Down The Rabbit Hole: Buttonholers

 

Famous buttonholer, discussed at the end of the blog post.  It WILL be worth the wait.

I have been busier than ever during this pandemic lockdown. All of this not-going-out-to-lunch-and-then-going-to-thrift-stores-with-friends has left me with plenty of time to pursue projects to the depths.  How are you coping with the pandemic?  Tell us in the comments below.

I'm just a little bit obsessive (stop laughing, daughters!) and I really enjoy that aspect of my personality.  Recently this led me down the buttonholer rabbit hole.  I had a cabinet crammed full of buttonholers of all types, and all untested.  I decided that a good thing to do would be to haul every single one of them out and test them.  With all of the side tracks this led me down, this took three weeks.

Singer produced two very different types of buttonholers, and each type had models that were specific to the presser foot shank.

• Buttonholers that were made for straight-stitch only machines. All of the original Singer cams for these buttonholers are made of metal. They are not interchangeable with the Singer plastic cams made for zigzag capable machines (Singer Professional Buttonholer, discussed below). There are some plastic cams made by Greist that ARE interchangeable. Greist badged buttonholers under a variety of brand names. The Greist plastic cams that I have seen are black, although I have only seen a few.
  
  
  • Buttonholers for low shank straight stitch only machines. These are usually in dark green rectangular plastic boxes or a lighter green “Jetsons” box with space age styling. I have also seen a couple in small cardboard boxes. Nova Montgomery says on her Featherweight site that a black plastic box was also used for some of them
    
    
     
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
     
  • Buttonholers for slant shank straight stitch only machines. These are usually in dark red rectangular plastic boxes or a pink “Jetsons” box with space age styling. I have also seen one of these in a black rectangular plastic box.
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  Please note that the buttonholers made for straight stitch only machines CAN be used on zigzag capable machines too. Just set the stitch width to zero. And (spoiler alert) I found these to be more robust and dependable than the ones made for the zigzaggers, so one of these buttonholers may be exactly what you need.
  
  Thanks to Leila for reminding me of this, especially since she posted her comment within minutes of this post going up!
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    The original sets for both low shank and slant shank machines included five templates.
    

    1-1/16” keyhole
    1-1/16” straight
    13/16” straight
    5/8” straight
    5/16” straight
    

    
    There are four other available templates that originally came in small cardboard box. I have seen boxes with three different graphic designs.

     

     

    

    
    

    
    
    

    15/16”
    5/8” keyhole
    1/2” straight
    3/8” straight
    

    
    An eyelet template was also made, which is very rare. The metal eyelet templates were selling for $40 to $50 on eBay at the time I wrote this.

     

    
     

    

      
     UPDATE:  Thanks to knitbysue from the comments below.  The Featherweight Shop has a reproduction eyelet cam for sale, and you can find it here.
    
     
• Buttonholers that were made for zigzag capable machines. All of the original templates for these buttonholers are made of plastic, and are longer than the straight stitch templates. The boxes of both variants are in similar cardboard boxes with information about the shank and lists of models printed on them.
  
  
  
  
  The buttonholer for zigzag capable low shank machines are labeled on the box as vertical shank to distinguish them from the one made for slant shank machines.

Also please note that although any box might be red or green or cardboard labeled “for vertical shank machine” or “for slant shank machine” (or Touch N Sew), any buttonholer could have gotten put away in the wrong box at some time in the past several decades. I find stuff in the wrong boxes all the time, and not just buttonholers. So be sure to take a look at the actual attachment point where it slides onto the presser foot bar. It’s fairly easy to tell if that indentation goes straight up and down or if it is at an angle.

 

The original sets for the zigzag capable machines included 20 templates, including three different types.

 

    

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  Eight green templates for straight buttonholes
  
  3/8”
  1/2”
  5/8”
  13/16”
  15/16”
  1-1/16”
  1-1/4”
  1-1/2”
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• Six brown templates for eyelet-end buttonholes
  
  the eyelet cam
  7/8”
  1-1/6”
  1-1/4”
  1-3/8”
  1-1/2”
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Six beige templates for bound buttonholes

13/16”
15/16”
1-1/16”
1-1/4”
1-3/8”
1-1/12” 

For ANY type of buttonholer please note that when you put the buttonholer away in the box you have to have the largest size template in the buttonholer. That allows you to move the mechanism all the way forward so that it the buttonholer will take up the least amount of space in the box. If you try to put it away in the box with a smaller template in it it will be too long to fit in the box.

Are you bored yet?  I'm just getting started.  I DID tell you that I spent three weeks on this project.

Buttonholers for low shank straight stitch only machines.

I started by testing the low shank buttonholers for straight stitch machines. 

Twelve of them!   I oiled each one and put in the 1-1/16" cam (one of the largest).

I made a test sheet of of two pieces of muslin with a VERY heavy stabilizer in the middle (I used landscaping fabric, the stuff that you put under mulch).  Stabilizer is critical for good results with any kind of dense stitching.  Each square was for one test, and then I cut it off the sheet and stored it with the buttonholer.

I discovered the joys of using spun polyester landscaping fabric as stabilizer a long time ago after finishing a landscaping project with half a giant roll of the stuff left over.  I noticed that it looked a lot like some of the EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE embroidery stabilizer I was using.  In fact, stabilizer is the most expensive component of machine embroidery, and also one of the most important elements for good results.  I only use the landscaping fabric for testing embroidery designs or doing test stitches of some type because IT CAN MELT WHEN YOU IRON IT.  So although it isn't a substitute in a project, it costs a tiny fraction of the real stuff.  And I do mean a TINY fraction.  You can tell by all the capitalization that I am quite enthusiastic about this stuff.  And I've never heard anybody else mention it.  Probably because it melts.



Each buttonholer comes with a needle throat cover plate.  It doesn't matter how you set the stitch length on the machine because the feed dogs are covered.  The buttonholer does all the work of moving the fabric.  All of the buttonholers made for straight stitch machines work by creating a zigzag.  The buttonholer grips the fabric and moves it back and forth for each zig and zag.

  

The numbered slide bar on the side of the buttonholer allow you to set the width of the zigzags from narrow to wide.

 

I stitched out test buttonholes with different stitch widths.

Did the same with the non-Singer buttonholers.  Ten of those.

Results:  of the 22 low shank straight stitch machine buttonholers tested, only three were broken.  I did have an issue with the space between the two long parallel rows of zigzagging on the buttonholes.  Some of the buttonholers had less space than others did. This would be a serious problem on a thick fabric or if you wanted to use a create a wide zigzag.  For smaller zigzag width on a lightweight fabric such as a blouse it would be fine, I think.  There is no adjustment mechanism on the outside of the buttonholer for the space width.  I couldn't figure out a way to adjust this internally either.  If you have any clues about this, please leave a comment below.

Slant Shank Straight Stitch Only 

Next up were the buttonholers that work on slant shank straight stitch only machines.  I was only aware of two models that Singer made:  the 301, and the 404.  Reader Leila told me about the 604 in the comments section below..  If you know of any others, please leave a comment.    I tested them on a 301.

Ten of them.

I saved the black box for a future project.  I have a gorgeous blackside 15-91 (low shank) waiting to be restored and I have been saving blackside presser feet for it.  I'm going to save a low shank buttonholer in this box to go with the set.

I also tested nine non-Singer low shank buttonholers for straight stitch machines.  The cases may vary but internally they are indistinguishable from the Singers.  Most of these came with metal cams, but the ones in the cardboard boxes came with black plastic cams.  Only one of these was broken.

A couple of days after  had finished with this type and moved on, I accidentally found another one when the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner bumped the shelves at the back of the hall and knocked off a Necchi buttonholer that had been lurking out of sight. It’s for straight stitch low shank, so sadly it won’t fit my high shank Necchi BU Nova. Tested it and like many of that style there just isn’t enough space between the parallel lines of zigzagging to be useable. I wish I knew how to fix that.

There was a final group of low shank buttonholers that I was unable to test.  Instead of a screw hole to attach them to the presser foot shaft, they have a pin that goes through that hole and a set screw higher up to hold it in place.  One of them came with a manual that explained four different types of buttonholers that Greist made, and this type is for machine that have a round presser foot shaft instead of a rectangular one.  I don't have any machines of this type, at least not one that I am aware of (there may be one lurking on the "waiting to be restored" shelves.)  If you have a machine with a round presser foot shaft, please tell me about it in the comments.  First person to do so will win one of these!  I'm not kidding, if you have actually read this far you deserve some kind of reward.  Tell me what kind of machine it is and send me a photo of the presser foot bar.  Offer expires on November 1, 2020.

Offer open to US residents only because I am NOT going in to my local post office to fill out the paperwork to ship an international package until the pandemic is over.  Unless you are willing to pay postage for international priority mail which I can do from home.  I wanted to send a book to a friend in Canada and it was going to cost around $50 US.  I'm waiting until the border opens again and  I can get back to Canada and deliver the book to her in person!

Low Shank Zigzag Capable Machines

After wandering down several side roads that ended in blind alleys, I settled on testing these on a Singer 223.  It's one of my favorite Singer zigzaggers because it also has a blind stitch.  Other Singers can make a blind stitch using cams, but this one has it built in.  (The side roads and blind alleys will be discussed in another post eventually.)

These are labeled as "Singer Professional Buttonholer" and are significantly different from the straight stitch models.  Different but not better.  Of the nine I had, only six of them worked and two of those did not work very well.  The ones that didn't work had irregular stitch length, meaning that it varied from the kind of closely spaced zigzags that you need for buttonholes to more widely spaced zigzags.  Stitching all the way around three times instead of the usual two would solve this.  But I won't be including the ones that didn't work well with any machine that I sell.  They will go to the next TOGA swap meet and sold for a song just for the templates.

