Sewing Tutorial: Buttonhole basics

Sally from Sew Sally breaks down the basics of creating buttonholes in a simple, approachable manner that anyone can follow. For her Sew, Mama, Sew! article, she starts by emphasizing the importance of measuring your button first, as this will determine the size of your buttonhole. She recommends using a ruler and marking the fabric lightly with a pencil to ensure accuracy.

Once you’ve measured, Sally explains three methods for sewing buttonholes: using the automatic buttonhole stitch on your sewing machine, freehand stitching, and sewing by hand. She suggests that beginners start with the machine’s automatic feature, which produces consistent results, but for those without this option, the freehand method works just as well, as long as you practice first on scrap fabric.

From my own experience, I can’t stress enough the importance of stabilizing your fabric. I like to add interfacing or even a layer of lightweight fusible tape where the buttonhole will be stitched. This extra step ensures that your buttonhole doesn’t warp or stretch, giving a clean, professional finish. Also, don’t forget to always use sharp scissors or a seam ripper to open your buttonhole. There’s nothing worse than accidentally snipping your stitches!

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I’m always tempted by the pretty velvets at the fabric store. So much texture! And the way the fibers catch the light! But sewing on velvet is trickier than you’d think. That nap that lends beautiful texture also likes to slip and crawl. That nap can also spell disaster if you cut a piece the wrong direction. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t use buy that velvet and sew it into something gorgeous, you just need to go into your velvet sewing project prepared. And Melissa at Melly Sews has a post that takes you step by step through sewing on velvet.

Velvet is such a luscious fabric, especially for winter sewing projects. Of course there are velvet Christmas sewing projects – stockings, tree skirts, santa hats – but velvet is beautiful for all winter. Think of all the gorgeous velvet dresses, evening bags, hair accessories, even pillows and other home décor that you see all winter long.

Melly Sews’ post gives you the tips and tricks you need to know in order for your velvet sewing project to end up a success. There are types of projects better suited for velvets, and kinds of projects to avoid. She describes the different types of velvet available. And she also tells the best way to lay out and cut your pattern pieces from velvet fabric. Her tutorial also covers marking, pressing, and of course sewing that beautiful fabric. There’s also a video included in case that’s your preferred method for learning.

Head over to Melly Sews to learn how to sew on velvet fabric.

And if you want to learn more about that lovely blue velvet dress shown, she has a post that tells more about it including 2 ways to style it depending on if you want to be more dressy or more casual.

[photo credit: Melly Sews]

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