We now move on to making our buttonholes:
- Change the presser foot and install the special buttonhole presser foot (supplied with your sewing machine)
- Do some tests beforehand on scraps of your fabric: take 2 layers of fabric to put yourself in real conditions
- Position yourself on the special buttonhole stitch of your machine and set the length of your stitch between 0 and 1. Adjust according to your tests.
➡️ Our heart buttons are 1 cm high. You will therefore need to make slightly larger buttonholes so that the button can pass through. Identify the notch on your presser foot that works best: for us, we position ourselves at the 3rd notch (we advise you to refer to our tutorial video if this is the first time you are making a buttonhole - this will ensure you are sure of the correct movement).
💡 Good to know: we're showing you how to make a buttonhole on a basic home sewing machine, but be aware that on many higher-end sewing machines today, the buttonhole function is automated, which makes it even easier to make them (basically you press a button and the machine does the work by itself). We won't go into detail on these higher-end machines because we assume that if you've invested in this more sophisticated machine, you probably have a more advanced sewing level :)
- When your tests are conclusive (and only after!), return to your work
- Place your needle where you marked the location of the 1st buttonhole, in the top left corner. Go to buttonhole stitch mode 1 on your machine and position your presser foot correctly so that the opening of the presser foot is perfectly adapted to the size you want to give to your buttonhole
- Gently press the pedal and guide the fabric without pulling or forcing it to the bottom left corner of your buttonhole. The work is done automatically:
- Once you reach the bottom, with the needle fully raised, move on to buttonhole stitch 2 and work back and forth a few times. You will end up in the bottom right corner of the buttonhole:
- Then move on to buttonhole stitch 3. Be careful to stop well in time - in the top right corner:
- Finally, finish with buttonhole stitch 4 (which is actually the same as 2) by going back and forth a few times:
- Finally, raise the needle and cut the excess threads.
- Place 2 pins at the beginning and end of the buttonhole
- Using a seam ripper, carefully open the buttonhole to form the hole that will allow the button to pass through (along the black line on our diagram)
💡 Good to know: these 2 pins serve as guides so as not to go too far with the seam ripper and accidentally tear the buttonhole.
- Remove your pins, the boutonniere is done!
- Repeat these steps for the remaining 2 buttonholes and iron everything.
