Friday, May 13, 2011

133 and the Buttonhole


This has been a red letter day in Amanda's sewing practice of destiny!!!

I have successfully completed my VERY FIRST BUTTONHOLE.
(At this point I imagine Kermit the Frog running across a stage with his arms flying in the air yelling "YAAYYYY!!!!")

Yes. This is a keyhole scarf in which the keyhole is very simply a buttonhole. It's important to use smooth slinky fabric or you might have a bit of trouble getting the fabric through the keyhole. Rayon and silk are good choices.

The buttonhole wasn't all that hard either after I did a few practice holes on some scrap fabric. Every machine works differently and the key to doing it right is reading the directions. It's actually as simple as looking at the stitch guide knob. The arrows and letters act as a list of what portion of the buttonhole should be made in which order.

As for the buttonhole sewing foot: I used mine. I know that my mother doesn't and she's a much more accomplished sewist than I am, but it was very useful for me to stop when I needed and to turn when I needed and not to get confused about which leg came next.

Once the button hole is sewn the big step was... oh geez... cutting the fabric!!! Not to worry. A decent buttonhole holds in the frays and the legs are far enough apart not to worry too much about accidentally cutting the stitching. Beginner machines, I'm told, are particularly good about having wide areas between the legs through which to cut the hole. Give it a try! It's a very fast and quite handsome way to make a light decorative summer scarf!

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