How to Sew a Button: Two-Hole, Four-Hole and Shank

A button takes about ten minutes and four supplies to sew back on: a needle, thread, scissors and something thin like a toothpick. You stitch through the holes a few times, leave a little slack, wrap that slack into a short stem, and knot it on the back. That stem is the step most people skip, and it’s what keeps the button from working loose again.

Quick version

• Double about 16 inches of thread and knot or anchor it on the back.
• Hold a toothpick on top of the button so the stitches stay loose.
• Three passes per pair of holes with doubled thread.
• Remove the toothpick, wrap the slack four or five times to make a thread shank.
• Knot twice on the back and hide the tail between layers.

What you need

• A needle thin enough to pass through the button’s holes. Size barely matters.
• Thread. Match the fabric for a shank button so the stitches disappear; for a button with holes, match the fabric or the button. All-purpose thread works if you double it. For coats, use buttonhole twist or heavier thread.
• Scissors. Any pair.
• A spacer: a toothpick, matchstick or straight pin.
• Optional: a thimble for thick fabric, chalk to mark the spot, and beeswax or a candle to stiffen and smooth the thread.

Find the exact spot

If a button fell off, look for tiny holes or leftover threads where it sat. Sew right there.

If you can’t tell, button up the rest of the garment, lay it flat, and mark through the empty buttonhole with chalk or a pencil (the button will cover a small mark). On a horizontal buttonhole, the button sits near the end closest to the garment’s edge. On a vertical one, it sits at the top.

How to sew a button with two or four holes

1. Thread the needle and double it. Cut about 16 to 18 inches, pass one end through the eye, and pull until the ends meet. Wet or wax the tip if it frays.
2. Anchor the thread on the back. Simplest: knot the two ends together and come up from the inside of the garment. Neater: skip the knot, take two tiny stitches on the inside layer at the mark, and tie the thread through its own loop.
3. Position the button and add the spacer. Come up through one hole. Lay the toothpick across the top of the button between the holes.
4. Stitch over the toothpick. Go down through the opposite hole (for four holes, the one across or beside it) and back up through the first. Do about three passes with doubled thread. Use the same entry and exit points each time so the button doesn’t twist.
5. Do the second pair of holes on a four-hole button. Parallel lines or an X both hold; pick what matches the other buttons.
6. Come up under the button, not through a hole. On your last pass, bring the needle up through the fabric so it exits between the button and the fabric. Pull out the toothpick.
7. Wrap the shank. Wind the thread tightly around the stitches under the button four or five times. This builds a short post.
8. Finish on the back. Push the needle to the inside, take a small stitch, loop through to make a knot, and repeat for a second knot. Run the needle about an inch between fabric layers, pull it out, and snip the thread flush.

Shank buttons

A shank button has a loop on its back instead of holes, so it already stands off the fabric.

1. Anchor your doubled thread at the mark, as above.
2. Turn the button so the shank’s loop lines up with the direction of the buttonhole.
3. Come up through the fabric, pass through the loop, and go back down right beside where you came up.
4. Repeat three or four times. Pull these stitches snug; no spacer needed.
5. Knot twice on the back and hide the tail.

On very thick fabric, like a wool coat, hold the button a little away from the fabric as you stitch and add a short wrapped stem under the shank too.

Loose buttons and buttons that tear out

If a button is loose but still hanging on, don’t sew over the old threads. From the back, snip them carefully with small scissors, pull the button free, pick out the leftover bits, and start fresh at the same spot. Sewing over a loose button just adds a second weak layer.

If the button pulled a hole in the fabric, reinforce the spot before you sew. Claire Shaeffer recommends interfacing wherever a button is sewn; if a garment has none there, she adds a small circle of fusible interfacing between the garment and the facing. On a finished garment, an iron-on patch on the inside does a similar job. Then sew the button through the patch.

If it keeps popping off the same spot, check the fit. When the garment strains at that button, the stitches will keep failing no matter how strong they are, and a tailor can move the button out slightly.

Button-type cheat sheet

Single-strand thread instead of doubled? Plan on eight to ten passes per pair of holes.

What the pros say

• Bernadette Banner, a hand-sewing educator and author of Make, Sew and Mend, cuts about 8 inches of thread doubled (16 inches total) for a single button, makes around three passes, leaves roughly a quarter inch of space (gauged by slipping a finger underneath), then wraps the thread four or five times to form the post. She points out that many fast-fashion makers skip that wrapped post, and it’s what makes a button strong.
• Claire B. Shaeffer, a couture sewing author and teacher writing in Threads, says a working button should clear the buttonhole without pulling the fabric. She sizes the thread stem to the thickness of the garment at the buttonhole plus 1/8 inch, and holds a sew-through button at least 1/8 inch off the fabric while stitching; decorative buttons don’t need a stem.
• Professor Pincushion, a sewing tutorial site and channel, demonstrates a flat button with a single strand and goes through each pair of holes about ten times. The tutorial warns against stitching so tightly that the button has no give to pass through the buttonhole, and finishes with a couple of knots on the back before trimming.

Gear that helps

We chose these from verified listings and what the sewing pros above use or recommend; we did not test every kit ourselves.

Do this this week

• Put a small sewing kit in your bag or desk drawer, and a fuller one at home (it belongs on any first apartment checklist).
• Find one shirt or coat with a loose button and redo it with a thread shank.
• Practice one two-hole and one four-hole button on a scrap of fabric.
• Save the spare buttons that come with new clothes in one envelope.
• Teach someone else. It’s a good first skill on our teen life skills checklist.