How to Sew a Button
Sew a flat button back on a shirt, coat, or pair of pants by hand with a doubled thread, a toothpick spacer, and a thread shank.
You will end up with a button held on by a short stem of thread, called a shank, so the buttonhole side of the garment fits under it without bunching. The job takes a needle, thread, scissors, and a toothpick, with no sewing machine.
The steps are the same for a shirt, a coat, a pair of pants, or a jacket. Thicker garments change how long you make the shank, and a heavy coat gets a second, smaller button on the inside (step 4).
A hand-sewing needle, thread that matches the thread on the garment's other buttons, scissors, a toothpick or match to use as a spacer, a pen or pin for marking, and the replacement button. If you lost the original button, look for a spare sewn to a tag inside the garment, near the hem or a side seam. If there is no spare, take the garment to a fabric store and match the size and color of the remaining buttons.
Thread the needle and tie a knot
Cut about 24 inches of thread. Thread one end through the eye of the needle and pull it through until you have two equal lengths of thread. This gives you a doubled thread, which is stronger and means fewer passes through the fabric. Tie the two loose ends together with a simple overhand knot. Pull it tight. If you have trouble threading the needle, cut the thread at an angle to create a sharp point, or lick the end to stiffen it. Hold the needle still and bring the thread to it rather than trying to push the thread through the eye.
Mark the button position
Button the garment using the remaining buttons to see where the missing button should sit. Mark the position with a small pen dot or a pin. The button should align with the buttonhole directly across from it. If you are replacing a button that left visible holes in the fabric from the old thread, use those existing holes as your guide. They mark the exact position. Lay the garment flat on a table or your lap for stability while you work. If multiple buttons are missing, button up what remains and mark all positions before sewing. This way you can check alignment across the full length of the garment. A misaligned button makes the fabric bunch and pull.
Anchor the thread from the back
Push the needle up through the fabric from the back at your marked position. Pull the thread through until the knot catches against the back of the fabric. Make two or three small stitches in the same spot to anchor the thread, which keeps the knot from pulling through when the button is under tension. Keep the anchor stitches small enough that the button covers them. If the fabric is thin or worn, spread the anchor stitches over a slightly wider area, so the pull of the button is not concentrated on one spot.
Sew the button on with a spacer
Place the button on the marked position, over your anchor stitches. Lay a toothpick, match, or thick pin across the top of the button, between the holes. This spacer keeps you from sewing the button tight against the fabric. Push the needle up through one hole, over the spacer, and down through the opposite hole. Pull the thread all the way through. Make about five passes, the count Utah State University Extension's leaflet on sewing buttons gives for securing a button. On a four-hole button, make them through one pair of holes, then repeat on the other pair. Sew the pairs as an X or as two parallel bars. Either holds. On a button that takes strain, such as the top button of a pair of pants, add two or three more passes. For a coat or jacket button that gets heavy daily use, hold a small flat button against the inside of the fabric, directly behind the main one, and sew through both buttons with every pass. The inside button reinforces the fabric and spreads the load. Look behind the buttons on a heavy coat you already own to see one.
Good to know: Match the spacer to the fabric. One toothpick is enough for a shirt. For a thick coat, lay a match or two toothpicks across the button, so the thread is left longer and the shank comes out taller.
Create the thread shank
Remove the spacer and pull the button up, away from the fabric, so the slack in the thread sits between the two. Push the needle up through the fabric but not through a hole in the button, so it comes out underneath the button. Wrap the thread tightly around the strands between the button and the fabric three or four times, or more on a long coat shank, until the strands are covered from button to fabric. This wrapped stem is the shank. It leaves room for the buttonhole side of the garment to sit between the button and the fabric. Without it, the fabric bunches and the button is hard to fasten. The shank should be about as long as the buttonhole side is thick, so a thin dress shirt gets a short shank and a thick wool coat a longer one.
Tie off and cut the thread
Push the needle through to the back of the fabric. Take a small stitch through the threads on the back, catching the fabric, and before you pull it tight, pass the needle through the loop. Pull tight to make a knot. Do this two or three times. Cut the thread about 1/4 inch from the last knot, not flush against it, because a tail cut flush can slip back through the knot. Test the button by fastening and unfastening it a few times. It should feel secure, with room for the buttonhole side of the garment to slide under it.
If the button is hard to push through the buttonhole, the shank is too short. Cut the button off and sew it again with a thicker spacer (step 4). If the button droops or wobbles, the shank is loose, so wrap it again more tightly from the button down to the fabric (step 5). If the button comes off again, FAQ 2 below lists the three causes. Keep a few needles, black and white thread, and a couple of spare buttons in a drawer for the next one. For split seams and fallen hems, our guide on how to sew teaches the three hand stitches that fix them.
Questions we get asked about this
Answers from experience, not a textbook.
Use all-purpose polyester thread, doubled as in step 1. Match the color to the thread on the garment's other buttons, and if you cannot match it exactly, pick the next darker shade. For heavy coats or jackets, use a thicker thread such as buttonhole twist, or use four strands instead of two.
Three things cause it, and any one of them is enough on its own. The first is too few passes through the holes. Use the counts in step 4, including the extra passes for buttons that take strain. The second is a knot that slips, so make two or three knots as in step 6 rather than relying on a single one. The third is thread that is too thin, which you fix by doubling it and using all-purpose polyester.
Flat buttons (also called sew-through buttons) have holes through the face of the button. You sew through these holes as the steps above describe. Shank buttons have a loop or stem on the back of the button with no holes on the face. For shank buttons, you sew through the loop on the back instead of through holes. The technique is similar, but you pass the needle through the shank loop and the fabric repeatedly instead of through button holes. No spacer is needed because the shank itself creates the necessary gap.
Yes, for flat buttons. In the Utah State University Extension leaflet linked in step 4, you set the machine's stitch width to the distance between the button's holes, sew 5 to 8 stitches, then pull the threads to the underside and tie them in a knot. Shank buttons can only be sewn on by hand. For a single button, sew it by hand, and save the machine for a garment with a whole row of buttons.
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