How To Sew A Button By Hand

See how to sew a button by hand - easily!

Sewing buttons by hand can be so quick and easy! It's one of the simplest closures for bags, in addition to these KAM snaps, or the old good drawstring closure like with these bins (so adorable!) and very easy going, compared to the very popular but more advanced closures like these magnetic snaps and similar. You can use buttons for sewing patch pockets!

If you don't need to use this basic sewing skill on a regular basis, this is the video to watch and learn sewing buttons within minutes.

A few more basic skills - and life hacks that might be handy for you:

• 10 Sewing Hacks that Will Make Your Life Easier!
• This Clever No-Knot Sewing Hack!
• How To trace a Pattern (The Easy Way)

How To Sew A Button

A button fell off and now you're trying to figure out how to sew a button on pants? Or is it a shirt, and you need to get that button back where it belongs, before the meeting starts? Not an uncommon situation at all. See how to sew a two-hole button - so it stays where it needs to be and does not fall of again. At least not any time soon 🙂 Easy - peasy!

Video - How To Sew A Button By Hand

I've recorded this button sewing video for all of you visual learners - enjoy!

And to make it easier for you, I've also made written instructions for sewing buttons, all with step-by-step images. So let's see first what you need to sew a button.

Supplies You Need To Sew Buttons

• your button
• a little thread in the color matching your button, or matching the thread that has been used on other buttons (in case the are more, like on a shirt) - 30" is more than enough even of you double, or quardruple your thread. (quardruple?! - I'll explain that hack some time later)
• a needle (make sure the needle eye is small enough to go through the button hole!)
• scissors
• and obviously the piece of clothing or fabric you want to attach or re-attach your button to.

How To Sew A Two Hole Button - Instructions

Step 1 - Thread the Needle And Tie A Knot

Cut a 25" or so from your thread spool and guide one end of the thread through the needle eye. Fold and make a simple knot to tie the loose ends together.

Step 2 - Start Sewing

You'll want to hide that knotted end of the thread, right? This is why you start by making a stitch exactly at the spot you want to attach your button to, on the front side of the fabric:

Starting at the front, push the needle to the back side and then again up to the front side.

Step 3 - Stitching through the button holes

Push the needle from the underside up through one of the holes in the button, holding the button with the other hand. Once up, push the needle through the other hole to the backside of the fabric/garment. And then come back up through the first hole - and back through the other.

Step 4 - End Stitching

Once you have enough thread on your button, with a doubled thread it could be something between 5 and 10 times, depending on the button, you'll want to push the needle from the underside to the front side of the garment - it should end up right under the button:

Then wrap the thread around the threads beneath the button, making a circular movement. Depending on the thickness of the fabric, make 2 up to like... 5 turns around the threads? I always just make two LOL.

Step 4 - Tie off the thread

Pull on the thread and lift the button again a little, then tie off by creating two or three small knots below the button.

Cut off the excess thread. Done.

How To Sew On A Four-Hole Button?

What if you have a four-hole button? Sewing a four-hole button is very similar to sewing a two-hole button.

The only difference?

You need to make an x when sewing, simply meaning that after you've sewn through one pair of holes on a button, repeat again to sew the other pair:

It means you'll need to repeatedly pull the needle throought the third and the fourth hole on teh button, just as you did before. Once your button is attached tightly on the fabric, you're done.

How To Sew On A Shank Button?

What if you have a shank button? A shank button has no holes peeking through the main part. You sew it on through the (hence the name) a shank at the back of the button. A shank style button has a loop on the underside of the button.

Actually, even easier than sewing a simple two-hole button, because you don't care if the thread looks super aligned and smooth. When come up with the needle through the fabric, go through the shank and back down on the other side. Repeat several times and you're done. I'll need to add more photos some other time, but for now, let me just stop here or else I'll never publish this how to. 🙂

Every Button Needs a Buttonhole

See my other tutorial from the basic sewing series if you need to see how to make a buttonhole.

I hope this video and tutorial have been helpful. If you liked it, share it or save the image below to Pinterest, so you'll have this how-to available any time you need to sew a button: