In sewing buttons on bodices a tape should be sewed over the front basting for a stay. If sufficient material has not been allowed for a lap, this should be added, as a lap is necessary under the opening of such buttonholes.
Buttons may be sewed through lining having a small button on the wrong side. This method prevents the cloth from tearing and makes an ornamental finish as well as a substantial one.
Buttons which are supplied with wire shanks should be sewed down firmly as the shank already provided permits the buttons to set up well from the material. They should be placed in such a position that the wire shank will run parallel with the buttonhole and not cross it.
The position for hooks and eyes should be marked before sewing on. The simplest, though least desirable, method of sewing-on these fastenings is to place the eye at the edge of the seam or facing and the hook sufficiently far back from the opposite side to give a lap. A much preferable method is to baste a bias strip of crinoline along the positions to be occupied by the hooks and eyes; this gives strength to the finish. Sufficient material should be allowed for folding over the shanks after the hooks and eyes have been sewed on, or they may be covered with silk ribbon, slipping the edge under the beak of each hook and then catstitched in position.
The hooks and eyes are sewed securely through the crinoline and one thickness, but the stitches should not show on the outside. Over and over stitches are taken through the small rings in the line of the full and again on each bar of the eye and on the shank of the hook so that they may be held in position securely. In many cases, it is advisable to have an underlap of the material. This should be slip-stitched in position on the garment after the eyes have been sewed in place.
Sewed on tape, Shanks covered with taffeta tape and with fold of the goods.]
Eyelet holes are made with a stiletto which forces the threads aside, but does not cut them. The edge is finished with over and over stitches placed closely together, or with a buttonhole stitch making the purl on the outer edge of the stitches. Loops are made by buttonholing very closely over several foundation threads, making the purl on the outside edge. The needle may be run under the loop eye first if preferred.