They come in a cardboard box with molded styrofoam to hold the buttonholer, templates, needle throat plate cover, and attachment screw.  They come with the 20 templates listed above--way above--probably half an hour ago if you have been reading this continuously.  Rather than the 10 templates available for the straight stitch model.  And part of the set is for bound buttonholes, which is pretty cool.  Someday I will have to try that.

There are two adjustment setting on the side:  one that lets you switch between what the manual calls "worked" buttonholes, the usual type, and one for those bound buttonholes. The other setting allows you to adjust the space between the parallel rows of zigzagging that form the sides of the buttonhole.  I got very excited by that after my disappointing experiences with the straight stitch models.  On the buttonholers that worked, this feature worked very well indeed. 

Of the ones I have, there were three different colors, which I'm calling mocha, cream, and beige.  I'm saving the mocha one to go with my brown-and-mocha Singer 306.  I love the 306s with a passion.

 

Singer 306 in my permanent collection, meaning that I may sell it one day but only if I downsize to assisted living and only if I meet the right person who would love and cherish it as much as I do.

Slant Shank Zigzag Capable Machines

Except for the attachment point most of them are identical in appearance and mechanism to the low shank model.  However, as time went on and the slant shank Singer Touch N Sew machines were introduced, the box and the exterior of the buttoholer got a styling upgrade.  Whether they downgraded the quality of the buttonholer I don't know, but of the two I had, both were broken.

I know people who have Touch N Sew machines that they have loved for decades (including my Aunt Lou), but many of us refer to them as Touch N Swear.  I bought a budget model Singer 348 in 1968 and at the same time my then-mother-in-law traded in her "old" sewing machine for a Touch N Sew.  And almost immediately regretted it.  Bitterly regretted it.  Tried to talk me into trading my budget model 348 for her "high end" Touch N Sew.  Other than that she was quite a nice person.  

So I wasn't surprised that the buttonholers I had that were made for these machines turned out to be junk.  I do know that a sample size of two produces meaningless results.  If you love Touch N Sews feel free to flame me in the comments below if you like.  I can take it.

The Famous Buttonholer and its Singer descendant

I saved the best for last, folks.  But only if you can find one that is not terminally rusty.

 

 

On to the very last type: The Famous buttonholer, and its Singer descen

dant. I have two of each. There are no templates, everything is controlled by settings. As far as I know the Famous was the first one made for home sewing. One of them is in a box labeled “Fiftieth Anniversary Model” and had a receipt inside dated 1948. I have been looking forward to exploring this model but it was also a bit intimidating. I’m glad I saved it until the end because I have a much better understanding of the mechanisms of the models that followed it.

 

The two Famous ones appeared to be older (based on the instruction sheets, and both had originals.) They were both frozen solid and the adjustment screws were rusty. I oiled them and set them aside for a while. Came back to them later and persuaded them to work.

 
One of the Singers came with an instruction book, one did not. They appeared to be more streamlined than the Famous ones, but they operated the same way. So all of my following comments apply to both models.

 

YOU CAN ADJUST ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. Yes, this means that you have to read the manual. I would describe the learning curve as "minutes", though keep in mind that I had been playing with buttonholers for a couple of weeks by the time I tackled these. But it really is not that hard.

 

 

And you really do have to play around with them and test, test, test, as you figure out what configuration is exactly right for your fabric and the button you are using. Stabilizer, as always, is an absolute must, but that is true for all buttonholes.

You can adjust:

the stitch density, in other words how close together the stitches are. If you get them too close together you will end up with an enormous thread nest on the bottom of your work. If you space them too far apart you can always just go around twice, as you have to do with the more modern ones. But once you have the Goldilocks moment and get the stitch density JUST RIGHT, you can create a lovely buttonhole in just one circuit.

the stitch width. From really skinny zigzags to nice plump zigzags. This will matter a lot on different types of fabrics.

the spacing between the parallel rows that form the buttonhole. Hallelujah! The moment I have been waiting for, and the reason why this is the type of buttonholer I will use from this moment going forward. As you change the stitch width, or if you use a heavier or thinner thread, you will need to adjust the space between the rows.

the buttonhole length. This will adjust from about 3/8" to about 1". There are directions on the instruction sheet for creating longer buttonholes, so I assume it is possible. But, dear reader, if you are getting fatigued from reading about buttonholers, just imagine how I am feeling in week three of testing, photographing, and writing about buttonholers. I just don't have the emotional strength left to tackle it at this time. 

There is no way to create eyelets or keyhole buttonholes, so I will also be keeping one of the Singer Professional buttonholers on hand. Those also make bound buttonholes, which I have never tried. Nor had any reason to try.   And of course I will be keeping a couple of the ultra-reliable Singer straight stitch only buttonholers for my straight stitch only machines.

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I'm never very interezted when bloggers talk about the technical problemz they have uuhen producing their social media.  But I hope you uuill find it funny that right at the end of this the letter s ztopped uuorking, but only intermittently.  As did the letter w.  Hence the intermittent z and uu.