Repairs- that inevitable hanging button

Isn't it the little foxes that spoil the vine? I kept pushing that one shirt with the hanging button to the back of the ironing pile simply because I didn't want to take the time to make the necessary repair. Well today is the day and like Darcy "I will conquer".




First up- to the sewing box. I hope you have fully stocked sewing kit/box. These are so nice and mine is off limits to everyone else. This is the only way I can be certain my supplies are well my supplies:).



Next clip off and pull out the old threads on your hanging button. Many times a button sewn on unreinforced fabric will begin to tear at the fabric with time. Yes, that had happened in my case. And as you can see my shirt was never reinforced to begin with.








Now the plot thickens, my simple button sewing on project has grown into a repair project as well. Not to worry. Cut a tiny circle of white soft fabric to place on the wrong side of the fabric and hold in place while you sew on the button.





Threading the needle- a little quick trick I love and makes button sewing even faster. Double your thread so you are threading two strands through your needle. This leaves a loop at the long end of your thread.

Insert your needle in the underneath side of the fabric through your white fabric and up to the top and through the button while inserting your pinkie in the thread loop on the underneath side.While you pull the thread up to the top your pinkie keeps the thread from slipping through. Next, come down through the button and to the underneath side stick your needle through the thread loop and pull firmly. This step saves you from having to knot the thread on the underneath side and enables you to reattach your button with double strand thread (meaning fewer times in and out of the holes on the button- works for me).


Last step, continue coming up from the underneath side through the button you are holding firmly in place while being careful to observe the pattern in which the other button on the opposite side was sewn on in. Is the other button sewn on in a crisscross pattern or up and down pattern? Mine was crisscross. After you have completed four or five up and down repetitions in each direction and you can tell your button is sewn on firmly you are ready to "tie off". With your needle and thread on the wrong side of the fabric catch a few threads in a small stitch being careful not to let your stitches show on the right side. Do this three or four times and your ready to cut your thread off right next to the fabric.
Congratulations you're done!!