Button Etiquette

Hi everyone, it's almost the end of week three of my six week summer holiday. At this point I'm starting to get a bit stir crazy, as I have been spending a lot of time at home since I'm short on cash. I've been doing quite a bit of sorting out, having filed my paperwork and streamlined my wardrobe, as well as spending time sewing.

I'm making good progress through my 'to sew' list and have noticed that all my planned projects have one thing in common ... buttons!

Button placement photo via Sewaholic

I have a long list of blouses, shirts and shirt dresses which all require me to sew buttonholes. Despite the fact that I have successfully sewn buttoned garments, I always feel a little bit of dread at the thought of sewing button holes. In order to improve my buttonhole technique I've been doing some online research to fill some gaps in my button related knowledge.

How far apart should I space my button holes? 

Buttonhole placement has been the main thing that has been confusing me lately. All the patterns I am using come with recommended buttonhole placements for a certain size button, but if you want to go off piste and go with a smaller button size, for example, I have no idea about placement. How far apart should they be?

Diagram from Buttonhole placement tutorial by A Fashionable Stitch. 

After a bit of research I found a Tutorial on button placement by Sewaholic. The idea is that you pin where your bust is fullest (after trying the shirt on) as this is where the most gaping would be. You can then use a handy tool called a Simflex to work out the position of the remaining buttons, depending on how many buttons you would like.

However, if you don't have a spare £10 to spend on a Simflex, then this can be calculated and there is a fantastic Tutorial on buttonhole placement by A Fashionable Stitch. You can calculate the buttonhole placement by working out the length of the shirt front minus the seam allowences and divide by how many buttons you want. This will tell you how far apart your buttons should be. Exactly what I was looking for- problem solved!

Photo via Sew Mama Sew

How long should button holes be? 

To work out the length of buttonhole you need to measure the diameter of your button and then add 1/8" or 3mm (see Love at First Stitch by Tilly Walnes). If your using a tall button (e.g. with a shank) then you need to also add the height to this measurement to get the final length of your buttonhole.

How do I accurately place my buttons?

Tilly Walnes, from Tilly and the Buttons suggests pinning the buttonhole placket over the button placket and then using your buttonholes to mark button hole placement. I have found in the past that this is a bit hit and miss. I find it more accurate to use the markings on the pattern to guide my button sewing. I've recently discovered how to sew buttons using my machine with a button foot attachment, which has made sewing buttons so much more accurate and far less time consuming!

How to sew a buttonhole picture via Dana Made it. 

What types of button holes are suitable for different garments? 

According to Craftsy, traditionally on blouses or shirts buttonholes are placed vertically, running parallel to the edge of the placket, whereas on a jacket or coat the buttonholes are placed horizontally to ensure there is no distortion with movement.

My sewing machine (Singer Confidence 7470) does different types of buttonholes and I'm never sure which one I should be using. After some research I found that rounded ended buttonholes (the last two in above picture) are best for lightweight garments such as blouses and square buttonholes (first two buttonholes) work best for medium to heavier weight fabrics. Keyhole buttonholes (3rd and 4th buttonholes) are rounded on one end to accommodate thicker buttons or buttons with a shank; these are used mainly on coats and jackets with heavier fabrics.

Why do mens and women's shirts button up on different sides?

I've sewn shirts for my Husband before and I have to actually think about which side the button holes should go. Usually I just check one of his or my existing shirts to work it out but I wanted to find out why there is this difference. According to Primer magazine, Mens buttons are on the right because they dress themselves where as historically women Women's buttons were on the left because they would have had a maid to dress them and this meant that the buttons would be easier for a right-handed maid to fasten. I'm not sure how true this is but it might be one reason for the difference!

I've learnt a lot about buttonholes in my research and now have a much better understanding of placement and different types of buttonholes. None of this information is new (no point reinventing the wheel) and I've included links to tutorials that I have found informative. I hope that by gathering this information together it may be useful to someone ... I think of it as a lit review!!

So, I'm off to put some of this new found knowledge into practise!

Do you love or loath sewing buttonholes?