the presser foot. Very slowly, use the hand wheel to lower the needle into one of the button holes. Using the hand wheel, test that the stitch width matches the width of the holes in the button. Most of the time, the default will work, but sometimes you’ll need to change the stitch width to match the button.
Step 4: After the width and placement are correct, stitch about 10-15 times. I never count the stitches. I just stitch until I think it looks good.
Step 5: Lift the presser foot and move the fabric and button to stitch the second set of holes (if needed). Again, slowly test that the needle is not going to hit the button. Stitch.
Step 6: Lift presser foot and pull button away from the machine. For extra security, pull the top threads to the back (you can use a hand needle to do this if they don’t pull easily) and tie the threads in a knot.
I hope that you found this tutorial helpful. To save it for later, you can pin the image above. And if you’d like to support this content, please check out the pattern shop below. Happy sewing!
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