How to sew a button back on, by hand

What you need

You need a hand sewing needle with an eye large enough to thread easily, thread that matches the other buttons rather than the fabric, small scissors, and a spacer such as a toothpick or a straight pin. All purpose polyester or cotton thread is fine for shirts, blouses and trousers. For coats, jackets and heavy knits, a stronger button or upholstery thread holds up better. The University of Florida's extension guide suggests cutting about 16 inches (40 cm) of thread, threading the needle and pulling the two tails even so you sew with a doubled strand, then tying the tails together in a knot. A doubled thread builds strength quickly with fewer passes.

Mark the exact spot

If the button has just fallen off, the old stitch holes and a few thread ends usually show exactly where it belongs. Pull out any loose threads so they do not get caught in the new stitching. If the marks are gone, button the garment closed using the buttons above and below, push a pin through the buttonhole into the fabric underneath, and mark the spot. For a horizontal buttonhole, the button sits at the end of the hole nearest the garment's edge; for a vertical buttonhole, as on most shirt plackets, it sits on the center line just below the top end of the hole.

Getting this right matters more than the stitching. A button even a quarter inch (6 mm) out of line pulls the front of a shirt into a diagonal ripple when it is done up, and it is much easier to measure twice than to cut the button off and start over.

How to sew on a button with 2 holes

This is the method for most shirt buttons and small flat buttons. The toothpick spacer is what separates a button that lasts from one that works loose early, because it leaves room for the thread shank you will build at the end.

1. 01

   Start from the back

   Push the needle from the inside of the garment up through the fabric at your mark, and pull until the knot stops against the fabric. Starting from the back hides the knot.

   CheckYou should see the thread coming up exactly where the button will sit.

2. 02

   Set the button and the spacer

   Thread the needle up through one hole of the button and slide the button down to the fabric. Lay a toothpick across the top of the button between the two holes, then take the needle down through the second hole and back through the fabric, so the thread passes over the toothpick.

3. 03

   Repeat six to eight times

   Come back up through the fabric and the first hole, over the toothpick and down through the second hole. Keep the stitches in the same holes in the fabric so they stack neatly.

   CheckThe stitches should lie neatly side by side, holding the button snugly against the toothpick rather than against the fabric.

4. 04

   Remove the spacer and lift the button

   Pull out the toothpick and bring the needle up through the fabric one last time, but not through the button, so it emerges between the button and the fabric. Pull the button up gently so the slack stitches form a short column underneath.

How to sew a button with 4 holes

A four hole button follows the same sequence with two choices of pattern. You can stitch diagonally to make an X on the face of the button, or stitch two parallel bars, one through each pair of holes. The X is common and very secure. Parallel bars are common on shirts and look a little tidier, so look at the remaining buttons and match them. For parallel bars, sew five or six passes through the first pair of holes, move the needle under the fabric to the second pair, and repeat.

Use the same toothpick spacer across the center of the button, under all the stitches. Checkpoint: before you remove the spacer, both bars or both arms of the X should look evenly filled, with no stitch lying slack across the face of the button.

Make the thread shank and tie off

The thread shank is the short column of thread between the button and the fabric, and it is the step most people skip. It gives the buttonhole side of the garment room to sit under the button, which takes the strain off the stitches and stops the fabric around the button from puckering. As a rule of thumb, the shank should be about as long as the fabric around the buttonhole is thick: very short on a shirt, noticeably longer on a wool coat.

5. 05

   Wrap the shank

   With the needle between the button and the fabric, wind the thread firmly around the stitches under the button four to six times. You should feel it tighten into a firm stem that holds the button up.

6. 06

   Take the needle to the back

   Push the needle down through the fabric right at the base of the shank, so it comes out on the inside of the garment among the first stitches.

7. 07

   Tie the finishing knot

   Take a tiny stitch through the stitches on the back, and before pulling it tight pass the needle through the loop it forms, then pull. Repeat two or three times in the same spot.

   CheckThe thread should not slide when you tug it.

8. 08

   Trim and test

   Cut the thread a little way from the knot rather than flush against it. Button the garment and check that it closes flat without pulling the fabric sideways.

How to sew a shank button

What is a shank button? It is a button with no holes through its face and a small loop or post on the back, found on coats, blazers, cardigans and many dresses. The shank does the job of the thread shank, so you do not need a spacer. Start from the back as before, bring the needle up at your mark, pass it through the loop of the shank and take it back down into the fabric close to where it came up. The University of Florida guide recommends several passes through the shank; six to eight with doubled thread is secure for most garments.

Turn the shank loop so it lines up with the direction of the buttonhole; that lets the button slip through without twisting the fabric. On heavy coats, many makers sew a small flat button on the inside of the garment directly behind the outer one and stitch through both, which spreads the strain and stops the button from tearing through the cloth. Knot off on the inside as above. For suits and blazers, our guide to suit button rules explains which buttons you actually fasten, which affects how much strain each one takes. If a jacket button pulls into an X of creases when fastened, the problem is fit rather than sewing, as our guide to how a suit should fit explains.

When the button fell off jeans

The waistband button on most jeans is not sewn at all. It is a tack button, a metal button fixed with a pin hammered through the fabric from the inside, so there is nothing to sew back on. The quick fix is a no sew replacement jeans button kit, which pushes a new pin through the old hole and clicks into a new button; it takes a few minutes with a hammer or pliers. A tailor can also fit a new tack button, or sew on a sturdy shank button with heavy thread if you prefer.

If the fabric around the old hole has torn, a new button in the same spot will pull straight out. Reinforce the area from the inside with an iron on patch or a small square of denim first, or ask a tailor to repair it. Our guide to washing jeans covers the care that keeps the waistband, and everything else, in good shape.