Thread for buttonholes

Thanks Kate - so we shouldn't use nylon or something else "artificial"? The reason I asked is, my wife has an old Singer 99K and I bought a buttonhole attachment for her on ebay. I spent HOURS yesterday, fiddling with it to get it right. The top stitching looks "ok" now, but the underneath (inner) stitching is also "ok", but it's sticking out more than the display side. I've lubed the machine according to the manual, fiddled with the bobbin tension and set and tried every thread tension setting... It doesn't seem to affect the stitching underneath - except - when I set the bobbin tension a little more tightly than it is, the thread breaks (not sure now if it was needle or bobbin that keeps breaking).

Allan.

Standard cotton machine sewing thread will do, but you can also get good results with embroidery thread. It's finer and will need a closer stitch.

If possible, I prefer to use cotton embroidery thread (size 60 or smaller) for good cotton shirts' buttonholes. Less bulk, a smidge more sheen.

Kay Lancaster snipped-for-privacy@fern.com

I find that I need to loosen the needle tension when I'm stitching buttonholes Liz

There used to be something called buttonhole twist, but I've not seen it at the local fabric stores for a long time. It might be at someplace like Banaschs, but it didn't occur to me to look the last time I was there.

In general, it's a sad state of affairs for sewing supplies here in Cincinnati. I went into Hancock's last week, looking for a couple of 7" black zippers, a pretty basic staple, one would think. There was not a single black zipper in the store except for the outdoor, separating type. I was astonished! The clerk offered to special order one for me, if you can imagine!!

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

Cotton shows up better, nylon stretches. Poly is OK on poly fabric... I often use silk thread on wools.

I have a couple of those old button hole Heath Robinson jobs! Fun, aren't they! Set the tension as close to normal as you can get: the stitch should lock JUST on the underside of the fabric for the best results (for seams you want it to lock in the middle of the layers). Experimentation has shown that I need fairly normal tension (a tad looser than for seams), and heavier foot pressure is best: there should be a knob or screw on the top of the machine to alter the foot pressure. I find my two older machines work best on wool and cotton fabrics, though they will sew anything from deck chair canvas and dress leather to silk chiffon with ease! They like cotton or silk threads best, too. I usually use Guttermann (it's dead easy to get hold of here) cotton and silk, Sylco cotton, and threads from Empress Mills.

You can see my Singer 66K and my singer 15-88 on my web site - URL below. Not doing buttonholes, unfortunately! I use the Lily for those as a general rule!

If you are getting a LOT of thread breaks, consider the age of the thread: old thread can deteriorate, especially if the light has got at it! Try a new reel of good quality thread. Also, in straight stitching, the top thread will give you loops underneath if it is too loose, and the bottom thread will give you loops on the top! If the bottom tension is too tight, this can drag the top thread down and give you a false reading, so if the thread is looping on the bottom at the mid point on the dial, look at the bottom tension. If you look at the bobbin case, you will see a little leaf spring that puts the tension on the thread: this is held in by a tiny screw. You can adjust this (you need to use a jeweller's screwdriver and be very careful not to lose that tiny screw!). When you have BOTH threads adjusted to give a good quality stitch locked between two layers of crisp cotton, THEN try your buttonholer on the fabric you are using, and adjust the TOP tension to give the result you want. Standard practice is to lock the stitch just UNDER the fabric so that no bobbin thread shows on the finished buttonhole.

If you still have problems, it may be worth disassembling both the top and bottom tension mechanisms and giving the whole shebang a good clean! I had to do this with my 15-88, and dug out quite an amazing volume of fossilized crud from between the disks and under the leaf spring! I also cleaned off some rust from the disks... Now the tension works perfectly, so I shall have to experiment with the buttonholers! I will take pix...

Buttonhole twist is great for sewing buttons on tough fabric, but is too stiff for buttonholes in anything less tough than canvas! You get better wear out of finer thread that's closer to the wight of the fabric. Even on heavy fabric, it's sometimes better to use a lighter thread and give it two passes!

Buttonhole twist is lovely for top-stitching, but only for hand-sewing buttonholes. It's too heavy for a machine buttonhole, IMNSHO.

Actually, Kate, you know I think it was meant for hand sewing buttonholes.

Reaching WAY back into the store of useless knowledge for that tidbit.

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

That was my understanding also. Plus it is good for sewing buttons on to heavy fabric (preferably backed up by a small button on the back).

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

Hay, it WORKS for that, but it IS a bit like sewing with string! On most things a silk thread looks nicer... BUT, if you have a machine that will cope with button thread, or the poly top stitching threads, it is GREAT for sewing eyelets in tents, where the metal one has popped out and torn the fabric a bit...

Right on! Because buttonhole twist is thick, you don't have to take so may stitches. And it's usually thick fabrics that get hand-worked buttonholes.

I use my usual 100/6 cotton thread when I hand-work a buttonhole, since it's always a repair job worked over a machine-worked buttonhole, and the machine thread is what's handy.

Buttonhole silk is also really neat for hand embroidery. You can't buy size D (buttonhole twist) silk thread anywhere, but on the Tire website (

)there's a thread said to be the same. I think it's #8 orthereabouts; they don't explain anywhere what their numbersmean.

Joy Beeson

Just this past Saturday several of my old friends from the pro sewing group here went to the local art museum to see a great exhibit. Dressmakers in Cincinnati from about the mid-1800s to about 1930.

One of the many gorgeous gowns on display was this exquisite wedding dress from about 1903, with tone on tone hand embroidery all over it. The dressmaker used what looked like four-strand silk embroidery floss to make some padded stitches, plus a border of brick stitch all around the entire bodice, and down the front panels. Breathtaking.

There was also a lovely print Gibson-era gown with tiny pin tucks shaping the entire dress. I looked very close to see if they were machine made. Nope, all hand done. The poor woman who made it must have been blind by the time she finished it. Same with the wholly beaded gowns, and the one with miniscule sequins scattered all over the skirt and bodice.

We were able to really get close without touching the garments, which was very nice, but unusual. Most of the time this type of exhibit is behind glass, and if they don't give you a way to see the back of the garment you're just out of luck. It would have been a shame to miss some of the more "delicious details" on these gowns! Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati