Fig. 70. The first step in buttonholing
Before we make a real buttonhole, let us see how the stitch is worked. Draw a line one inch in length with the straight of the material. Take two stitches one inch long over this line. At the extreme right of the stitches insert your needle, threaded with No. 40 cotton. Take a stitch about a sixteenth of an inch below the line. While the needle is still in the material—you are working from left to right—([Figure 70]), carry the thread under its point from the left, to the right side of the needle. The enlarged cut showing this stitch is very plain. The needle is then drawn through the material toward the chest and then straight from it. The next stitch and every other stitch must be identical with the first, the difference being that each stitch is then a little farther to the left. Every stitch must be the same length.
Now let us prepare to make the stitch on a fold. Fold a band in three equal parts. Pass the needle between the folds and bring it out on the edge. Hold the end of the thread with the left thumb. Carry the needle to the back of the fold and insert the point through the fifth thread of the material from the edge. The double thread at the edge of the needle is brought around the point of the needle from left to right and drawn out. ([Figure 71]).
A tailor's buttonhole is made slightly different. The needle is placed in the same position as in the ordinary buttonhole. The thread is brought from the top of the stitch and the doubled thread is brought around under the point of the needle from right to left ([Figure 72]).
Fig. 71. The position of the needle in buttonholing