How to Sew a Button on a Pair of Pants

Don't fool around with a safety pin if a button has popped off a pair of your pants. In a few minutes, you can sew on a button that will look good, be convenient and stay attached for the life of the pants. Most manufacturers sew on pants' buttons by machine, passing enough thread through the button to keep it attached until it leaves the factory. The quick application procedure is why they often fall off under normal wear. Follow the instructions below to sturdily hand sew a button onto the waistband of your pants.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Button
• Thread
• Needle
• Scissors

1. Use the button that was originally attached to the pants or choose a four-hole flat button that fits the size of the buttonhole. It should not be difficult to push the button through the hole, but it should not slide through so easily that it comes undone under a little pressure.

2. Thread an approximately 16-inch length of thread through a hand sewing needle. Knot the two ends of the thread together at the bottom.

3. Insert the needle from the front of the pants' waistband at the point where the original button was located. When the waistband is closed, the buttonhole should lie directly above where the button will be placed without any puckers in the fabric.

4. Bring the needle back up through the fabric 1/8 inch away from where it was inserted. Put the needle into one hole of the button and then bring it back down through the hole that is located diagonally across from it. Push the needle into the fabric. From the back, bring the needle back up through the fabric, inserting it into an empty hole in the button. Insert the needle into the hole diagonally across from that hole and push through the fabric. You've now created a X with thread in the button. Repeat the X formation two more times.

5. 
   Fig. 1

   From the bottom, insert the needle into the fabric, but rather than coming up through a hole in the button, tip the button slightly to bring the needle up in-between the button and the fabric. See Fig. 1.

6. Wrap the thread three times around the thread between the pants and the button. Insert the needle through the fabric to the back of the waistband.

7. 
   Fig. 2

   Insert the needle horizontally to catch the threads at the back of the fabric. Pull the thread to create a loop. Put the needle through the loop. See. Fig. 2. Pull tightly. This knots the thread. Repeat. Clip the thread.