Can Anyone Sew a Button Anymore?

[Rider]

I have been very annoyed with buttons sewn on new coats. It seems as if I am re-sewing buttons during the first season of use after only a few wearings. I feel as if manufacturers tack them on as an ornament and expect customers to adequately secure them later.

Am I the only one?

 

[dhermann1]

Oh, Man!!!!! You're so right. I got a very nice London Fog trench coat at Macy's last fall, and within a few weeks all the buttons that were used on a regular basis popped off. I spent a whole evening last week sewing about 4 buttons on. Both shirts and coats, the buttons are sewn on to last until they're sold. I guess that's just an indication of the sweat shop conditions in almost all garment manufacturing these days. The seams they can zip up quickly. But buttons require time and care. Very frustrating.

 

[Corky]

When I worked at Brooks Brothers (back in the '70's)...

When I worked at Brooks Brothers (back in the '70's), the old timers used to complain about the decline in quality of the manufacture of the merchandise.

"They used to sew the buttons on properly, they sewed them on so that they stayed on!" the old timers would say, "Now they only sew 'em so they stay on long enough for the customer to get the damn thing out the door!"

 

[Not-Bogart13]

It's sad, but I now expect to have to re-attach at least one button on every shirt, jacket, and coat I buy within a year. I remember stuff my father owned that never needed button repair.

 

[bunnyb.gal]

Ooh, tell me about it! I recently bought a blouse, brought it home, went to put it on for the evening and every bloody button shot off, all 6,7 or so of them! It was like a comedy sketch, with me scrambling around on all fours trying to retrieve these buttons! Well, a 40's-style blouse it was; that'll learn me for not buying the real thing!

 

[too much coffee]

Any chance the blouse was the wrong size? BTW, that's a compliment!

 

[Peacoat]

Ooh, tell me about it! I recently bought a blouse, brought it home, went to put it on for the evening and every bloody button shot off, all 6,7 or so of them! It was like a comedy sketch, with me scrambling around on all fours trying to retrieve these buttons! Well, a 40's-style blouse it was; that'll learn me for not buying the real thing!

Oooh, I like to think about that.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

The problem isn't that they can't sew - it's that they use ridiculously shoddy thread rather than the heavy-duty stuff that won't wear out. And 99% of people out there just figure that's the way things are supposed to be made, and they'll pop $5 or so for their dry cleaner to sew it back on.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

well, the problems are legion. They don't use enough thread - a couple runs through each hole of the button, no shank for coat fastening buttons, not using nice strong thread etc. etc. … but most of all the fact that no human being has any input into the production of the garment. Quality control in clothing for stores is abysmal. The machine decides whether it's done right or not. Or, of course, an enslaved child who is being asked to sew a billion buttons a day for 50p if they're lucky. No good hand-wringing: buy from a department store and you are likely supporting child labour.

But hey: you want it cheap? You get it cheap. Let the market decide its best production methods.

bk

 

[Shangas]

You're certainly not alone. I've been sewing buttons onto my shirts for ages. For me, it's always the cuff & collar buttons that seem to come off the most easily.

 

[jeep44]

Another consideration is cheap buttons with sharp edges on the holes in them-those edges will cut right through thread in no time. I suspect old buttons had properly chamfered holes in them. At any rate, when I sew a button back on now,I use dental floss for thread. They stay on after that.

 

[Tomasso]

"Even if you pay £2000 for a suit, the sad fact is that buttons do fall off, even the ones sewn on by hand by the best Savile Row tailors."

Button sewing tips from Thomas Mahon.

 

[GHQ1]

I use a couple

back and forths of KEVLAR thread. . . .and the buttons are on for the life of the garment . . ..

 

[apba1166]

Shirt buttons I sew back on every so often. Same with pants buttons. doesn't bother me. But coat buttons are now a joke, as mentioned. The good smaller Italian brands still do them well. Canali, Valentino. I just stopped buying any heavy coats w/buttons period (the older ones I have are ok). They go loose by the fifth time you use them, after which you stop, and go cold. The lesser brands are all shlock on the buttons. Yet I have a ten year old $45 heavy/lined Wrangler denim jacket, metal shank buttons, I've buttoned and unbuttoned countless times, with neither the hole or button getting any looser. Kudos to them.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Sure thing, but you'd be a little peeved if it were on the first wearing - or even within the first year of ownership, yes?

"Even if you pay £2000 for a suit, the sad fact is that buttons do fall off, even the ones sewn on by hand by the best Savile Row tailors."

Button sewing tips from Thomas Mahon.

 

[Tomasso]

Sure thing, but you'd be a little peeved if it were on the first wearing - or even within the first year of ownership, yes?

Oh, absolutely.

 

[Cigarband]

I just tell them that as soon as the buttons are sewn to my satisfaction, I'll pay for the garment. This works every time.

 

[bunnyb.gal]

Any chance the blouse was the wrong size? BTW, that's a compliment!

Would that it were! The 50's silhouette, I ain't got and that's for sure! I actually got the top for that blousy not too clingy 40's vibe, and still - pop, pop, pop...

Trust me Peacoat, you would have been wondering where the other 2 Stooges were had you been witness to it!

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I find that the buttons some companies use are so thin that they don't have time to come unsewn. They are more likely to snap in two.

 

[PBenes]

I picked up a pair of Perry Ellis slacks 2 weeks ago, and the little metal hook button came off in the dryer before I even wore them. I was pretty miffed at that.