Crochet Tips: Adding Buttons

Pick a few you like and lay them out on your fabric, taking your time in choosing a good color match. If you're undecided, ask a friendly salesperson for a second opinion.

No matter how well you stitch them, buttons are going to fall off. It’s just a fact. And sometimes those buttons fall off and disappear into the ether, so if you don’t have a matching one in your stash, you’ll have to live with mismatched closures — or have to replace them all.

Buttons made from natural materials such as wood, coconut or shell can be very delicate and may require special care.

But if you’re worried about how sturdy it’ll be, use yarn instead. If the yarn is too thick or fuzzy to fit through the buttonhole, try pulling it apart to make the strands thinner. This is hard to do if the yarn is one-ply, but multi-ply yarns will usually cooperate.

You definitely don’t want your buttons to pop off at an inconvenient time. So if you can, use the yarn tail from fastening off to sew the buttons. If that means you need to weave the yarn through a few inches to get to where the button should be sewn, do it. Sew it on, tie the knot and weave the yarn to the next button.

Buttonholes, especially crochet ones, stretch over time even after blocking. If you’re dealing with a loose buttonhole, whip stitch around it to make it tighter. Whip stitch is also called overcast stitch. It’s frequently used in sewing, but works the same way when using yarn and a tapestry needle. (Do you know the techniques of the overcast stitch? Would you like to see the tutorial? Let me know!)

Depending on your project, you may not always need a buttonhole — you can use the crochet stitches themselves instead. This allows you to change up the look of your item — for example, if you’re crocheting a cowl with double crochet stitches, you can choose to button it near the edge to make the cowl fit loosely, or tighten it right up against your neck for a cozy fit.