Sew on a button - PEP BB textile.straw.sewbutton

I sewed on a button today for my mom's pajama top.

I, too, lost a button on my pajama top. Thought it would be a good opportunity to do a BB.

Thank you to my mom and sister for walking me through this process. Believe it or not I had fun!

I was putting off fixing the button on my sons trousers as he had basically ripped the whole thing off. There was a big hole and wasn’t sure I’d be able to fix it. When I looked through the excellent job others had carried out, I decided to take up the challenge. I cut a patch from an old T-Shirt. I sewed on to the back, not pretty - I need to practice basic stitching - this is all new to me. I then followed the excellent video and attached the button following the steps outlined. Here are the pictures showing the steps I took.

My partner and I don't wear enough things with buttons for one to need re-attached on a regular basis, but I have been making cloth feminine pads lately that need buttons sewn on for a closure. I used black thread that I got from my great-grandmother - I'm not sure what the fiber content actually is, but one of the only readable parts of the label says "cotton" and "woolen," so it's either cotton, wool, or a cotton/wool blend. By the feel of it I'd guess cotton, but it's good enough for me.

A trick I was taught years ago is that once you've finished sewing on the button, wrap your thread a bunch of times between the button and the fabric it's attached to before brining it to the back and tying it off. This elevates the button a little bit off the fabric and reduces the strain put on the thread when the button is fastened and so reduces the chances of the thread snapping and you losing your button again.

These trousers needed a new button and I had the perfect one in the button box! Photos show materials, the process, then front and back of the secured button. The button would've looked a bit nicer with a darker thread, but I used what I had, and the button will be hidden by a belt.

Yay for a really simple and easy air badge! Not sure if I'll get many in the textile BB but I'll try and keep them in mind when doing small (but really important) things like this

To document your completion of the BB, provide proof of the following as pics or video (less than two minutes):
 -  your button, thread, and the cloth you will sew the button onto
 -  the process of sewing on the button
 -  your button sewn on, both from the front and the back

I put my hands in my waist band and pop goes my pants button... *sigh*

Well, putting a button on is the first thing I learned to do with a thread and needle... I've even improved since I was a kid.



Thread the needle - moist the end of the thread with saliva, yum -> hold the end between two finger nails with less than a mm protruding, slip it through the eye and pull from the other side.

Knot one end of the thread with a double loop to make the knot fatter.



Start the stitch from the back to hide the hanging end of thread. Make a parallel stitch instead of a dozen criss crosses because it looks better upon close inspection! (Who looks that closely at your pants buttons?)



Knot it once half-way through. Knot it again at the end. Clip off the bulk of the hanging thread. Voila. Za button is replaced.



I'm sure there are more things I haven't learned yet about replacing buttons... my mind is open to the ultimate rebuttoning methodology.

I found this nifty vest at a garage sale. It had boring broken buttons and I decided to make if spiffy and use it for foraging because it has pockets and I'll surely get noticed wearing it.

Sewed a button back onto a dress shirt before it got lost.