Maybe you’re new to sewing buttonholes, or maybe you’ve accidentally cut through your perfectly formed stitches at the end of the buttonhole one too many times and you’re looking for a new way to open up your buttonholes. Let me show you how I like to do it.
First up, I grab a sharp seam ripper. Don’t be under the mistaken assumption that sharp ones are more likely to cut your stitches. It’s actually the other way around. Dull ones are more likely to catch and snag which can make your hand slip more easily and cut somewhere you didn’t mean to. I start at 1 end of the buttonhole, with the seam ripper facing away from me towards the centre of the button,
Then I carefully use my seam ripper to open up a hole just to the middle of the buttonhole.
Then I flip my fabric around and do exactly the same thing from the other end. Moving only towards the centre of the buttonhole. As soon as I can get the sharp point to meet where I ripped up to before, I angle the end of the seam ripper upwards and out of the buttonhole. If it’s a long buttonhole, I might also fold my fabric a little to make it easier. Then if I slip, I can only rip upwards and away from my stitches.
I hope that’s helped you feel more confident now to go rip open your own buttonholes!
Happy Sewing!
