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Lesson Info

Easy Button Holes

all right. The next thing that we are going to be working on our buttonholes. So for my in studio audience, if you turn to the second page of the practice sheets, you'll see that there are, um they're practice watches that you could make. Or you can use one of your existing one of your existing swatches that you brought with you. You could just sort of, like, join the yarn and added to it Whatever. Whatever you want to dio, you can do it and I'll show you what we're gonna be doing. And then you could make a life decision, definitely for the button loop, one that we're gonna be that I'm gonna be showing you first. I think that you could just add it to an existing swatch. So this is kind of an afterthought. Buttonhole. It's really more of a button loop, right? So this is one of those things that you could you could use. Maybe you thought you were going to just have, like, a cardigan that was hanging. And then you decided at the very last minute, you know, I really would like to add some ...

toggles to it or whatever this is great for that. This is you don't have to plan ahead at all, which I love. This is a really good method to use if you're using something that has a little depth to it, Like a toggle night or something that has pulled this off a little bit of a shank to it, a little bit of height. It doesn't work as well. If you've got, um, straight up flat buttons like this would not be a great model in for a flat button like that. It just really wouldn't work. Well, because the yarn would wrap around it and it would slide off. It needs a little something to grab onto and nestle under. So I am going Teoh crab, some yard. And if you're at home, just grab a swatch of anything. Whatever you have is totally cool. Grab a hook, and I'm just gonna just join it randomly. Doesn't matter where, um for the purpose of this, I'm joining my yarn. And I'm just doing a couple single crushes just to get me over toe where I want to be for this particular thing. All right, So to make a button loop, I'm going to change five. Now, this is an arbitrary number. I picked five because this is the This is the size loop that I want to make. But the cool thing about this is not only can it be an afterthought of whether or not you wanted to have buttons at all, it can also you can decide right there how large you need years to be. So 12345 I decided that that's I want my loops to be that big. But if I were using let's even though this is not the kind of button I would use If I were using a button this size, I would need it to be significantly longer. So what I would do is I would just chain around for the length around the perimeter and then maybe take one off, just so it would be nice and snug. So you can kind of I it it's really flexible that way. It's kind of very stress free. Um, so you're gonna chain that five and then you're gonna go back into the stitch where you made the chain and join it with a slip stitch, and that makes it better loop and in the bonus materials. There is a practice watch for this that will give you sort of the exact foundation that I have here for the peace. Um, and then it will give you, um, the directions on how to create the entire row of buttonholes. And this could be found in the bonus material section. Okay, so then what? I would do that. And this is another one of those things. This is totally a design feature. It depends on how, for how much space you want in between each button for how many stitches you're gonna do in between. I wouldn't recommend doing them one after another after another after another, because unless you're working with teeny tiny buttons, they're going toe that's going toe collapse on to each other. It's gonna cause a lot of puckering. So I generally dio, like maybe a single Cochet or to put one there. And then I'm gonna single Cochet into the next stitch, and then I'm gonna go ahead and make my button loop with that same stitch. So 123 for five slip stitch in that same stitch that I did the single crush A to start and that's created my next one. Then I'll do a single crochet, and the next one the's button loops actually might be a little close for the size they are, too. So maybe I would do a couple more in between again. It really depends on the size buttons that you're using and what you're using them for. This would be really a really cute design feature. For if you were making a pillow and on the back, you wantedto have, you know, sort of some like a pop of color with buttons and then some sweet loops. I also actually quite like this as an edging for a low like a little girl's skirt or something. It's really fun and playful, but it would also be great for a little cardigan if you wanted to have toggles or just big buttons in general. Um, next you're gonna go to the next stitch, you're gonna make a single Cochet gonna chain five and strips joined with a slip stitch. So I'm just going to do a couple more to say you really feel like you've got the knowledge base. Are there any questions about these particular button loops at all? in the studio now. You're good. What is the side till the side head tilt means maybe not really a question. But I was thinking to be very useful if I want to. Something lace up the front of ah. Oh, better chance. That's brilliant. Brilliant. So she's saying that you could do the loops on both sides if you were doing your Obviously probably not needing a crushing. Of course it, I say, Obviously, I don't know you. Maybe you are. But if you wanted to do something where you laced it up, this is perfect, cause you could grab you could grab with the string and then pull anti. That's what you mean. Correct? Yep. In actually across a course, it