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Buttonhole
 
 
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Buttonholes are holes in fabric that are paired with functional button
Button

In clothing and fashion design, a button is a small disc, typically round, object usually attached to an article of clothing in order to secure an opening, or for fashion....
s (as opposed to decorative buttons) that serve as fastener
Fastener

A fastener is a hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects together.Fasteners can also be used to close a container such as a bag, a box, or an envelope; or they may involve keeping together the sides of an opening of flexible material, attaching a Lid to a container, etc....
s. Buttonholes may be either made by hand sewing or automated by a sewing machine
Sewing machine

A sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric or other material together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies....
. A buttonhole may be replaced by a loop of cloth
Textile

A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by Spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands known as yarn....
 or rope
Rope

A rope is a length of fibers, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength ....
, such as in a Mandarin button
Frog (fastening)

A frog is an ornamental braiding for fastening the front of a garment that consists of a button and a loop through which it passes.The usual purpose of frogs is to provide a closure for a garment while decorating it at the same time....
.

The etymology of the term buttonhole came from buttonhold (originally a loop of string that held a button down).

onholes for fastening or closing clothing with buttons appeared first in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 in the 13th century.






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Encyclopedia


Keyhole Buttonhole
Buttonholes are holes in fabric that are paired with functional button
Button

In clothing and fashion design, a button is a small disc, typically round, object usually attached to an article of clothing in order to secure an opening, or for fashion....
s (as opposed to decorative buttons) that serve as fastener
Fastener

A fastener is a hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects together.Fasteners can also be used to close a container such as a bag, a box, or an envelope; or they may involve keeping together the sides of an opening of flexible material, attaching a Lid to a container, etc....
s. Buttonholes may be either made by hand sewing or automated by a sewing machine
Sewing machine

A sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric or other material together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies....
. A buttonhole may be replaced by a loop of cloth
Textile

A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by Spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands known as yarn....
 or rope
Rope

A rope is a length of fibers, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength ....
, such as in a Mandarin button
Frog (fastening)

A frog is an ornamental braiding for fastening the front of a garment that consists of a button and a loop through which it passes.The usual purpose of frogs is to provide a closure for a garment while decorating it at the same time....
.

The etymology of the term buttonhole came from buttonhold (originally a loop of string that held a button down).

History

Buttonholes for fastening or closing clothing with buttons appeared first in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 in the 13th century. They soon became widespread with the rise of snug-fitting garments in 13th- and 14th-century Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
.

Aspects of buttonholes

Buttonholes often have a bar at either end. This is a row of perpendicular hand or machine stitching to reinforce the ends of a buttonhole.

Traditionally, men's clothing buttonholes are on the left side, and women's clothing buttonholes are on the right.

Types of buttonholes


Hand stitching

  • A plain buttonhole, by far the most common type. In plain buttonholes, the raw (cut) edges of the textile
    Textile

    A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by Spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands known as yarn....
     are finished with thread
    Yarn

    Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibers, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking....
     in very closely spaced stitch
    Stitch

    Stitch may refer to:*Sewing, a method of securing thread into textiles**Blanket stitch, used to reinforce the edge of thick materials**Cable knitting is a style of knitting in which the order of stitches is permuted...
    es (if made by hand, often the buttonhole stitch
    Buttonhole stitch

    Buttonhole stitch and the related blanket stitch are hand-sewing stitches used in tailoring, embroidery, and needle lace-making.Buttonhole stitches catch a loop of the thread on the surface of the fabric and needle is returned to the back of the fabric at a right angle to the original start of the thread....
    ). When stitched by hand, a slit is made in the fabric first and the result is called a worked buttonhole.


Machined stitching

Sewing machine
Sewing machine

A sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric or other material together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies....
s offer various levels of automation to creating plain buttonholes. When made by machine, the slit between the sides of the buttonhole is opened after the stiching is completed.

  • A machine-made buttonhole is usually sewn with two parallel rows of machine sewing
    Sewing machine

    A sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric or other material together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies....
     in a narrow zig-zag stitch
    Zigzag

    A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular....
    , with the ends finished in a broader zig-zag stitch. (One of the first automatic buttonhole machines was invented by Henry Alonzo House
    Henry Alonzo House

    Henry Alonzo House was an USA inventor who developed machinery and processes that have had a lasting impact on several industries....
     in 1862.)


  • A bound buttonhole, which has its raw edges encased by pieces of fabric or trim
    Trim (sewing)

    Trim or trimming in clothing and home decorating is applied ornament, such as Gimp , tassel#passementerie, ribbon, ruffles, or, as a verb, to apply such ornament....
     instead of stitches.


  • A keyhole buttonhole is a special case of a thread-finished buttonhole that is normally machine-made due to the difficulty of achieving it by hand working. It is characterized by a round hole at the end of the slit to accommodate the button's shank without distorting the fabric.


Keyhole buttonholes are most often found on tailored coats and jackets
Coat (clothing)

A coat is a long clothing worn by both men and women, for warmth, protection or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and open down the front, closing by means of buttons, zippers, Velcro, toggles, a belt , or a combination of these....
.

See also

  • Zipper
    Zipper

    A zipper is a popular device for temporarily joining two edges of textile. It is used in clothing , luggage and other bags, sporting goods, camping gear , and other daily use items....
  • Belt
    Belt (clothing)

    A belt is a flexible band, typically made of leather or heavy cloth, and worn around the waist. A belt supports trousers or other articles of clothing, and it serves for style and decoration....