C O N S U M E R S E R I E S CLOTHING Fixing torn no. 8.528

by K. Williams1

Do you have clothes with buttonholes that are torn or missing some stitches? Quick Facts... General Directions If the is torn at the end, to fix the tear, do the following: If a buttonhole is torn at the end, • Take out the buttonhole stitches around the tear. it may be patched and recut. • a piece of material a little bigger than the tear to use as a patch. Use the same color if you can. (Figure 1A.) If stitches are coming loose from • Put the patch between the and outer material. a buttonhole, they may be • Mend the tear by stitching back and forth through all three layers of material. resewn by machine using a Machine stitching holds better than hand stitching. (Figure 1B.) zigzag or by hand using a • Cut through the patch to make the buttonhole the same length that it was. . (Figure 1C.) By Hand To resew a buttonhole by hand, start at the good end of the buttonhole. Sew over stitches that are still there. • Knot the and push the needle from the wrong side of the buttonhole through the stitches. • Push the needle down through the buttonhole and up through the material near the end of the buttonhole. (Figure 1D.) • Bring the thread under the point of the needle from left to right. (Figure 1E.) • Pull the needle and thread through the material. Pull toward the cut edge of the buttonhole. • Pull enough to make a firm loop at the edge of the buttonhole. (Figure 1F.) • Continue making buttonhole stitches along the side of the buttonhole. Keep the stitches close together. (Figure 1G.) • To make it stronger at the end, take four stitches as wide as the buttonhole. (Figure 2A.) • Buttonhole stitch along the other side of the buttonhole. Finish by making four stitches as wide as the buttonhole at the other end. (Figure 2B.)

Repairing by Machine To resew the buttonhole by machine, set the to make a as wide as the original buttonhole stitches. • Stitch on one side of the buttonhole (Figure 2C.) • At the end, make the stitches wider to reach across the whole buttonhole. Stitch three or four times. (Figure 2D.) • Make the stitch narrow again. Stitch along the second side of the buttonhole. (Figure 2E.)  Colorado State University • At the end, use the wider stitch again to reach across the buttonhole. (Figure Cooperative Extension. 7/95. 2F.) Figure 1: Fixing torn buttonholes, part 1. Figure 2: Fixing torn buttonholes, part 2.

1Reviewed by K. Williams, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension apparel and specialist, design merchandising and Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation consumer sciences. Information from with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Milan A. Rewerts, Director of Cooperative Extension, University of Minnesota Bulletin HS-52, How Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. Cooperative Extension programs are available to all to Fix Torn Buttonholes. Adapted with without discrimination. No endorsement of products is intended nor is criticism implied of products not permission. mentioned.