How do you button a tailcoat?

Answer 1

The way to sew on a toggle button is to first pin the toggle button in place on the jacket. Next, take a threaded needle and knot it tightly. Insert the threaded needle through the loop in the toggle at least four or five times, securing the know underneath the fabric. Tie and knot and the toggle should be in place.

Answer 2

You know those little plastic bags with the extra button that come with many jackets, coats and shirts? It seems that you always know where they are until you actually need them. But if you happen to find it just when the top button on your favorite winter coat went MIA, snatch it up quickly and grab some thread and a needle, because sewing a button back on is a simple task.

Begin with the thread. It must match the coat, if you aren’t going for the rag doll effect. Even if you wanted to go bold with an accented color, it should be a color that goes with the design of the coat.

Remove any leftover threads hanging in the absence of the old button. You want a clean work surface.

Thread the needle by moistening the end of the thread and poking it through the eye. Pull the string through until it’s double the length, and joining ends, roll the ends between your fingers until it starts to curl up, and then draw your finger back from the long, untwisted section, to the twisted section. This should pull the string into a neat knot.

Place the button on the coat, making sure it is in proportion to the rest of the buttons on the coat.

Starting on the underside of the lapel, push the needle (using a thimble if the material is ultra thick) up through the fabric until it pokes up through one of the button holes.

There may be one, two, or four button holes. For the single-hole button, you will simply go around that one loop. For a two button hole, you will simply alternate between the two holes, and for the four-button hole, you will want to criss cross the stitches on a diagonal, for strength of the stitch. Look at the other buttons on your coat. If they are in parallel lines, then copy that stitch.

Make sure to end your thread on the underside of the coat. To finish off the thread, simply weave the needle a couple of times back and forth in thin, shallow little stitches that only go in and come out in one layer, on the back. It should cross over enough that the stitch stays firm, eliminating your need to attempt a knot so close to the material, which never works and usually results in a quickly loosening button.

Now that you’ve gone to the (simple) trouble of sewing your new button on your old coat, your old button will surely pop up! That’s ok, you can put it back in that handy little bag and get it lost in your room again. At least your coat will keep your warm.