Little White Dress- Understitching and Keyhole Buttonholes

I confess, I’ve been procrastinating finishing the little white dress because of the belt conundrum.  I don’t particularly feel like making a belt at the moment.  I’m dying to start working with some Japanese flocked cotton I found.  I may find one cheap (fingers crossed) and the dress will be complete!

I’m out of practice, so today I took my time under-stitching, making buttonholes, and taking pictures.

Under-stitching means sewing the facing or lining through the seam allowance.  It prevents the facing or lining of a garment from rolling to the outside.  A tailor friend of mine once suggested under stitching before pressing.  “He’s mad!” I thought- then tried it.  If you ever find you have issues pressing then understitching, try it the other way around.   Understitching first makes pressing much easier.

He also taught me to keep a little lateral tension on the seam (tug the fabric gently sideways in both directions, I use my first and second fingers) to create a crisper edge.

I’m using keyhole buttonholes for this dress.  I could just as easily sew buttons over my shoulder seam and avoid the bother of buttonholes, but I prefer “functional” details.  I’m always slightly disappointed by design details that don’t “work,” even when it’s pretty.

Keyhole buttonholes are most commonly used on jackets, coats, and waistbands.  The shape of the buttonhole begs for a shanked button to settle into the rounded “key” end.  I’m using shanked buttons and I would expect the “top” end of my buttonhole to hang on the button shank.  Therefore, it makes sense to use a keyhole buttonhole.

I created a nice straight line (following my shoulder line), rather than allow my buttons to live wherever they like. I just drew a line at the “average” place.

I stuck my chalk marker through the buttonhole to mark the buttons.

This is what happens when you make your own patterns. Not a big deal. I pinned the shoulders in place so I could mark the button position, remembering that the button will settle into the rounded part of my keyhole (closest to the shoulder)

Nice neat keyhole buttonhole, ready for my button.

Stab the keyhole with the tailor’s awl, through the rounded part.

I use these tools for lightweight / ravelly / flimsy / heavyweight / tough / bulky fabrics. They make life simpler.

Finished

…before slipping it into position. I usually use the edge of my bobbin slide plate (pointing to it with the awl) as a guide for where to place my garment edge. Not always, but often. It’s useful.

I slip my buttonhole in this way- remember for a keyhole, the rounded part where the button settles is the same place the machine begins sewing. If I put it in this way, I can align the center of my buttonhole with the center of my buttonhole foot.

I matched the two front edges (which will have buttonholes) to make sure the finished shoulder areas matched.

The line is more a reminder or a suggestion that a marking to obsess over.

Four buttons on each side looked better than three. The buttons are attached to a back underlap, the buttonholes go on the front.

Now I’m off to settle into a movie while I hand-sew the buttons.  I might catch-stitch the outer edge of the facing while I’m at it…

More on buttonholes coming soon!