Losing a button doesn't mean the shirt goes in the trash. It takes about five minutes and a needle and thread to fix. This tutorial from Professor Pincushion uses a large demo button so you can see exactly where the needle goes at each step. She covers the X stitch pattern, how to build a shank so the button sits right in a buttonhole, and how to tie it off so it doesn't come loose.
Look at your button. One side has a raised ridge around the edge. That's the front. The flat side goes against the fabric. If you sew it on upside down, the button will look wrong and may not sit right in the buttonhole.
Thread your needle and tie a knot at the end. Push the needle up through the fabric from the back where you want the button to sit. Pull it all the way through until the knot catches on the back side. Your thread is now anchored and ready to go.
Place the button face up over where the thread comes out. Push the needle up through one hole, then down through the hole diagonally opposite. Go up and down through the same two holes four times. Stay close to the inside edge of each hole and keep your stitches in the same spot.
Tip
She calls it "dolphin up, dolphin down" - the needle goes up through the fabric and button, then back down through the opposite hole. Same motion every time.
Now switch to the other two holes. Come up from the bottom through one hole, go down through the diagonal opposite. Four times again, same as before. When you're done, the thread on the front of the button makes an X pattern.
Push your needle through the fabric from the front but not through the button. Pull the thread to the back, then flip the button over. Wrap the thread around the stitches between the button and the fabric four times. Tug it snug after each wrap. This creates a little post called a shank that gives the button room to fit through a buttonhole.
Tip
The shank is what makes the difference between a button that works in a buttonhole and one that's sewn too tight to the fabric.
Push the needle back through to the back of the fabric. Take a small stitch right where your other stitches are, pull until you get a loop, and pass the needle through the loop. Pull tight. Do it one more time for a double knot. Cut the thread and you're done.
