How to Properly Sew on Buttons & Snaps

This is a four-hole button.

If you sew on a button too tightly, you will not be able to slip the fabric behind it. If a snap is sewn on with the thread running on top of the snap, it will not stay closed. If it is sewn this way with just a few stitches, it will close, but it will quickly pull loose. Sew on buttons and snaps correctly and they will work well for a long time.

Things You'll Need

• Needle
• Thread
• Straight pin

Instructions

Snap

1. 

   Thread your needle.

   Thread your needle with 28 inches of thread. Pull the ends of the thread until they are even and knot them together.

2. Place the snap against the fabric, right side up.

3. Bring the needle up through the fabric and one of the four holes in the edge of the snap.

4. Stick the needle back into the fabric just beyond the edge of the snap. You will be wrapping the thread over the rim at the edge of the snap. Pull the thread tightly.

5. Make several more evenly spaced stitches through this hole and over the edge of the snap.

6. Bring your needle up through an adjacent hole and stitch through it in the same way.

7. 

   Cut off the excess thread.

   Repeat these steps for the remaining two holes. Knot your thread close to the back of the fabric and cut off the excess thread. Sew the other side of the snap on the other side of the opening.

Button

1. 

   Stick a straight pin in the fabric at the point where you want to attach the button.

   Stick a straight pin in the fabric at the point where you want to attach the button. The point of the pin should go in 1/8-inch on one side of the point and come out 1/8-inch on the other side. This pin will lift the fabric under the center of the button so that you do not sew it on too tightly.

2. Thread your needle as described above. Place the button against the pin, centering it over the fabric which the pin has lifted.

3. Bring the needle up through one of the holes of the button and down through an adjacent hole. Pull the thread tightly. Sew four stitches in the same way through the same holes. If your button has four holes, sew through the other two holes in the same way.

4. Knot and cut the thread as described previously.

Tips & Warnings

• This method works for shirt buttons. Coat buttons are sewn on more loosely.