Buttonhole technique

**mycoleptodiscus** · 29th January 09, 07:25 PM

The part of the kilt that I was least satisfied with was the buttonhole. I feel it would work well to sew a buttonhole with a machine onto the lining fabric, cut it and then stitch it by hand to the kilt. This would eliminate any loose threads in the lining fabric when you cut it as the cut lining material would be reinforced by the zig-zag stitching before cutting and make for a better finish in this area of the kilt. Thoughts?

**Bugbear** · 29th January 09, 07:34 PM

Well... My thoughts are how are you making the buttonhole now?

I was tought to make a handsewn, buttonhole with a certain stitch, and I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head. Basically it puts thread around the cut edge of the fabric and would hold all the loose threads down. I'm assuming
the kilt strap buttonholes are made in a similar way.
Perhaps I am not understanding your question. Hopefully Barb or the Wizard will explain how it works on a kilt.

**sydnie7** · 29th January 09, 08:02 PM

1. Have you seen the inner strap technique that Matt Newsome uses, which eliminates the buttonhole? There are some threads discussing it, and it is shown on his website here.

2. If you really want the traditional outer strap with buttonhole, I would investigate a technique called bound buttonhole. It is a classic tailoring technique that creates a beautifully finished and very durable opening. Here are some instructions, although I haven't reviewed them carefully, they should give you the general idea.

**Bugbear** · 30th January 09, 01:08 AM

Oou, those are turned buttonholes. That's a little bit like how I made the curves on my jacket cutaway. I think that would make a very, very good buttonhole for the strap and encase all the lining and canvas etc.

I think the stitch I was talking about may actually be called a buttonhole stitch. I've seen it used in larger form to finnish a raw edge of a hem, but on the buttonhole, it is very tiny.

Still look forward to Barb and the Wizard's opinion.

**Barb T** · 30th January 09, 05:12 AM

Originally Posted by sydnie7

1. Have you seen the inner strap technique that Matt Newsome uses, which eliminates the buttonhole?

The instructions for how to do this are in the manuscript that Matt and I wrote on making a box pleated kilt. You can find the links to download the manuscript (for free!) at:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/m...x.html?t=43498

With regard the the original question of this post, sure, you could stitch a machine or bound buttonhole into the lining fabric before stitching it onto the kilt by hand. In fact, it's such a good idea, I think I'll try it myself (although I'm going to try a bound buttonhole, because it's more in keeping with the handstitched look of the kilt). And, with respect to the instructions that Sydnie posted, if I were going to do a bound buttonhole in the kilt lining, I'd omit the two "lips" of the bound buttonhole and stop after step #5 of the instructions.

Having said that, I've been wearing my kilt for 5 or 6 years to countless band things, and my slash-and-stitch buttonhole isn't raveling in the least, nor are there any loose threads. So, the instructions in The Art of Kiltmaking should allow you to make a perfectly sturdy slash-and-blind-stitch buttonhole.

**mycoleptodiscus** · 30th January 09, 08:00 AM

What I ended up with was perfectly satisfactory, i.e. the slash and stitch works fine. I think I would wish to stay with teh traditional approach. I was just considering a way to make it a bit more tidy.

**Bugbear** · 30th January 09, 12:51 PM

Thanks for your input, Barb.

**Dixiecat** · 3rd February 09, 02:09 PM

http://www.sewing.org/html/buttonholes2.html

Hand-stitched buttonholes. This method would be very easy to work from the outside of the kilt and gives a very nice finish.

**Bugbear** · 3rd February 09, 02:41 PM

Thanks, Dixiecat. That sounds a bit like what I was talking about, It will have showing stitches around the edges of the hole; I don't know if that is good or bad on a kilt...

It's interesting to read about the different ways of doing this, though.

**Dixiecat** · 9th February 09, 12:33 AM

I attended a talk from a woman who had the contract to provide the jackets of the reinactors at Louisbourg, NS. She made about 25 jackets, each jacket having 20-30 buttonholes. All hand-worked. As a testament to these hand worked buttonholes, not one of the jackets had to have their buttonholes repaired at the end of the season.

I think I might've underestimated the number of buttons on a jacket....
http://www.canada-photos.com/soldier...6-pictures.htm

I think those jackets would look great with kilts.