isn't my future at some point just not there yet. Denise. Denise is making a course that Are you going to Ren Fair? That was happening. Used to work Ren fairs? Yeah, Ren fairs, science fiction conventions. Yeah, just for the heck of it. Whatever. Well, I would love to see that, so please make sure and share that picture. In fact, I wanted toe mention this to all of you. If you use any of these techniques at all that you've learned in this class. If you have a little swatch and you're using them, I would love it if you post a picture and tag at Viki Howl or at creative life. I really, really love seeing people working on things that they've learned, you know, from any of the projects that I've worked on. So just on social media anywhere please tag me. Did you have a question? Could you use this loop technique on the edge of ah, knitting you 100% Great question you 100% could use this loop such as a buttonhole as an afterthought, buttonhole or as an edging on an it peace. Because you could just join the yarn, Um, wherever. And in fact, we're gonna be working on a couple, eh? Jing's after this, and they could be used on net or Cochet pieces as well. And often and often I do actually do that. So thank you. That was a great question. All right, I'm just gonna do a couple more, and then we're gonna move on to another method of buttonhole awesomeness. All right. Have we had time to finish a little bit of swatches, maybe. Oh, yeah, You're good. That's great. I'm gonna come grab that and show it in a different weight yarn, too, because I was using a really lofty yard. Yeah, but this is great. So the urine that I was using is really it's got a lot of bloom to that to it. And what that means is that although it's twisted relatively tightly because of how it's twisted and what the fibers made out of, I think this isn't out pack of land. If you give a larger stitch, it blooms, which means it fills a space like it has. It opens its wings, right. And so the loops are going to be less stable, really airy and light. You've used a yarn that has a really tight twist to it. So that means that there's gonna be a different stability. This is actually probably a better yarn, for if you're trying to work with smaller runs, especially so I like what it looks like. Um, in this wait for sure. Okay, great. All right. So the next thing that we're gonna do is we're gonna work on not so much afterthought buttonholes, and this these would be great for traditional buttons. So I actually I have a couple pieces here using the same method. So the top piece is a piece that I made that is with two by two rib front post on back posts, half double Cochet. It's not the one that we're gonna be working on today, but I just wanted you to see what this method would look like if you did it for a ribbed button band. We're actually gonna be working on half, double crush a again. It doesn't matter of in studio if you want to go ahead and work maybe two rows of half double Cochet. Um, just pick a 20 stitches. It doesn't matter. Just pick a few, because we're just gonna be practicing anyway. Um, 26 is what it says in the practiced swatch. It actually has you, um, working three rows. But that's not necessary for us in the studio right now. You could just work a row If you want at home again, bonus materials will have a practice watch for you, so you can, either. But if you're working along with me right now, go ahead and just cast cast on chain on 26 stitches and then work one row. And, um I'm sorry. I said half double crochet. What I met with single Cochet doesn't really matter. Either one will work, but go ahead and work a row of that and then I'm going to show you how to create these buttonholes. So this is actually the kind of hole that you'd want to use if you were using a flatter button like this. Bigger one. Obviously, this is too big for these holes, but something flat like that would work Or the's air obviously too small. But they're tiny telephone. So they were seeing they deserve a little limelight. I mean, come on, get totally wrong button for that size hole, but still adorable. But anything flat, anything more traditional. This would also work with one of these buttons that has a shank this Well, it's pretty versatile. It would work fine with toggles to It's a super versatile method. So I'm gonna go ahead and just I'll work along with you and also do arose of single Cochet. If we're feeling extra spicy, we would be doing our foundation single car share right now, too, and melding them together. Have any of you in studio worked on garments where you've added buttons for buttonholes rather a long time ago? No. Maybe 123456789 10 11 31. And I'm just working a row. Single Christian. Just so I have some sort of foundation to work off of for when I'm showing you the buttonholes. So the reason why this is not a sort of afterthought thing is you actually have to do a little bit of math for this one. I mean, not if you're following a pattern, but if you were going Teoh, um, designed something yourself because you need to know how many chains that you needed toe have. How far How many stitches you need to have in between? Teoh have them spaced evenly. Eso it just It requires a little bit more planning, but it's a really nice, you know, go to any time method. Okay, so I'm getting closer. Okay, So I'm finishing up this just foundation row that I'm doing just so that I have something toe. Add my buttonholes too, and I'm ready to go ahead and start working on in the practice watch this will be row for um but in general, this is just the buttonhole row. All right, So since I'm working in single Cochet when the chain wine, I'm not counting that single Christian is a stitch. So I'm gonna make a sinking single Cochet in that same