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One Step Buttonhole?

Started by Tripletap, June 16, 2010, 09:49:08 PM

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Tripletap

Arrrgh!!!
My machine has a one-step buttonhole function with the buttonhole presser foot, supposed to make things easier, but I cannot figure it out!!!
My fabric keeps bunching up.
Any ideas?
Thanx yall.

redkimba

What kind of sewing machine do you have?  Do you have an instruction booklet for it? 

(don't beat me with a wet snood - just checking before I and/or others can advise)

Tripletap

Thank you for your reply, I have a Brother XR-65, I do have the manual, supposedly I guess machine should basically sew the whole buttonhole for me stitches 1,2,3,4, but it is doing stitch one, then just staying there, and putting more and more thread in the same place, till it just becomes a huge knot of thread.

Sitara

Do you have the correct stitch settings selected?  Mine has a buttonhole setting as well as having to change the stitch length and width.
Beer wenches are the best wenches!

ArielCallista

There's probably a "button hole stitch" that you have to select. From your brief description it sound like you've got the button hole foot on when using a regular stitch so your machine doesn't know to come back and complete the button hole. I have a brother and I managed to do that the first time i was going to make a button hole...I wasnt paying attention.  If thats not it then heres some other possibilities. There should be a thing you pull down sort of behind where the foot attaches or ...it somehow stops the foot from going too far and then comes back the other direction. I'm not sure technically how it works or what its called but its just a plastic thing that runs into part of the foot. Also are you supposed to have the feed dogs up or down? cuz that'll jack things up fast if you've got it the wrong way...
Things are shaping up to be...
Pretty. Odd.

Lady L

Also, be sure you have a piece of interfacing on the back side of the fabric, to help stabilize it.
Former Shop Owner at MNRF

Tripletap

YAY!!!!!
I figured it out, thanks for every ones help, I was getting frustrated, so I just started methodically trying different lengths, widths, etc, till it worked.
I made a couple of good test button holes got ready to seal the deal on my shirt, and ran out of thread. ::)
It is always something, I learned a valuable sewing lesson..... REDUNDANCY!!!
I was hoping to have this shirt done in time to catch Joann Fabrics 50% off sale to buy fabric for my doublet, alas, those who snooze lose.
Hopefully they will have another sale soon.

Rosamundi

D'oh! Congrats on the buttonhole but sorry about the thread. I'm trying to remember who posted in the Murphy's Laws of Sewing discussion the rule about the bobbin thread always running out at a critical moment . . . but huzzah for you!
Garb: lovingly hand-washed, gently pressed, and hung in climate-controlled closet. Mundane clothing: usually on floor.

LadyShadow

Congrats on figuring out how to make it work.  I think we all have suffered the notorious out of thread bit.  And dont worry JoAnns always has a sale running.
May the stars always shine upon you and yours.

Royal Order of Landsharks Guppy # 98 :)

Kate XXXXXX

My Lily is awaiting a visit to the Old Sewing Machine Guy for a service, so I have been using the 4 step buttonholes on either the Bernina 1005 or the Husqvarna Optima 190.  Boring square ended buttonholes, but every one perfect, even on heavily embroidered Broiderie Anglaise!  My bobbin thread ran out at the exact end of the last but one buttonhole!  PHEW!  But I thought I'd lost the other reel of thread, and spent a frantic 10 minutes chasing it down.  I'd been 'sensible' and carefully put it away in the Brown Cotton Thread box!

Now I need to make some pretty lacy edged petticoats for the same customer...  No buttonholes there.

Just to say that while I love the perfection of these two machines' 4 step buttonholes, I surely do miss the glory that it the Lily's one step wonder!

gem

I'm bumping this up because I'm having the exact trouble with the buttonhole foot on my Viking.  I put the foot on, follow all the instructions, select the buttonhole stitch, and then... nothing.  It just sews in one spot OR tangles and breaks the thread/needle.

The instructions in my booklet are p*ss poor, and it took a few tries to even figure out what the steps were asking me to do--but I have that now, and still nothing.

???

Tripletap

I just had to keep adjusting and trying width and length, had to made sure my lever was all the way back, and had to help my fabric get started with the movement.

Kate XXXXXX

Gem, with the automatic one-step foot, make sure that:

The plug is fully inserted in the socket above the foot

The wheel is centered in the WHITE area before starting: center the wheel again for each new buttonhole, and ensure that you press it down so the wheel is in contact with the fabric.  You do this after lowering the presser foot and centering the wheel in the white area each time you start a new buttonhole.

You have selected the correct buttonhole style to make

You have told it how long to make the buttonholes.

Remember that it starts with the LEFT side of the buttonhole and sews BACKWARDS first.


Remember that you can change the stitch density on the buttonholes, but you need to unplug the foot to do so.


Tripletap, which machine do you have? 

gem

#13
I'm supposed to have a WHEEL?  ???

I just have the ordinary buttonhole foot where you put the button in the slot and snap it onto the shank. Then you have to pull down on a lever and push it away from you (why? what is it?).  Not this exact one (couldn't find a pic of the Viking one), but this type:



I'm now going to take the machine apart to clean the thread jams, rethread everything, get a new needle, etc, and see if it behaves better.

ETA: Well, I guess this is an improvement: About half the time I can get it to sew half a buttonhole. It will do the first bartack just fine, then the first side, then it stitches a straight stitch down the second side and gets stuck at that point, sewing endlessly up and down in the same spot. As Trip suggested, I did have to alter the stitch length/width before I could get it to do *anything,* and I was able to sew two proper buttonholes... in about ten-twelve tries.

Ugh.

Kate XXXXXX

Gem, my Husqvarna automatic buttonhole foot looks like this:



The 'ordinary' buttonhole foot looks like this:



Witht he ordinary one, you set the stitch style, sew the first half of the buttonhole, and when it reaches your mark, you tell it to do the end, then the other side, and thn finish.  It then does all the buttonholes that size until you tell it something else.

I haven't seen a foot like the one you picture for a Husqvarna machine.  My sister's 30 YO Optima 190 has the same ordinary buttonhole foot as my Lily, shown above.