Buttonhole Tutorial: Cutting the Hole

Now that you have your buttonhole sewn you have to cut out the middle.

Turn your fabric to the wrong side and pull the needle thread through to the back. (Do this by giving the bobbin thread tail a little pull, the needle thread should poke through. Use a pin to pull it all the way through to the back.) Tie the bobbin and needle threads together and clip the ends.

Turn the fabric back to the right side. Pin the top of the  buttonhole as pictured above, right below the top tacking stitches.

Insert the tip of a sharp seam ripper into the bottom of the button hole. Make sure you don't pierce the bottom tacking stitches. Push the seam ripper through, opening up the buttonhole, until it hits the top pin. 

And here is the finished buttonhole!  

Comments

[Julie]

The manual which came with my sewing machine didn't mention the use of this strange tool... Now I finally know what is a buttonhole foot :)
Thank you so much for this fantastic tutorial. The photos are gorgeous, and every thing seems much easier now.
I am going to make buttonholes everywhere.
EVERYWHERE !

[tzik]

Great tutorial!
Now I know what I've done wrong.
Many Thanks!!!

[Marta]

Thank you,

I have a dress for my daughter that is waiting for buttonholes for about 3 weeks now (soon it
won't fit anymore specially since I decide not to mesure her and now it became a really short dress ou probably a tunic) because I didn't new how to make one and my first try ..well... You have inspired me to give it another try.

[Heather]

Thank you for the GREAT tutorial!! I've been avoiding buttonholes since I got my sewing machine last year... you make it look so easy, I think I'll finally tackle them!

[M:)]

Thanks so much for this great tutorial. I have made many buttonholes on many machines, but your large pictures and your great writing - so clear and specific, have helped me immeasurably in using this simple calibrated foot on my own machine!

[betsy]

Jjust a little note that you can also make buttonholes by hand which are kind of pretty and delicate. You can also use an alternate thread which adds colors or just a matching one. I do all my sewing on an antique Singer 15-31 which comes with a buttonholer which makes beautiful button holes but something satisfying about doing a bit of embroidery on your buttonholes. yeah I already know

[Joyful]

I've always been afraid of buttonholes and this has held me back from really pursuing sewing the way I would like. I also had a very temperamental sewing machine which I recently took to the thrift store. Hopefully with a new machine and your tutorial which has such nice up close pictures of each step (like I really need), I will at last be able to practise making a buttonhole. Thanks so much!

[Hélène]

This is hude help!!! :) :) Thanks..
Your tutorials are great!!

Greetings,
EMI!

[Amy]

Thank you SO much for the tutorial. The pictures were especially helpful.
I haven't been sewing long...but I've made sure that each pattern I select doesn't have a buttonhole in it.
I can't wait to get my machine out and give making buttonholes a whirl!

[Charissa - The Gifted Blog]

So VERY helpful. I'm in a pinch and this was huge help. Thank you!