Sewing Fastenings on Garments

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 79, Issue 3, 15 September 1949, Page 287

Sewing Fastenings on Garments

T TAVING to replace fastenings during the life of a garment is extremely annoying to a woman. Barring accidents, well-sewn-on fastenings usually will last as long as the garment. Fastenings which gape open, edges which turn back to expose hooks or domes, or a row of buttons which should fall at the centre front but does not quite do so are sources of dissatisfaction to the wearer. This article by Edith G. McNab, Rural Sociologist, Department of Agriculture, Dunedin, offers the home dressmaker some advice on the handling of these details.

ALL • fastenings— domes, or hooksare sewn on doubled or faced material, never on single material. Buttons may be used as fastenings anywhere except where a very flat, inconspicuous closing is desired. Then either domes or hooks and eyes may be chosen, domes being used when no great strength is required (for example, in sleeve. plackets) and hooks where the fastening is likely to be subjected to some strain (for example, in side plackets for skirts and dresses). No matter which kind of fastening is chosen, the spacing must be such that no gaping will occur. It may vary from only an inch or so between fastenings in a placket to several inches apart for the front closing of a coat. Domes and hooks are placed near the edge on the wrong side, but far enough back from it to be invisible from the right side; if they are placed too far from the edge, the edge will be likely to turn back. The size of the fastenings must be related to the kind of closing desired and the weight of the fabric. For lightweight materials the smaller sizes of domes or hooks are suitable. A single strong thread should be used for

buttonholing on hooks or domes, and finer thread for sewing tiny fastenings on to very lightweight materials. Following are detailed instructions for securing each type of fastener: — Domes (Snap Fasteners) Mark, the positions of the domes, using pins or tailor’s chalk. If the fabric is light and the pins tend to drop out, cross each with another pin. Sew the ball parts on the upper portion of the placket by several buttonhole stitches into each hole. No stitches should show through to the right side of the garment. After sewing on the ball parts, close the opening correctly and mark the corresponding positions on the right side of the under part of the placket. Sew the sockets on this underlap with each socket directly over the mark, again using buttonhole stitches. Hooks Sew hooks on the upper side of the closing, about jin. back from the edge. Make at least five or six buttonhole stitches into each rounded end, then slip the needle between the two pieces of material and bring it out at

the end of the hook. Take several overhand stitches over the end of the hook to prevent it from rising away from the material. Eyes Use straight eyes when the edges of the closing are to overlap and round eyes when the edges are just to meet. Thread loops may be used instead . of straight eyes. Close the placket correctly after the hooks have been sewn on and mark the positions for the eyes at the ends of the hooks. Straight eyes are placed back from the edge on the right side of the under part of the placket. Use buttonhole stitch.

Round eyes are sewn nearer the edge of the fabric with part of the eye protruding over the edge. Use a few buttonhole stitches at the edge of the fabric to prevent the eye from lifting away from the material.

Thread Loops The choice of thread depends on the size of the loop to be made —the longer the loop the thicker the thread. Make loops for hooks the same length as the metal eyes. Mark the positions for the loops as for metal eyes. Take several stitches one on top of the

other, leaving loops all the same length on the right side of the material. Do not leave the loops too loose, but do not draw them so tight that they pucker the material. Buttonhole over the loops, taking care not to catch in any of the material and keeping the stitches very close together.

Longer thread loops can be used in place of buttonholes when an edge-to-edge closing is desired.

Buttonholes

Where buttons are to be used as fasteners it is usual to make the buttonholes first. For a centre front closing the outer ends of the buttonholes should lie on the centre front line. The convention is to fasten women’s garments right over left (with buttonholes on the right-hand edge) and men’s and boy’s garments left over right. Bound or worked buttonholes may be used.

Worked Buttonholes

Make worked buttonholes after the edge of the garment has been faced. Mark the position for the buttonhole on the straight grain of the material unless the garment is cut on the bias. Make it just long enough for the button to pass through. Stitch round the mark twice, using a sewing mach-

ine or backstitch and making the outer row 1/10 to l/Bin. from the marked line. Cut on the line, then overcast the raw edges. Work from right to left in buttonhole stitch, starting at the inner end of the buttonhole, rounding the outer end (which should fall at the centre

front line of the garment), and finishing at the inner end with two or three long stitches the width of the two rows of stitching, then buttonholing over this bar. Buttonhole twist or strong single thread is best, and the thread should be only long enough to complete the buttonhole.

If desired, bars can be worked across both ends instead of one end being rounded.

Bound Buttonholes

Bound buttonholes are made before the facing is turned back into position. A line of running stitches is best for making the position and length of the buttonhole. Cut a piece of material for binding, on the bias or on the straight of the fabric, making it about 2gin. wide and lg-in. longer than the ■ buttonhole. Place it on the garment, right sides together, and tack it in place over the mark for the buttonhole. Machine stitch a rectangle the length of the buttonhole with its longer sides about l/Bin. from the mark. Start and finish the stitching on one of the long sides of the , rectangle, running over the first few stitches. Make perfectly-square corners. Cut the buttonhole straight along the mark to within about l/Bin. of each end, then cut diagonally into eaich corner. Take care to cut to within a thread or two of the corner, but do not cut the stitching.

Turn the binding through to the wrong side and smooth it out so that the opening is a neat rectangular shape. The seams on the two longer sides of the rectangle may be pressed open. Fold the binding lengthwise, bringing the folded edges together at the centre of the rectangle; look at the right side to ensure an equal width of binding is showing at each side of the buttonhole. Make a pleat at each end of the binding and fix it in position by stitching (by machine or backstitch) to the triangular seam allowance. Take care to fold the garment back out of the way so that this stitching does not show on the right side of , the material. Trim off any extra binding, to within about jin. of the rectangle.

Turn the facing to the wrong side and fix it into position, then mark the position of the buttonhole on it and cut it as for the buttonhole, turning in the edges neatly and hemming them down to the binding.

Buttons

Sew buttons on after the buttonholes are made unless the buttons are to be used only for decoration. The thread should be strong, particularly if the buttons are to be used as fastenings. Close the opening, lapping it over the correct distance, then mark the positions for the buttons through the outer ends of the buttonholes. If the buttons have

shanks, attach them to the right side of the garment with several

over-and-over stitches, as illustrated, fastening the thread securely before and after finishing the stitches.

If the buttons have no shanks, thread shanks must be made. Fix the end of the thread by a backstitch or two on the right side of the garment where the button is

to be attached, then place the button in position, and use 2 crossed pins held as shown in the illustration so that the thread loops will be long enough to provide a shank. If the fabric is very thick, such as in a

heavy woollen coat, a match stick may be, better than pins so that the shank will be long enough to take the thickness of the buttonhole between the button and the material to which it is sewn without causing any strain. Make stitches in the form of a cross over the pins, up through one hole in the button and down through the opposite hole to the wrong side of the garment. When sufficient stitches have been made remove the pins, draw the button up to the top of the loop, bring out the needle . between the button and the cloth, and twist . the thread, firmly round the stitches to form the shank. Fasten the thread securely with a few stitches on the wrong side. If the button has only two holes, ' make the stitches parallel to the buttonhole. If nreferred. parallel stitches may be taken when there are 4 holes in the button.

If the buttons are only decorative, it is not necessary to make a shank.