In September 2024, Ontario’s provincial government posted a survey asking people to state “what practical life skills you think are important” and “what other skills you think students should learn in school”, apart from skills such as critical thinking, digital literacy, communication, and global citizenship. Perhaps one of these would be sewing, if Canada’s sewing ability is anything like that of the UK: in 2017, a British Heart Foundation poll of over 2,000 people found that 59% of people were “unable to sew confidently or at all.”
It’s never too late, however, to pick up a skill like this. And even just knowing how to sew a button onto a piece of clothing will save you time and a bit of money, all the while maintaining your clothes in tip-top shape. So, should a button ever come off a jacket, shirt, or other garment of yours, here’s how to fix it.
All you’ll need is:
-a garment of clothing that needs a replacement button
-a replacement button of the correct size
-a spool of thread with the same thickness and colour of the thread used on the other buttons
-a sewing needle with an eye that will accommodate the thickness of the thread
-scissors or thread snips
-(optional) a thimble to make it easier to push the needle through the fabric
1) Put the thread through the eye of the needle and pull the thread to the length of your elbow. Leave a small “tail” on the other side of the needle’s eye so you don’t lose the thread. Note: there’s no need to tie the thread to the needle with a knot.
2) On the back side of your fabric, tack your thread down by pulling the needle sideways through, twice in the same direction.
3) Poke your needle all the way through your fabric and put the button on.
4) Go through the second hole of the button, pushing the needle through the fabric again. Repeat this process until your button feels quite sturdy. If your button has two holes, just go back and forth. If it has four, alternate the holes in a criss-cross pattern.
Note: in the example coat shown in the photo gallery below, there is a smaller button on the other side as well. This is used for preventing the threads from tearing in high-friction areas of the clothing, but isn’t necessary in every garment.
An extra tip: when you’re tacking down your button, it’s tempting to sew it really tightly to the fabric. But really, you want to have just the slightest bit of ease so there’s flexibility when putting the button through one of the button holes.
5) When you’re done sewing your button, push the needle to the button side of the fabric but not through any holes of the button itself. Then wind the thread around the back side of the button a couple of times to reinforce the sewn threads.
6) Push your needle back through to the back side and tack down the thread in the same way as before, doing it neatly in an inconspicuous place. Loop the thread a few times to secure your sewing.
7) Finally, snip off the loose ends of the thread—that’s it, you’ve finished attaching a new button.
Working with a needle and thread really doesn’t have to be something mysterious or daunting. Give it a go, and you may soon find yourself trying to hem your own trousers or mending holes!
Fotogalerii
