Everything about Buttonhole totally explained
Buttonholes are holes in fabric that are paired with functional
buttons (as opposed to decorative buttons) that serve as
fasteners. Buttonholes may be either made by hand sewing or automated by a
sewing machine. A buttonhole may be replaced by a loop of
cloth or
rope, such as in a
Mandarin button.
The
etymology of the term
buttonhole came from buttonhold (originally a loop of string that held a button down).
History
Buttonholes for fastening or closing clothing with buttons appeared first in
Germany in the 13th century. They soon became widespread with the rise of snug-fitting garments in
13th- and
14th-century Europe.
Aspects of buttonholes
Buttonholes often have a
bar at either end. This is a row of perpendicular hand or machine stitching to reinforce the ends of a buttonhole.
Traditionally, men's clothing buttonholes are on the left side, and women's clothing buttonholes are on the right.
Types of buttonholes
Hand stitching
- A plain buttonhole, by far the most common type. In plain buttonholes, the raw (cut) edges of the textile are finished with thread in very closely spaced stitches (if made by hand, often the buttonhole stitch). When stitched by hand, a slit is made in the fabric first and the result is called a worked buttonhole.
Machined stitching
Sewing machines offer various levels of automation to creating plain buttonholes. When made by machine, the slit between the sides of the buttonhole is opened after the stiching is completed.
A machine-made buttonhole is usually sewn with two parallel rows of machine sewing in a narrow zig-zag stitch, with the ends finished in a broader zig-zag stitch. (One of the first automatic buttonhole machines was invented by Henry Alonzo House in 1862.)
A bound buttonhole, which has its raw edges encased by pieces of fabric or trim instead of stitches.
A keyhole buttonhole is a special case of a thread-finished buttonhole that's normally machine-made due to the difficulty of achieving it by hand working. It is characterized by a round hole at the end of the slit to accommodate the button's shank without distorting the fabric.
Keyhole buttonholes are most often found on tailored coats and jackets.
Further Information
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