I don’t know about you, but sewing a good-looking buttonhole, without a mistake, seems to be a nearly impossible task. There are attachments for machines. Some machines have 4-to-6 step built-in buttonholes. Sew a buttonhole by hand? Hmmm. I’ve been tempted and then reconsider: it’s not worth the stress (even though there are some great YouTube tutorials I have watched!).
In each of these, something can go wrong. A perfect buttonhole can be destroyed with a slip of the seam ripper when making the final slash. Birds nests of thread can collect under what looks like a beauty of a buttonhole. Stitches can be skipped.
I have a small (compared to some people) collection of sewing machines, ranging from a treadle with a long bobbin (The Free #5), two old Singer handcranks (a back-clamping Lotus 66 and a 99), a Featherweight 222K, a Necchi hiding out in the garage in a horrid French Provincial table), some Kenmores (158.1030, 158.1400, 158 904, 158.19802), a Bernina or two (801S and 930), a Janome 6500, and a Pfaff Passport 3.0 (which I may trade in as it seems to have a few too many quirks). I also have a Viking 19e, fixed at long last, which was my mother’s machine, and the one I used throughout my school years. I also have attachments for the treadle, Singers, Kenmores, Berninas, and Janome – anything to make life easier. Or purportedly easier. Buttonhole attachments are included in the mix. And as adjuncts, a coverstitch machine and a serger.
Not all attachments fit all machines. Most are proprietary. For instance, did you know that Singers of yore come with rounded corners and Kenmores are squared? Round pegs – or rounded corners – do not fit in square holes – or squared holes. And in reverse. Thus, Singer attachments are not likely to work on a Kenmore, and Kenmores might not work on a Singer or a Bernina – but they might.
For awhile, Singer made slant-needle machines, and must have slant-needle attachments. Kenmore machines range from low-shank, to high-shank, to super-high-shank. These might require specific buttonhole attachments or shank adapters.
Let’s not talk about Kenmore buttonholers of some variety – many are proprietary to given machine models, and are not clearly identified. Did you ever look at all the models than Kenmore made? Maybe even more models than Singer.
I have 4 Singer buttonholers (gotten cheap off eBay – some for a couple of bucks) and a generic, low-shank one I bought 20 years ago at a local sewing machine store. That last buttonholer is the easiest to use of all of them, but the old Singers are a lot of fun and do a pretty good job.
A good or great buttonhole attachment or machine function is a gift from the gods. Imagine making clothes at home on a straight-stitch machine in a few hours – or several – and then spending the same amount of time (I would think) sewing in 12 buttonholes on a shirt or a blouse or a dress. Even if funky and weird, a buttonholer is up there with a washing machine and a paperclip and a safety pin as far as being this side of miraculous.
Whoever invented the automated buttonholer, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Stay tuned for Part II!
Ink, Yarn & Beer 