In this third installment of her Bound Buttonholes series Daryl Lancaster explains how to create the buttonhole lips that will be applied to the garment to “bind” the buttonhole’s opening edges.

Daryl’s buttonhole method uses a single patch of fabric for each buttonhole; once it has been attached to the fabric (see “Attaching the Lips to the Garment” ), you’ll cut it to separate the lips. The lip patches are made of a single fabric strip then cut apart.

First, interface the fabric you plan to use for the lips. Determine how long the strip needs to be using this equation:

Fabric strip for buttonhole lips =
(buttonhole length) x (number of buttonholes + 1).

This gives you one extra lip patch for practice.

Mark and baste lines on the strip to indicate the strip’s center and the the lip foldlines. Then fold the strip along the foldlines and stitch a tuck, at the desired finished lip width. Finally, cut the strip into sections the length of the buttonhole, plus seam allowances. You’re ready to apply the buttonhole lips to the garment.

Threads Insiders can view all the steps to creating a bound buttonhole in these videos:

“Bound Buttonholes: Introduction | Video”

“Marking the Buttonhole Placement”

“Attaching the Lips to the Garment”

“Completing the Buttonhole”

To follow the steps in print, look for Daryl’s article “Bound Buttonholes for All,” Threads #197, June/July 2018.