Sewing on Shank Buttons

Dawn Anderson: Hi! I'm Dawn Anderson and I'm showing you how to sew by hand. Right now, we're going to sew on a shank button. A shank button differs from a shirt button as it does not have holes in the top side; it has a metal loop on the back. Sometimes this is plastic, but it's better to have a metal loop as it's a little stronger. The shank also keeps the button up from the surface of the fabric for buttoning jackets or jeans or thick fabrics. You're going to sew the button on in a similar fashion.

So, go ahead, cut approximately 18 inches of thread, knot one end and you're going to do the double thread so with the knot in both ends. Now, we're going to start from the back side, bring your needle and thread up. It will go through the shank loop. Then to get it started, I'd like to just go ahead and take up the first stitch the fabric and then pull that through and that's going to snug the button up to the surface and then take your needle through the loop again and then back underneath, stitching the underside and then again through the loop and then under the back side of the fabric.

So, you are using double thread, which is going to make it stronger. If you were sewing on a jacket that plan on wearing a lot, you could even use quilting thread just to make sure it's very strong. Then to knot it off, go ahead to the reverse side, take up your knots close to the fabric, put your thumb down and cut it. Then you can see on the front side, you have your nice shank button, sewed on. That's how you sew on a shank button. Now, lets move on to sewing on snaps.