Buttonhole with a 30 yr old machine

[mamavegan]

I have a montgomery ward uht j1980 sewing machine. I'm a novice sewer and it's served me well in learning to sew and making quite a few things for myself and my family. I've finally gotten up the courage to try making a buttonhole, so I tried out the buttonhole patterns on my machine. It's giving me some ok stitches, but they go in a straight line. Part of this is my newbieness, but do I need to turn the fabric myself as it goes? I turned the stitch width and length to the highest settings to see what it would do, but it's still not a buttonhole.

Anyhow, I'm hoping you ladies could help me suss this out before I spend $ on the manual. I wish they would just put them out there for free online!

Thanks for any help you can give!

[mamavegan]

Ah, ok.. further investigation has taught me that it's a 5 step proces going through the settings. My first attempt sure is ugly. Any tips/tricks?

[sapphire_chan]

Most sewing machine button hole steps do the following in some order:

1 go forward zigzagging along one edge of the button hole line
2 go side to side on one end of the button hole line
3 go backward zigzagging along the other end of the button hole line
4 go side to side on the other end of the button hole line

5, 6 Some run a line of stitching up and down either side of the button hole line before doing the zigzagging. That is, you'd go down and back with straight stitches right on the edge of your pencil line for your buttonhole, then use the stitch lines to guide your zigzags.

Then you slice out the space between all the stitching with a seam ripper and that's the button hole.

What I'd do, is use some scrap fabric, like a couple layers of things left over from cutting out your pattern. Then run through each of the steps and see what they each do.

Since you've got a 5 step process, my guess it's it's actually a 6 step process where one of the steps involves going back to an earlier one.

I'd guess you've got a forward zigzag, a forward straight stitch, backwards zigzag, backwards straight stitch, and a tack down (zigzag without moving forward or back) that's supposed to happen twice.


Your stitch length should be pretty narrow. The buttonhole setting will take care of width.

Mark your button hole line using a straight edge (e.g. ruler) and something really obvious to see, like a black pen.


What you're doing is wrapping the edges of the button hole in advance and making a barrier of thread to keep the fabric from tearing at either end.


Hope that helps!

[sewchris2642]

Originally Posted by mamavegan

Ah, ok.. further investigation has taught me that it's a 5 step proces going through the settings. My first attempt sure is ugly. Any tips/tricks?

Practice (sorry about that). Also mark your buttonholes about 1/8 longer than the button. I find that starting with a bar tack (the wide zigzag that stitches in place at each end of the buttonhole), regardless of what the number is, makes it easier to end in the correct place without going past it.

My sister got very good with the buttonholes on her old Singer which had a 4-step buttonhole. And my mil did hers with only a zigzag Kenmore. But I never did. Probably because I don't make them very much. I prefer a buttonhole with rounded ends so I use a buttonhole attachment (like this one http://www.onlineauction.com/index.p...tion_id=451082) instead of the built in buttonhole stitch on my Kenmore.

[sapphire_chan]

Oliver's a total snuggle bug. I just love how he's giving you a total love face in all the pictures on your crafty blog.

[sapphire_chan]

Oh, and my last few times doing buttonholes by machine were such a PITA that I just did 'em by hand. I need to adjust my tension or something, but it's not worth 10 minutes of adjusting to save 10 minutes.

[mamavegan]

Thank you all so much for all the amazing responses! You ladies are a wealth of informatin! I do plan to practice a ton and I appreciate all the tips. I didn't have much time today, but I'm going to work on it more tomorrow.

I guess my machine is a 4 step, because I do 4 and then turn back one for the 5th step (the last tack). I'm going to try it starting from the tack as suggested by sapphire chan and see how that looks, too.
I'm curious if a button foot would help or if it's even compatible with my machine. Also, sewchris, does that attachment connect to your Kenmore or is it used separately ( I know that sounds dense, sorry.)

Also, thanks for the comments about Oliver. He is such a sweet guy and it's so amazing to see him smiling so much. My first was a thinker and very serious baby. He was happy all the same, but hardly smiled until he was much older. Anyhow, the first thing I see every morning is Oliver smiling at me. It doesn't get much better than that.

[sewchris2642]

Yes the buttonhole attachment attaches to the machine. I drop the feed dogs (on some machines, the feed dogs are covered up by a plate), remove the pressue foot, and screw on the attachment. There is a arm that goes over the screw that holds the needle on the bar. That "runs" the attachment. Some buttonhole attachments use the zigzag stitch stitch on the machine to make the buttonhole. Mine moves the fabric back and forth to make the zigzag. There is a template in the attachment that determines the size of the buttonhole.

Here's a video of an industrial buttonhole attachment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZCH4RxN3v8

Here's one on a built in buttonhole: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTjjV...eature=related

[Think of Winter]

Get yourself some really good, clear instructions, then practice a few times. I would not try to wing it!

I just made buttonholes for the first time in, oh, 20 yrs. I used the 2 how-to books I have and my sewing machine manual. My manual had the best instructions by far. Then I made some practice buttonholes on some scrap fabric, same fabric including interfacing.

My book says to learn some rainy afternoon when you can do dozens of them until they're perfect. I did 2 practice holes, then the real thing and they're fine. Not perfect, but they work!

ETA: My machine is approx 45 yrs old. Do you have a manual for yours? They are really, really helpful.