Eight Types of Buttonholes
I’ve previously covered how to sew buttonholes with a sewing machine, so today, we’ll take a look at the different types of buttonholes – and the different ways you can make them!
Buttons and buttonholes are a popular alternative to zippers and other clothing fasteners with buttons being in existence since the 13th century.
While buttons and buttonholes are for the most part functional, you will sometimes find one without the other on clothing:
- A button can be used for decoration rather than function making a buttonhole unnecessary
- A buttonhole can be used with cuff links, making buttons unnecessary
Tools Needed For Creating Buttonholes
There aren’t a lot of tools needed for creating your own buttonholes at home:
- Sewing machine
- Hand sewing needle
- Suitable thread
- Seam ripper
- Buttonhole chisel
Types of Buttonholes
Here are the main types of buttonholes that can be used for clothing:
- Bound buttonhole
- Keyhole buttonhole
- Machine buttonhole
- Hand sewn button hole
- Piped buttonhole
- Decorative buttonhole
- Frogging buttonhole
- Rouleau buttonhole loops
Bound Buttonhole
A bound buttonhole is exactly as it sounds! When sewn, it looks a lot like a a jetted (or double welt as called by the sewing community) pocket.
Bound buttonholes are often sewn on tailored pieces of clothing.
Hand Sewn Buttonhole
A hand sewn buttonhole is a time consuming process – when used to the speed with which we can create them using a modern sewing machine – but they do look wonderful and can feel like quite an achievement.
Popular hand sewing stitches to use on a hand sewn button include blanket stitch and buttonhole stitch – they are not the same thing!
Keyhole Buttonhole
This is the buttonhole seen on denim – whether your denim jacket buttonholes on on your denim pants.
Piped Buttonhole
A piped buttonhole is similar to a bound buttonhole – except there is a ‘ridge’ of sorts created by piping that you don’t see on a bound buttonhole.
Decorative Buttonhole
Buttons and buttonholes are sometimes created solely for decorative purposes rather than function. I’ve seen jackets covered in buttons before.
And then there are the non-functioning buttons on jacket sleeve like this lovely one below.
Machine Buttonhole
A standard machine buttonhole is made from two lines of very short and close together stitching which is then cut through to create a hole.
It took me some time to actually start making buttonholes with my Bernina 1008, as I found it easier and more convenient to take my garments to a place in London.
Moving away from London meant that was no longer an option, and I know quite enjoy making them myself.
Frogging Buttonhole
These are not technically a buttonhole as the cloth is not cut into. Rather, the button hole is created by using frogging which creates a hole for a button to go through.
This is very popular on Chinese style garments.
Rouleau Buttonhole Loops
I love using rouleau for buttonhole loops – they make such a beautiful and delicate way to sue buttons.
Rouleau loops work best in a lightweight fabric such as chiffon – anything too heavy and you lose the couture effect in my opinion.
There you have it – eight buttonhole types to use when sewing your own clothes!
Let me know in the comments below whether individual tutorials on each of the buttonhole types would be helpful!
And why not check out my free printable button size chart here!
