If your yarn is smooth and strong (i.e., tightly twisted, more than one ply), and it fits through the holes in the button along with the needle you’re using, you can certainly use it to sew on the buttons.
In this post
- Velcro. Sewing Velcro is often my first preference when I am looking for alternatives to buttons.
- Kam Snaps. I only started using these recently but I LOVE them!
- Sew on Press Studs (Snaps) These have been around forever!
- Snap tape. This is a tape made from twill with the snaps already attached.
- Hook and Eyes.
Make a button out of decorative knitting technique. Bobbles are a fun quirk of knitting that look like bumps, domes or round balls. Bobbles are most often worked into a pattern or block of knitting. However, bobbles can be made individually to add accents to other knitted pieces.
Buttons on thicker fabrics
Start, as above, by fastening the thread firmly and threading on the button on the front of the garment. Hold a matchstick or thick needle over the button eyes and sew three or four stitches over it (illustration A) – this creates a bit of slack.
Insert the needle down into the work beside the hole and up out of the intended buttonhole keeping your finger in the hole for the time being. Now see those two stitch ladders above the hole (two horizontal lines) we are going to work the yarn around those a couple of times to open the hole up.
Sew the button onto the marked spot using the following steps.
- STEP 1: Thread the needle and tie a knot at the end. Measure out the amount of thread needed, which is roughly around 24 inches long.
- STEP 2: Create an anchor point.
- STEP 3: Attach the button.
- STEP 4: Create a shank.
- STEP 5: Tie off the thread.
Buttons make sweaters easier to put on and off. Once babies are about 4 months or older, they grab everything in sight and try to put it in their mouth. Take extra care to sew on buttons securely. If the button does not have a shank, you can make your own.
Safety first: no buttons, bows, or ties.
Stay away from clothes with small buttons, decorative rhinestones, or bows, because they can be choking risks. Clothes with long ties or that pull tightly around your baby’s arms, legs, or neck are also unsafe.
Wrap around the threads under the button a few times, enough to create that little stand to keep the button a little distance away from the fabric. To secure the thread and the shank, push the needle down through the shank to the back of the fabric, and back up and through, a couple of times.
What can I use instead of snaps?
Stud Buttons For Clothing
Snap buttons for clothing are also know as jeans buttons. These buttons are ‘studded’ so no needle and thread required and are a great way to add ‘no sew’ fastenings and make great alternatives to buttons!
The same rule which applies to 3-button suit jackets also applies to cardigans: always button the middle button, sometimes the top button (along with the middle), and never the bottom (you want to allow the bottom of the sweater to flare out over your waist).
Just like a suit, a cardigan looks infinitely cooler when you leave a button undone at the bottom. If you’re feeling bold leave a couple undone. Whatever you do, avoid buttoning only the middle button. It’s the quickest way to add unnecessary pounds to your frame.
Insert the needle up from the underside of the jacket fabric and pull it through until the knot stops the thread. Stitch the toggle in place by taking four or five small stitches over the base of the toggle. End the stitching with the needle on the underside of the fabric and tie a knot. Clip off the excess thread.