Button-holes on practice piece and on apron.
SUBJECT MATTER
Directions for making the button-hole.—Measure carefully the position for the button-hole, lengthwise of the band, so that the end will come one quarter of an inch from the edge of the garment. Mark the length of the button-hole on the material by putting in two lines of running-stitches at the ends. To cut the button-hole, insert the point of the scissors at the point marked by the running-stitches nearest the edge of the garment, and cut carefully along the thread of the material to the row of stitches marking the length at the other end.
| (a) | (b) | (c) |
| Starting the button-hole | The button-hole stitch | The finished button-hole |
Fig. 19.—Working button-holes
To make the button-hole, use a thread of sufficient length to do both the overcasting and the button-holing. Beginning at the lower right corner, overcast the raw edges with stitches one sixteenth of an inch deep. Do not overcast around the ends of the hole. As soon as the overcasting is done, proceed with the button-holing without breaking the thread. Hold the button-hole horizontally over the first finger of the left hand and work from right to left. Insert the point of the needle through the button-hole (at the back end), bringing the point through, toward you, four or five threads below the edge of the button-hole. Bring the doubled thread from the eye of the needle from right to left under and around the point of the needle, draw the needle through, and pull the thread firmly, so that the purl is on the edge. At the end of the button-hole, near the end of the band, make a fan, by placing from five to seven stitches. The other end of the button-hole should be finished with a bar made by taking three stitches across the end of the button-hole, then button-hole over the bar, taking in the cloth underneath and pulling the purl toward the slit. The thread should be fastened carefully on the under side of the button-hole.
PRELIMINARY PLAN
For this lesson it is desirable to have small pieces of cotton on hand, to use as practice pieces for the button-holes.