HOW TO MAKE A BUTTONHOLE
The apron is now entirely finished, except for fastenings. Shall we learn to make a buttonhole, and how to sew on buttons? The Pleasant Valley girls had a contest. Barbara Oakes won a prize at the Pleasant Valley County Fair.
Practice in making the buttonhole. Long ago little girls were taught to make buttonholes, when they were five or six years of age. Grandmother Allen learned at that age. Surely by the time a girl is twelve years old she should begin to learn how to make buttonholes. One must practice on a scrap of cloth, before making the buttonhole on the garment. These are the steps to consider in practicing:
1. Decide about placing the buttonhole. Is it to be in a vertical or horizontal position on the garment? How far from the edge?
2. Cutting.
3. Overcasting the cut edges. How deep and how far apart to take the stitches. Correct position to hold work.
4. Making buttonhole stitch along one edge.
5. Turning corner.
6. Turning and buttonholing opposite edge.
7. Finishing second end.
Fig. 27.—Cutting the buttonhole.
Placing the buttonhole. It is important to place the buttonhole correctly. In some garments, where there is no strain, as in the front of a shirtwaist or of loose corset cover, the buttonholes can be made to run up and down. One should decide how far from the edge and exactly where the buttonhole is needed. Mark the place with pinholes. For the apron place three buttonholes in the yoke, one in middle and others near each end, about one-fourth inch from the edge of the yoke at center back.
Cutting the buttonhole. One should cut truly and exactly, on a thread. If a pair of buttonhole scissors is not available, fold the material halfway between the pin pricks which marked its location, so that the pin passes through both ends of the located buttonhole. Cut from the folded edge to the pin, by placing the fold well within the opened scissors and cutting evenly (Fig. 27). For the apron cut one-half inch buttonholes and one-fourth of an inch in from the edge.
Overcasting the buttonhole. You have not all learned the overcasting stitch. Practice it on a scrap of cloth. Look at the picture (Fig. 28) carefully. The overcasting stitch is used on edges to prevent raveling. Hold the buttonhole along the top of the first finger. Begin without knot, and at the end farthest away from a finished edge; as at the end of skirt band or edge of waist. Work over end of thread. Point needle toward left shoulder to make a slanting stitch. Make about three or four stitches on each side of the buttonhole (Fig. 29). The depth should be about one-eighth of an inch. The corner stitches should be taken so that the needle is pointed at right angles to the cut before the buttonhole is turned.
