Making Buttonholes on Dark, Busy Fabric When You Have Vision Difficulties

 Wow, time flies! Seems like I just posted last week, but I guess not. 

So, today I'm going to talk about buttonhole markings on a dark, very busy fabric. 

I made a blouse that has buttons up the front and two buttons on the cuffs. Even just sewing  seams, or top stitching, I had a difficult time seeing it well. So, when it came to making the buttonholes, I was concerned. 

Then the light bulb turned on, and I got out the washable stabilizer again. I think I'm going to have to buy more of it. 

But before that, I have to share how my 'new' machine makes awesome buttonholes. I have always had trouble with buttonholes. The ends are not always even, the length is not always the same, even though I measure and mark. 

I think the buttonhole maker is so cool, I even did a video. The first thing you do is unplug the foot pedal! So, the following is all done without use of the foot pedal. No hands, no feet involved. 

Ok, now on to marking on this darker, very busy fabric. I cut 1 1/4" strips to place along the front space for buttonholes and buttons. 

You can see that no matter what color marker I used, dark or white, seeing
buttonhole markings would be difficult on this fabric. 

I stuck the stabilizer to the right side of the buttonhole side. 

I used my flexible gauge to mark the buttonholes. I always opt for buttonholes
that are closer together, rather than farther apart. No gaping,

I did the same thing for the button side, using the same flexible gauge to mark their location. 

I used a plain dark fabric for the cuffs, and could mark those with white chalk.

Even with such precise marking, they are still a little off. But, as my Granny used to say, nobody will notice it on a galloping horse. (Not sure that I was ever on a galloping horse, but it's still true.) 

Sewing Buttons the Quick Way

I sewed the buttons on manually using my quick method, which I didn't take pictures of. Not sure if it needs pictures.

Pull a L O N G piece of thread from the spool or your sewing machine. I mean long. Two arms lengths. Fold it in half and thread the needle. You have two fairly long threads going through the eye. Match the ends and put in a knot. Now, you have 4 threads for each pass through the button holes. You'll only need 1 or 2 passes, then tie your knot on the back. Super quick. 

To tie a knot that will not come undone. Usually, we take a little stitch, run the thread through the loop and pull it tight. Pull the thread through the loop twice, instead of once, and pull tight. The knot will stay knotted, and the button will stay on. 

What about pulling the thread off the sewing machine, and it's curly? That's a recipe for a lot of knots and none of them where you want them! 

Before

After

Iron the thread and all the curlies are gone! 

More later, 

Karen