Consider the fabric thickness when forming a shank. Heavier fabrics need a longer shank, and you can vary how tight you pull your stitches to form the right length. Make the shank just a tad longer than the fabric thickness, and the fabric will lie flat when buttoned.

Sometimes you'll have a button that's been formed with a "U-shaped" metal shank already. In these cases stitch the bottom of the "U" to the fabric, and position it so that the shank slides easily into the buttonhole without spreading it.

For light and medium weight fabrics, general purpose thread is fine. For heavyweight fabrics, such as coats, try to use heavy duty thread for extra strength.

2torial #0521: Learn2 Sew a Button (Continued) Find the trail   Locate where the button will be placed by the torn threads still on the garment.   Clean out those threads. Carefully slice through them with your knife, or cut them with the tip of the scissors, and pull them out. Thread your needle with a thread that closely matches the original thread color. If you have nothing similar, use black. Starting from the back of the fabric (not the side that shows), take a few stitches back and forth through the fabric. Very important: make sure that you leave enough thread handy to sew on the button (about 12" until you get the hang of it). Step 3