How to…Sew on a Button

Sometimes you don’t appreciate what you’ve got until you don’t have it any more, like your own personal chef, chauffeur, maid, and seamstress that you left at home when you moved away to college—oh, I’m talking about Mom. So now is the time to learn how to do the things your Mom would do without blinking while you were home: basics, like sewing on a button.

 This is, of course, a way to make you clothes last longer: rather than giving that cardigan to good will, sew those two missing buttons back on and it’s like new. It is also one of the simplest forms of D.I.Y. projects: personalize boring, generic clothes with fun unique buttons to make them your own. Below are a few buttons I found in a quick search online. A trip to your local craft or fabric store will reveal even more unique options to fit your style.

Here is the quick and easy way to sew on a button securely:

1. Thread the needle with a length of thread about the length of your hand to your elbow. Pull the needle so that there is an even length of thread on either side, and tie the two ends of thread together.

2. Position the button on the garment where you want it to be, with a matchstick/needle/toothpick underneath it so that it isn’t too tight against the fabric (you want to be able to use the button!)

3.  Thread the needle up through the fabric and through one of the holes in the button, from the underside of the fabric. Pull the thread all the way through.

4. Thread the needle down through the button’s other hole, through the fabric, and pull the thread through.

5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 a few times, so that the button is secured.

6. Finish with the thread pulled through on the underside of the garment and tie it in a knot a few times. Snip off the extra thread.

All finished! Something so simple, yet so little of us know how to do it. Now that you know, go call your mom and thank her. Something every college girl should know.

Author: Kaleigh Rogers