Sewing On A Button – Part 2

Do you use your sewing machine to sew on buttons?

This is something I’ve never done. Sewing on a button with a sewing machine seems like a vary foreign concept as we were always taught to do it by hand. Now I’m going to give it a try, let’s see what I’ve been missing out on all those years.

After making all the buttonholes yesterday the duvet cover is now ready for some buttons.

Getting the Machine Ready For Sewing On A Button

First of all remove whatever foot is on the machine as no feet are required for sewing on a button.

Drop the feed dogs.

The button for dropping the feed dogs is at the back of the machine and is a button that slides. To drop the feed dogs the button slides towards the body of the sewing machine – in reverse to re-engage the feed dogs. If the accessory case is attached to the machine it will need to be removed to access the feed dog button.

Sewing On a Button

Select stitch #19. It defaults to 6 stitches to sew the button on with but the amount of stitches can be increased or decreased by using the arrows on the stitch length control.

Place the button on the fabric and then under the presser foot making sure that it’s lined up with the buttonhole. It’s a good idea to mark the placement for the button with a dot prior to starting.

Manually lower the needle into the hole using the hand wheel.

Lower the presser foot so that it’s sitting on the button.

Now manually move the needle up and over to the next hole with the hand wheel to ensure that the stitch width is correct. This is a good practice to get into as you do not want the needle coming down on the button and breaking – definitely not good for the timing of the machine.

If the stitch width is not quite right then use the stitch width buttons on the machine to decrease or increase the stitch width as you would for the width of a zigzag stitch.

Continue stitching by using the foot control. The machine will do an automatic tie off and then stop when the button is stitched in place.

Button Sewn On

The button secured in place.

The back is nice and neat as well.

A button in place on the duvet cover.

And it fits neatly into the buttonhole – a perfect fit.

How cool is that? I was very pleasantly surprised that it works like a charm. I love this feature and just why haven’t I used it before? Probably because like most people I’m stuck in my way of doing things and by hand must be better especially if mom told me so. From now on no more sewing buttons on by hand when sewing a button on with a sewing machine is so much faster and just as effective.

Happy Quilting