How To Sew on a Button

Everyone needs to learn how to sew on a button. Most likely some time in your lifetime you’re going to have a button pop off a shirt or some kind of clothing, and sewing it back on is super easy. In this post, which includes a VIDEO TUTORIAL, I’m going to show you how easy it is to use a hand sewing method.

Items & Materials Needed

Sewing needle
Thread
Scissors
Toothpick
Button

DID YOU KNOW?

Most button-up shirts include a spare button. (Yep, kinda like a spare tire). Look on the side seam of the shirt and there may be a single button sewn to the tag of the shirt. Pretty cool because it can be a little challenging to find a button that looks exactly like the ones on your shirt, even if you do have a big jar of buttons like I do.

All you have to do is clip off the button and sew it on where the other one came off. Let me show you how easy it is to do.

In case the shirt you need to replace a button does NOT have an extra button and you don’ts have a jar of buttons, here is a link where you can get standard shirt buttons with the basic colors.

Double thread the needle and knot the end. (The video tutorial will show a slick tip on how to easily knot the end of the thread).
Locate the spot where the button needs to be applied.

TWO HOLE BUTTON

Insert the needle from the back of the fabric up into one of the holes in the button.
Stick the needle back into the other hole and pull it out on the underside. DON’T PULL IT ALL THE WAY YET. Take the TOOTHPICK and place it between the two holes, with the thread over the toothpick. Continue to pull the thread tight over the toothpick.
Reinsert the needle back up into the first hole and repeat the process THREE TIMES.
Insert the needle back up into the fabric, BUT NOT THROUGH THE BUTTON this time. The needle should be between the fabric and the button.
Wrap the thread around the strands of thread 3 times to create a shank. Take a small stitch at the base of the shank and knot. Insert the needle back into the fabric close to the stitches and out the back. Knot the thread one more time and clip the thread.
That’s it! Pretty quick and simple, right?

FOUR HOLE BUTTON

You can stitch a four-hole button a few ways. You can make a crisscross or sew two parallel stitches. Using the crisscross method, instead of sewing into the hole next to the one you just came up from, apply the needle to the hole at a diagonal.

Insert the toothpick in the same manner and make 3 passes on each diagonal.

Create the thread shank just like you do on the two-hole method, and knot in the same manner.

SHANK BUTTON

Double thread a needle and know the end. Locate the place where the button will be applied and insert the needle into the back of the fabric just underneath where the button will go.

Thread the needle through the button shank and back down into the fabric close to the shank. Make 3-6 passes depending on how big the shank is. For large shanks, make six passes and for smaller buttons, three passes will be plenty.

Poke the needle back to the underside of the fabric close to the stitches. Take a little stitch on the underside and knot and cut the thread.

That’s it. Pretty simple, right? I hope this is a skill that you can learn and that it will come in handy someday, even if you don’t do a lot of sewing.

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Jan Howell

Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.