buttons on leather

[PATRICIA CHILCOTT]

I want to know the correct way to sew buttons on a man's leather coat. The
buttons on the coat now however are ever loose and hanging , therefore it
does not close tight enough to keep you warm.Can anyone help.

[sewingb...@webtv.net]

buttons on leather

<(PATRICIA CHILCOTT)

---
Patricia,
You need the button thread to be loose and hanging, but you are going
to secure it by making a thread shank. Here's how:
Instead of removing the buttons, double- thread (2 strands of thread)
a wedge-shaped leather working needle (Do NOT use a regular needle)
with heavy-duty buttonhole thread, knot the thread ends together, and
try this:
Behind each present button, on the wrong side of the leather, hold a
small oval patch aprox. 1/2 inch long each) of leather or ultrasuede.
(This patch will help keep the threads from cutting a hole in the
leather. Often coat makers use a small, clear 2-hole button in this
place, but, by the time a coat has wear, and the stress of pull over
time on the buttons, I find the oval patch works effectively, and keeps
the additional thread knot from pulling through to the right side of the
garment through holes which may have grown larger.)
Pull needle through the patch, back to front, and, on buttons where
the thread is frayed or down to two or three threads, take a couple more
stitches through the leather and through the button. ---Don't take too
many stitches, you don't want to make more holes in the leather. Try to
go through the holes that are already there, as you don't want to make a
crater by punching one hole too close to another.
You _must_ not pull the thread tight--you want to leave them loose
and hanging, like they are now, so that they will go through the
thicknesses of the buttonhole when the coat is being worn.
Next:
Pull one of the stitches to the right side of the coat, coming out
just under the button.
Now, using the thread on the needle, wrap the thread tightly around
the 'loose, hanging' threads which hold the button on-- wrap well,
making a firm shank, but don't wrap the whole length of threads so
tightly that you crowd and squeeze the leather coat fabric.
Last, pull thread to the back of the small patch you've sewn in
place, and finish off with a couple of small tailor's knots. (Which
means you loop the thread back on itself, forming knots, instead of
knotting through leather to tie off.)
Cea

[Admiralla]

By saying that the buttons are loose and hanging, I'm assuming that the
threading is just coming undone. If that's the case, it's best to follow the
holes that are already there, provided the fabric of the jacket isn't too
worn.

Other than that, there's no real special way to sew them on. You might want
to use a nice heavy thread though, like a button-twist. This would give
added strength. I use it on any coat that I'm sewing buttons on.

Hope that helps

Addie

"PATRICIA CHILCOTT" <whis...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:znAPa.9969$Ag6.8...@news20.bellglobal.com...

[Dorothy Gotthardt]

I find sewing buttons on leather easy enough if you use a small button on
the back side or at least between the layers - front and facing.could use
apiece of denim even. Dorothy G

[SewStorm]

>
>By saying that the buttons are loose and hanging, I'm assuming that the
>threading is just coming undone.

This reminds me that you do need a "thread shank" for coat buttons, and this
may be the reason they look loose. Is it?

The way to create a thread shank while you're sewing on a button (to
accommodate the thickness of the coat, so your buttons don't pull), is to hold
the button away from the coat while you're sewing it (I use a toothpick), then
after you've sewn it well, pull your thread to the outside of the coat, but
beneath the button, and wrap the shank well with the thread. Then finish off
with a knot beneath, just as you normally would sew on a button.

Do not neglect this step, or you won't be able to button your coat properly.

Let me know if I haven't explained this well enough.
Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati