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How to attach buttons by machine

button 053 [1]When you’re sewing on one button, doing it by hand is just fine. But when you have a whole row (such as with this pillow [2]from last week or a shirt), it’s well worth the time to set up the machine and sew them on that way. It also comes out much neater than when you sew by hand (at least for me!).

(Also see “Using masking tape to align buttonholes. [3]“)

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies

Chevron Black 2 [4]
Chevron Black 2
Button foot (see below if you don't have) [5]
Button foot (see below if you don’t have)
Buttons [6]
Buttons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My machine came with this button foot. It holds a button in place while you stitch it (more on this foot below). My old machine didn’t have one and I made do with a different presser foot. Any foot with a zigzag hole in it is fine, preferably one that’s clear so you can see well. I’ve also read that you can just take off the presser foot and not have one at all. I haven’t tried that, but it sounds like it would work.

 

 

The process

button 013 [6]This technique works on flat buttons with holes that go all the way through. Two holes or four, it doesn’t matter.

button 012 [7]It doesn’t work on shank buttons or unusually shaped buttons.

button 014 [8]To start, you need to drop your feed dogs. The feed dogs are these little teeth under the face plate that guide the fabric through. You don’t want your fabric to move while stitching buttons on.

button 015 [9]

Here’s another angle where you can really see those little teeth sticking up.

button 018 [10]

On many machines, there is a switch at the back that you flip to drop the feed dogs. Some machines don’t have this option, and for those I think you can buy some sort of plate to lay over them. I’ve never used a machine like that, so you’d have to refer to your manual.

button 021 [11]

Here, the feed dogs are dropped down into the machine so they won’t guide the fabric through.

button 020 [12]

Another image of the dropped feed dogs. The more I type that term, the more I giggle.

button 022 [13]This is my button presser foot. On the bottom, there’s this blue rubbery stuff that helps grip the button.

button 023 [14]Viewing it from the side, you can see how there’s a portion in the back that keeps the button in place (in this picture, the back is at left and the blue part is the front).

button 024 [15]If you don’t have a button foot, you can use a zigzag foot (preferably a clear one like a satin stitch foot that allows for better visibility) or no foot at all. I will say from experience, though, that this button foot makes the process easier than a regular foot, which often slides about.

button 026 [16]

Refer to your manual for the exact stitch function. Mine said to use stitch 46, but if you don’t have a specific stitch function, you can simply use a zigzag stitch. My old machine wasn’t digital and was rather low-tech, and I could still do all sorts of things on it!

button 027 [17]Honestly, I think my stitch function set everything for me, such as length and average width, which can then be tweaked. Out of habit, I changed stitch length to zero. I mean, the feed dogs are dropped and so I shouldn’t have to worry about stitch length (or the machine trying to move the fabric through), but I still felt better about putting it on zero instead of whatever was on there. Then the width can be adjusted to suit your button. My manual says to measure the space between the holes on the button and use that to set the stitch width, but I found it’s easier to just eyeball it. At first, I wasn’t really sure what the units were supposed to be, but I’m thinking now that you measure in millimeters between the holes and then the width setting is in millimeters, too.

button 044 [18]Place your button on your fabric in its desired place and lower the needle into one hole. Then lower the presser foot, securing the button. (Tip: make sure your needle thread has a nice length of tail when you begin.)

button 045 [19]

At first, just turn the hand crank to carefully lower the needle into the other hole. This will ensure that the width is correct before you press the pedal and break the needle on the button. Once you’re sure the width is set correctly, go for it. Press the pedal and let it sew back and forth 10 times or so.

button 035 [20]If your button has four holes, start with the front holes and then lift the needle and presser foot and scoot the button slightly so you’re aligned over the back holes.

button 036 [21]

Repeat the process.

button 046 [22]

When you’re done, you should have two tails of thread at the front …

button 048 [23]

and two at the back.

button 049 [24]

Thread the tails onto a needle (both at once or one at a time; it doesn’t matter).

button 050 [25]

Push the needle through to the back and pull the front tails to the back. Tie in a know with the back tails to secure. Clip threads.

I have skipped this step many times in my life just because I didn’t think about doing it and I’ll tell you that the thread definitely starts coming undone. It’s worth the little bit of effort.

button 053 [26]