Hand-sewn buttonholes: a wee tutorial
April 5th, 2009
Lately I have been sewing on my 1955 Singer 99K. It is a straight-stitch machine, so if I want buttonholes, I have to do them by hand. I made a 1940s-inspired skirt lately out of vintage fabric and buttons, so I thought the hand-stitched buttonholes would fit right in. They’re certainly not the most beautiful buttonholes I’ve ever seen, but they work and are mostly hidden by the big buttons anyway.
I’ve put together a photo tutorial on flickr, but I don’t have time to add captions until this evening.
Click here to watch the tutorial as a slide show.
Pattern: Kasia from BurdaStyle
Fabric: 36″ wide corduroy from my Baba
Buttons: 1″ buttons found behind the cabinets during my parents kitchen remodel (score!)
The fabric and buttons are great! Could we see the whole finished peice?
I love my old machine and the buttonhole attachment that came with it does a great job but seems to be harsh on the fabric. So I just make the best buttonholes I can with a zig-zag stitch. Your buttonholes look wonderful – with a vintage fabric one should be extra careful. Bet Eric will think you look mighty cute in that skirt!
Oh …I cant tell you the huge sigh I let out for this blog. Your back! I missed you!
Erik will be home soon. I see the 2/9 event signs on base. I guess some of the men are already on there way back.
Annie, how much longer before your hubby gets home? Been thinking about you all!
Quiltlover
Glad to read that you sew your vintage fabrics on a vintage sewing machine! Now I’m inspired to try some hand-stitched buttonholes, they look great, and authentic for the era.