Tips & Techniques

Instructions for the Best Way To Stitch Out Eyelet Buttonholes

I use a 4mm eyelet cutter

B17 round eyelet: Use an eyelet cutter to cut some holes to practice with. Use a tear away underneath to stabilize and then place a piece of "solvy" under the hole. Center the cut hole under the crossbar of the foot so the top of the hole touches the crossbar and the red line of the foot is centered with the hole. The hole will be centered between the extensions of the foot. The needle will start sewing about 1/8" above the hole.

Sew the eyelet and keep your foot on the pedal until the machine stops sewing and cuts the thread. Pull up the top thread so it won't get tangled and sew the eyelet out one more time. Then carefully remove the solvy and tear away.

B18 teardrop eyelet: Cut the holes as before and stabilize the fabric: The top of the hole should be 1/8" below the crossbar and the bottom of the hole will be lined up with where the foot extensions start an upward curve. The center line on the foot will be aligned with the middle of the hole. Stitch and keep foot on pedal until the machine cuts the thread. Pull up the top thread so it won't get tangled and stitch the design again.

B19 oval eyelet: Cut holes and stabilize as above. Top edge of hole should touch the lower edge of the crossbar and the hole should be centered with the red line on the foot. Needle will be 1/8" above the hole. Stitch as above.

Because this eyelet is oval, the stitching will leave a tiny bit of the cloth at the lower end of the oval. I found that I could do the first stitching and then trim the little piece of fabric away (don't cut the Solvy) to make the hole bigger and then do the second stitching. You can easily see exactly where the stitching started and just put the needle down at that point and make sure the eyelet is centered as before.