Ack!! buttonhole question

Satin stitch around the edges of the original buttonhole? Sew a complete buttonhole on top of the old one? Remove what's left of the original buttonhole and sew a complete new one from scratch??? Throw the pants in the trash and buy her a new pair rather than mess with it??? VBEG

Leslie & The Furbabies > ds' g/f, they live downstairs atm, has a buttonhole on a pair of trousers

Option 3 would be my choice. ;)

me too, the old thread is likely to continue to fray/unravel. Whilst you're doing it, you might as well check the others as if they are worn, it might be simpler to redo them all in one go.

Anne

to all of you, these are fairly new trousers. she got them for her new job started just two weeks ago. its the button on the front of waist. cost of new trousers here is not not gonna happen. taking them back to be repaired would take ages if they would do it at all. right now shes getting home late, takes a bus home most days. hmmm. i might tell her to call the shop first and see what they say about it all. i wonder if shes still got the receipt? i will probly have to do it but as i've not 'repaired' a buttonhole before i'm just unsure which way to attack this. oh well. thanks for all the suggestions, will plod on with this over the weekend. jeanne

Jeanne,

I have done this a few times, and it's not really all that big a deal. Just satin stitch exactly over the edge, be sure to use a heavy duty needle if the fabric is multiple thicknesses. You should go all the way around the buttonhole to make sure it covers all the old stitching.

It would be very difficult to sew a new buttonhole over the old one, almost impossible to line that up I would think.

Good luck,

Judie in Western New York

nzlstar* wrote:

Done it before. NO BIG DEAL. All you have to do is use a piece of interfacing on the BACK of the buttonhole, matching the front of the buttonhole together (be careful as you do not want any gaposis here), do the satin stitch a teensy bit BIGGER than the stitches of the buttonhole, trim away the stabilizer (or wash it or whatever the directions say) and then VERY VERY CAREFULLY cut open the new buttonhole--you should ONLY be cutting the stabilizer not the threads. TA DA! A job well done. IF you are skeert to do it this way then do the buttonhole stitch very closely together, once again over stabilizer for strength, and there you are. IF you have to: use a permanent marker to cover any 'loose bits of stabilizer' that are peeking thru. I've done it both ways and the SM way was stronger.

HTH Butterfly (just TAKE YOUR TIME and you'll be fine)

I'm a professional seamstress and have had to do this sort of repair often. I do as others have recommended but with a few additional steps. First set your machine up for a very narrow zig-zag -- a satin stitch

-- that is just a teensy bit wider than the one already forming the buttonhole. If you have an automatic buttonhole thingy on your machine, you might want to remove the button and use it with the automatic settings. Whichever way you use, put some type of backing behind the existing buttonhole to help give the new stitches a more solid surface. If you use a regular interfacing, use several layers. If you use a fabric, one layer should be sufficient. Now stitch the buttonhole, cut open the button hole in the backing fabric and trim the outside edges of the backing close to the edges of the buttonhole and you are finished. This is a bit more work than just satin stitching around the edges but you'll have a firmer buttonhole. You could it by hand and get nice results IF you use that backing fabric behind the existing buttonhole. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

I'm assuming it's unraveled quite a bit and you've had some good suggestions. If it's just starting a bit, you may be able to stop it with some Fray Check. A dot of Fray Check on the stitching on buttons on ready-made clothes can help prevent lost buttons, too.

Julia > ds' g/f, they live downstairs atm, has a buttonhole on a pair of trousers

This question has been covered quite thoroughly but I can add a bit of insurance. When you do whatever you decide, before cutting, coat the buttonhole on the underneath side with some FrayBlock or Fray Check. FrayBlock dries soft. Fray Check is rather stiff but would probably be okay if the buttonhole isn't going to touch skin. Polly

the hole goes 'over' the button so nope doesnt touch the skin. however i dont have any fray check, dont even know if its available here. will do some checking round tho. probly a good thing to have. cheers, jeanne

i do have an auto buttonhole thingy that holds the button to make the hole the 'exact' size needed. good idea removing the button to do that. something i wouldnt have thot to do. i've decided to try remaking it with the machine. the fabric isnt fraying at all. i just checked and the pants were made in australia but the fabric was made in france and it doesnt specifiy what the fabric is. they are much like a business suit tho, so should be ok. we'll see in time i guess, eh. cheers to all for all the info and suggestions, jeanne

Jeanne, this is what I do when this happens. Use FrayCheck or other "glue" that won't wash out around the buttonhole. Trim loose threads. Use a zigzag stitch over the edges of the buttonhole. Remember that most of the buttonhole will not be seen when in use, so if it isn't perfect it doesn't really matter. (And who is really going to be seeing it when the trousers are being worn? Anyone that close in that area isn't there to check out the buttonhole.) If your machine stutters over sewing over an edge, put a piece of scrap fabric, close to the color of the waistband, under the buttonhole. Then after it is done, slit the fabric, and trim it away close to the stitching on the back. may not look wonderful on the back, but it works.

Pati, > to all of you,

Can you iron on stabilizer at the back( wonderunder then a matching scrap) then satin stitch over the exsisting b hole before making the slit in "new" bhole.

If it's just one, I'd probably do it by hand. Quicker than setting up the machine. Use buttonhole thread or embroidery floss. Roberta in D

"nzlstar*" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:etcih1$p5j$ snipped-for-privacy@lust.ihug.co.nz...