Using A Vintage Sewing Machine: The Buttonholer

Buttonholer day! And a very long post.

Before using your vintage Buttonholer you really need to get a copy of the manual. It doesn't matter if you're using a low shank, slant shank, black one, or cream one, or even a different brand such as the Greist one--they all work about the same. In fact, their templates are interchangeable. (There is an older version that doesn't use templates --that's for another day).

Although it looks like I have a lot of Buttonholers, two of them don't work right and I haven't tried out the slant shank one in the pink case.

Here are two versions of the Singer low shank Buttonholer:

Here's a Greist one and a Singer one (Greist had worked for Singer then went out and worked on his own -- he held the patent for the Buttonholer):

I will be using this black one for my demonstrations. It came in the green treasure chest style box. In the box should be a Feed Cover Plate, Slotted Clamping Screw, and five templates. The box has slots for four of the templates; the fifth one is inside the Buttonholer.

The Buttonholer has a lot of moving parts and will need not only oiling but grease too. Look in the manual for instructions and diagrams for all these points. Don't use too much grease. My Buttonholer had so much in it I had to spend a while cleaning it out--it had even gummed up the template. To remove the top unscrew the cover screw and the Adjusting Knob.

The five templates that came with the Buttonholer were for 5/16", 5/8", 13/16", 1-1/16" straight, and 1-1/16" keyhole buttonholes. More were available. If you like collecting things you can try to find them all, including the elusive round eyelet. I have the basic five and the usual four extras.
The back of each template has the size printed on it. It also has an outline of the buttonhole with a line to show the cutting area.

The manual suggests making a sample strip of the different sizes of templates to keep on hand. That way you can see at a glance what each one looks like and try a button through them to see what size you might need. Mark the size of each on the fabric. I made one but haven't cut the buttonholes open yet.
Look over the diagram for the Buttonholer. You will be using the Adjusting Knob a lot. It moves the Cloth Clamp in the front which has measuring lines on it.

If you've never seen a Buttonholer working and can't understand how it works on a machine that can only do a straight stitch--the Cloth Clamp in the front moves back and forth while following the template design. A zig zag stitch is formed by this movement.

The best way to learn how to use the Buttonholer is to jump in and try it. Find the Adjusting Knob on top, turn it and see that the Cloth Clamp in the front moves around. The knob is moving a gear inside and clicks with each turn. The Buttonholer is not a quiet attachment. Turn the Adjusting Knob until the Cloth Clamp passes its extreme forward position and stop. Turn the Buttonholer over and push the Retainer Plate toward the back where it will unlock and can be popped open.

If there is a template in the Buttonholer already you can pull it out. There are grooves in the middle of the sides to grasp hold of. To put a new template in, place it in the oval. If it won't go down, turn the Adjusting Knob until it drops into place.

Once the template is in snap the Retainer Plate closed.

On the side of the Buttonholer are the measurements for adjusting the width of the stitch. This width of stitch is called the Bight. As you can see there is a W and N on either end--for wider and narrower.
Here I've made some sample buttonholes with the 13/16" template using different size stitch widths. The one on the far left had the bight set at 6, the one in the middle on 4, and the one on the right at 2. Changing the bight does not change the center cutting area of the buttonhole, only the outer edge.

Now that you have the Buttonholer ready you have to prepare your machine. Take off the presser foot and the presser foot screw. If the Buttonholer hits on the thread cutter you might need to take it off or twist it around to the left--mine didn't get in the way.

Put the Feed Cover Plate on. There should be a screw in it to fasten it down. Do Not use your Buttonholer if you don't have the Feed Cover Plate! Once it's on, turn the hand wheel and see that the needle passes through ok. This is the time to pull the bobbin thread up as well.

Hook the Buttonholer to the machine by positioning the Fork Arm over the needle clamp. Use the Slotted Clamp Screw that came with it to fasten it on. You will need a screwdriver to turn this screw and make sure it's secure.

I had trouble once with my Buttonholer and finally noticed the clamp screw had wriggled loose a tiny bit. I had used a screwdriver but tightened it again better. The Buttonholer has a lot of movement and must be on there securely.

Ok, you're ready to sew a buttonhole. All of this gets easier and faster the more you get used to using this attachment.

When learning to use the Buttonholer I recommend not bothering with any markings on the fabric--just grab some fabric and get started. Once you get more of an idea of how the Buttonholer works you'll find it easier to line up all the markings needed. I will go ahead and show how to line up the markings though.

When cutting out a sewing pattern there should be all sorts of buttonhole markings including the center line (especially on vintage patterns). To use the Buttonholer you will need to have this marked and the beginning and end of each buttonhole. These markings will be lined up with the guide lines on the cloth clamp.

Here's the diagram from the book showing how the markings on the fabric line up with those on the cloth clamp -- also notice the starting point:

Turn the Adjusting Knob until the cloth clamp moves all the way forward in position and the needle is at the center line in the back of it:

Place the fabric under the cloth clamp. The buttonhole length markings should be centered on the front and back guide lines. The center line marking should be aligned with the second horizontal lines on the back of the cloth clamp guide. Lower the presser bar.
Now you get a choice. The newer manuals say to go ahead and start the buttonhole from this point and that is what is on the diagram above. I suggest you follow it. However, the older manual says to turn the Adjusting Knob until the cloth clamp backs away from you and the needle has just passed the center front. The needle is now in position to travel back down the left hand side of the buttonhole. This is the starting point for the second method. Try them both and decide what you like best. I think the newer method is easier for lining the markings up evenly.

I'm going to use the older method in the next three demonstration photos without any markings because it's easier to see what I'm doing. I hope this doesn't confuse you -- once the Buttonholer is lined up and set you can start the buttonhole anywhere really. Here the Buttonholer is set for starting a buttonhole:

Take one stitch and stop. With the take-up lever at its highest point grab the needle thread end and pull the bobbin thread up through the fabric. Here I'm pulling it up:

Now the bobbin thread and needle thread can be held to the side as the buttonhole is started.

You can either sew a few stitches and stop and clip the threads or hold them to the side for the entire time and clip them at the end after you've caught them under the last few stitches. When you come to the end of the buttonhole, always stitch over the first few stitches to secure them.

For most of my demonstration buttonholes I held the threads to the side and clipped them when I was done. You'll notice a little thread hanging on a lot of my buttonholes. Near the end I started to stop after the first few stitches and cut the threads--this worked better. There were no more little thread ends and the buttonhole looked neater. Experiment and see what you like best.

Line of buttonholes:
Here I've made three sample buttonholes. The first one I sewed one lap around and stopped. The second one I simply continued around again so it's double. The third one is spoken of in the manual as How to make Buttonholes That Resemble Hand Work. To do this you stitch one round of the buttonhole with the bight set wide (I had it at 6). Then when you reach the beginning, stop and set the bight for a narrower stitch (I used 2). Stitch around it again. I made this style buttonhole near the end of all my samples and I think it looks better than most of the rest. Try some and see what you think.

To make the buttonholes I used muslin folded in half with iron-on interfacing between. I tried a few without the interfacing and they didn't look very good.

Since this post is long enough I'll show how to make a buttonhole that is longer than the template tomorrow. And I'll tell you about something else you can sew with the Buttonholer if you want a real challenge!