Beatrixalong Day 8: Buttons and Buttonholes

We did it!!! It’s the eighth and final day of #Beatrixalong!!

If you’re just joining us, we’re sewing with my newest pattern, Beatrix. You can find the introductory post here with basic info and a timeline for the sewalong. And here are Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Day 6, and Day 7 if you want to go back and see what we’ve done already. I’ll keep all these posts live, so you can always come back for a refresher!

Beatrixalong

Beatrixalong

Today is Button Day:

  • Mark and sew buttonholes

  • Mark and sew buttons

Mark Buttonholes

Use the button template provided to mark the buttonhole locations on the left button placket. I usually use a disappearing fabric pen with a hard enough tip to poke through the paper to mark the center dots. You could also use a hole punch to make a hole in the center of each button on the template.

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Center your buttons over the buttonhole markings and mark just above and below each button. You can draw a straight line between these two marks if you need a guide for sewing (not pictured).

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Practice a buttonhole.

I can’t stress this enough. On a scrap of the same fabric as your real-live Beatrix, do a test run. Haul out your sewing machine manual if you need a refresher on the settings, and once you have a buttonhole, check to see if your button fits through it!

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Sew your actual buttonholes

Sew each buttonhole on your Beatrix. Use a needle to pull any threads through to the inside of the garment, then tie them in a knot and trim the threads

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Carefully cut open each buttonhole with a seam ripper or small scissors. Be very careful!! This works best with a sharp seam ripper.

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

After you have completed the buttonholes, line up the left placket directly over the right placket and use a marking pen to mark the button locations through the center of each buttonhole so that they will be perfectly aligned.

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Sew on the buttons

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

And look, it’s finished!

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Oh heeyyyyyy there, Beatrix!

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

Beatrixalong Day 8

OK, let’s review today’s assignment:

  1. Mark buttonholes

  2. Sew buttonholes and cut open

  3. Mark buttons on other side

  4. Sew buttons on

And here’s your extra credit assignment:

5. You did it! Put your Beatrix on and strut around!

6. Post a photo (crappy phone pics are fine) to Facebook, Instagram, or Flickr showing me hard evidence you’ve done something from today’s sewalong post with the tag #beatrixalong. If you blog about it, post a link in comments.

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