Choosing the right buttons for your sewing projects is often overlooked but can have a huge impact on the overall appearance of your finished creation.
Choosing the right button for your fabric
Understanding button types
The first step is selecting suitable buttons for your project. They should be chosen to match the fabric in terms of size, colour, and style, ensuring a cohesive appearance.
One common type is the flat button, which comes in two distinctive variations: the two-hole button and the four-hole button. Selecting the appropriate type of button depends on your specific sewing needs and the fabric you are working with. Two-hole buttons are ideal for delicate and lightweight materials, while four-hole buttons are a good choice for heavyweight fabrics when you need extra strength.
For projects involving heavy-weight materials like mens Aran sweaters, explore the option of shank buttons with a larger loop. See examples of this here: https://shoparan.com/mens-aran-sweaters/. This creates extra space between the button and the garment, ensuring a secure and durable attachment. Additionally, shank buttons can contribute to the overall appearance of your garments by improving drapery and hanging due to their smaller attachment area.
If you don’t want to stitch a buttonhole, a Mandarin button, sometimes known as a frog, is the perfect choice for you. They are characterised by a loop on one side and a distinctive knot or fastening on the other.
Matching your buttonhole to your button
Buttonholes
Research what type of buttonhole is suitable for your project. For more information on different types of buttonholes, see here.
The straight, square buttonhole is popular with beginners and can be created easily on a sewing machine. The majority of machines offer a sensor setting, an automatic setting, or a combination of both to produce buttonholes.
A keyhole buttonhole has a rounded end and is perfect for heavier-weight fabrics such as a sweater or winter jacket. Keyhole buttons are often used when you have used a skank button.
For a more demanding project, try the bound buttonhole. While they may be a little more challenging for beginners, they do add a touch of sophistication to your creative projects.
Summary
This article gives beginner tips for choosing sewing buttons. It recommends matching buttons to your fabric in size, colour and style, using two-hole buttons for delicate materials and four-hole for heavier ones, and shank buttons for thick fabrics such as Aran sweaters, or a Mandarin fastening if you’d rather avoid a buttonhole. It covers buttonhole types, from simple square style to keyhole and bound buttonholes.
Questions this article raises
- How do you decide between a two-hole and four-hole button when a fabric sits right in the middle weight-wise?
- How much harder is a bound buttonhole to sew than a straight square one for a true beginner?
- Does a Mandarin/frog fastening work as securely as a stitched buttonhole on heavier garments?
