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When a button goes missing, it can make your outfit feel incomplete, asymmetrical or otherwise out of sorts. Knowing how to hand-sew a button on a jacket, shirt, sweater or pair of pants is a useful skill that anyone can learn to do successfully. Not only is it empowering to do it yourself, but it’ll save you a trip to the tailor or from having to purchase a replacement.
That said, we hope your buttons are doing just fine. They do come off or go missing sometimes, so read on to learn how to hand-sew a button in a few easy steps.
How do you sew a button by hand for beginners?
Sewing a button is easy to learn and a nice skill to have when you need it. All it takes is a few minutes and a handful of supplies, including:
● Button
● Thread (24 to 36 inches, ideally)
● Sewing needle(s)
● Scissors
Step 1: Thread the needle, tie off the end
Feed the thread through the eye of the needle. Keep moving it through until the needle reaches the thread’s halfway point, then double it over. Hold the ends of the evenly divided thread together. They should be of equal length.
Tie up the loose ends with two or three simple overhand knots. With the ends held together, make a loop near the end, slip the loose end through and pull tight. Repeat to increase the size of the knot.
Step 2: Anchor the button
Make an anchor point for the button. Where the button will go, poke the needle through the fabric, from back to front. Pull the thread through to its end, then turn the needle around and push it back through the fabric, just a tiny bit from the first point. You should end up with a very short line of thread on the frontside of the garment.
Repeat to make the line doubly thick. Repeat twice more, but do it so that when you poke the needle through it forms an “X” with the first line.
Step 3: Position button, use a spacer
Position the button over the “X”. Holding the button in place, push the needle and thread up through the fabric, through one of the buttonholes, all the way until the knot stops at the end of the thread.
Place a second needle (a toothpick or something of that size will work, too) evenly on top of the button and between the button holes. This “spacer” needle allows the thread to end up with a little play in it, so the button has some room to move when used for fastening.
Pass the needle back through a second buttonhole, looping over the spacer. Pull the thread tight, then repeat.
You’re going to make three passes through one pair of buttonholes, pulling the thread tight each time and with the spacer in place. Back to front, front to back, and so on.
Move the thread to a second pair of buttonholes and repeat. Different types of flat buttons may have two, three or more holes. Aim for three passes through each pair to ensure the button is secure at all points.
Step 4: Strengthen the connection with a shank
Remove the spacer, and starting from the underside of the fabric push the needle back through but don’t feed it through a buttonhole.
Pull the thread as far as it will go, then tightly wrap it a half dozen times around the connecting threads (between the fabric and the backside of the button). After your last pass, run the needle once more through the fabric to the underside where you’ll tie it off.
Step 5: Tie it off on back, trim thread
Cut the needle from the thread, separate the loose ends and make multiple overhand knots, pulling them tightly to the backside of the button each time. Or, keep the needle attached, make a small loop as close to the fabric as possible and use the needle to guide the end through to make a knot. Make a few knots to keep the thread firmly in place. Snip away any loose ends.
Tip: Pin the thread with your finger as you make the loop to keep it from getting away. You want the knot right up against the back of the button.
That’s it! Like anything else, it might take you a little time to get the hang of it. But now that you’ve got the know-how, your shirts, sweaters and pants will never be buttonless again.