stitch that I did the chain one and then I'm going Teoh, make two more single crow Shayes on Lee because I don't want to have a buttonhole right at the edge. It's gotta have. It's gotta have a little something for the button, actually. Nestle on. All right, so from here, we're ready to actually start the buttonhole action. So to do that, we're going to skip two stitches so we can look at the top and we can see that are stitches. All right here. So I'm gonna skip one Skip to We're going Teoh Chain Teoh. We've skipped these two stitches and then we're going to do work. Four single crush A and this number, the single Chris Shays. The number would vary depending on how far apart you'd want Your buttonholes. This is just for this particular swatch. And this is your first button hole right there. You can see that little so that skipping of the stitches with the chain over it is what will create that hole. Is there a question at home? Uh, this viewer noticed that you prefer to pull from the outside of the skein instead of pulling from the center. Can you give the pros and cons on the The pros are that if you're impatient like I am, there's no digging around for the center of of the Strand. The cons are that often it's a big hot mess because the ball goes flying sometimes the other tail, as this is happening to. Hey, thanks for calling me out on that one. Appreciate, that becomes a big mess. Um, so you know, it's one of those things. What happens a lot for the center and why I don't always pull from the center, and I do sometimes is that some fibres stick to itself. The halo form. The actual hairs of the fibers can adhere to each other. And so when you're trying to pull out the, um, the yarn from the center, sometimes what happens is you'll get a huge you'll get, like this huge mess just going to show it to you, and sometimes you have to pull out this huge mess to find the end. And then half of my Aaron is all over the place. If it's wound properly, that doesn't always happen. But sometimes I'm not feeling like a gambling woman, so I just take the label off and I just work from the outside and often with roving yearns, especially that have that they don't have any twists to really hold the fiber together. It'll adhere to each other. My former year online sheepish was one of those where I just felt like it was almost like Velcro to each other, all bound in there, and it just didn't feel like it was successful. Is if I pulled it from the outside. So that's really it's just which is preference. OK, so now I have skipped my two stitches 12 and I'm going Teoh single crush before. So I'm doing a series of single Chris Shays and then skipping stitches. But then, overarching, those skip stitches are these chains. Now I've done the chain to, but if you were working with a larger button you could go further. You could skip three stitches and do it and do you know, chain more or you could do teeny, tiny ones? You could just do one chain and skip one stitch. Play around with it. Have fun with it at home. Um, it's really versatile, and it's also going to depend. I mean, some you might find also that you won t want to chain one stitch less than the skip skip stitches that your other than the stitches that you're skipping. It depends on how loosely you change. It depends on how tight you want that button to be held. There's there's very much an art form to it. You just work with it and see what works best for you. So far, Do we have any questions in studio? Yes, ma'am, I was wondering you had mentioned combining with foundations stitch one that make the buttonholes more less stable. Or would it be? No. Because you wouldn't. We wouldn't normally be. This is just for this. Watch that we're just doing one row. Normally, you excuse me, you would have a a piece, right? Whatever is covering this all this action. So the actual foundation row would be over here. Good question, though. Good question. Okay, so I'm just gonna go ahead and in this off Okay, so the buttonhole rue actually takes sort of takes two rows to complete. Only because chain stitches in and of themselves are not very stable. And so we wouldn't want to Just you could leave it like this, but I find that, um, I prefer my button holes to be a little more stable. So on the way back, what we're gonna dio is we're going to single Christian and the stitches as normal. So I'm starting a new round. I've turned my piece. I've changed one. I worked a single crow Shea working Mike. Single crushes as I normally would. And then what I want to do is I want to go ahead and single Cochet in these in these change two spaces. So I'm just gonna go around. You could go in the stitches. I like to go around. I just feel like it's super stable that way. So one, two, and then I'm gonna move on to my single Chris Shays and then just continue single crushing. And here's what that looks like. So if I actually worked into the chain stitch it may look a little more even that way. I just really like how stable grabbing that whole like around the entire chain makes that I feel like it's gonna hold the button a little bit better. This is totally just That's my gig. If that doesn't work for you should absolutely single Cochet in each of the individual chains. Play with it, find what works best for you. Okay, so I've single cruciate in all the single crow Shays stitches. And now I'm ready, Teoh Single Cochet across only to across the chains. And you're just gonna do that all the way across. And then what I would do is I would obviously whatever the pattern calls for, you should do that. But I would want to work at least one plane row after that before I fastened off. So there was just a nice, clean road that didn't have any funny business going on to make a really nice edging