How to Make a Buttonhole Using a Zigzag Stitch

Prepare a test swatch of fabric before working on your sewing project. Cut the scrap large enough to have room to make two or three practice buttonholes. Layer two pieces of fabric plus interfacing together. Mark the length of the button hole you are making for your project. Use a fabric pencil or tailor tacks.

Thread your machine. Set your sewing machine to a narrow to medium width zigzag stitch. If "5" is the widest stitch, set the machine at "2" or "3." Each machine is different, but this is a good example.

Start halfway down the right side of the marked buttonhole. The stitches should run to the right of your marked line. Zigzag to the end of the marked buttonhole. Leave the needle in the fabric and raise the presser foot.

Set the zigzag on the machine to its widest setting. This would be "5" in the example. Lower the presser foot and take three or four stitches to reinforce the end of the buttonhole. This is a bar tack. Leave the needle in the fabric and raise the presser foot.

Reset the sewing machine to the original "2" or "3." Lower the presser foot. Stitch in reverse up the left side of the button hole all the way to the other end. Go slow enough that you don't overlap the zig zag stitching on the left or right.

Make another bar tack at the top of the buttonhole. Reset the machine to "2" or "3" and continue down the original side to the beginning point. Overlap a few stitches. Repeat the entire process if you are using heavy or loosely woven fabric.

Remove the swatch from the machine. Cut the buttonhole open. Examine the buttonhole for flaws. If it is the way you want it to look, proceed to making buttonholes on your garment.