Hand sewing on a button is one of those pleasing sewing tasks that everyone should have in their dressmaking skill set. At one point or another almost everyone will need to sew on a button, right? Whether that's replacing a long lost button on a ready-to-wear garment, or adding a sprinkle of colourful buttons to your latest make, this tutorial will show you step by step (with a helpful video too!) how to sew on a button by hand.
But wait, if there's a button, there must be a buttonhole! Fear, not sewists, we've already got you covered when it comes to stitching up perfect, stress-free buttonholes. Check out THIS post for automatic one-step buttonholes and THIS post for four-step ones. We promise they aren't as scary as you might think, and can actually be a really satisfying part of sewing!
Let's get back to buttons...
In this tutorial, I'm sewing a colour pop of bright pink, heart-shaped buttons onto a floaty viscose Lyra shirt dress. The perfect pattern for nailing your buttonholes and buttons! You can also find buttons on our Indigo Add-on pattern for a cool button-up back dress, on our classic Rosa shirt, the simple Arielle skirt, our swishy Seren, and our trendy Alexa jumpsuit.
Pull out an arm's length of thread (my default is an all-purpose polyester thread, which is nice and strong).
Thread your needle. Tie the ends together in a double knot. Snip the ends close enough that the threads won’t peep out under the button, but not so close they’ll untie themselves.
With your button placement marked (I've used an air erasable pen) insert the needle where you want your button, through the right side (or nice side) of the fabric first to hide the knot.
Before adding the button, anchor the thread with a couple of stitches.
Each time you make a stitch, pull the thread all the way through to the knot, checking you don’t leave a loop at the end.
Repeat, then snip the ends.
And that’s it! You’ve sewn on a button.
