Buttons & Buttonholes: Types, Materials, Sizing
A button and its buttonhole form a fastening unit (a closure). Buttons come in nearly any shape, colour, and size, and the buttonhole has to be sized precisely to hold it. Here's how both work, how buttons are sized in lignes, and how buttonholes are chosen and placed.
Buttons
Materials
A button can be one piece or a combination clinched, clamped, glued, soldered, or moulded together, and finished polished, antiqued, glazed, printed, or dyed. (Dyeing a finished button is less permanent than colouring the resin and can weaken it.) Material families:
- Natural: shell/pearl, wood, bone, horn, nuts, glass, rubber, leather
- Metal: brass, pewter, nickel, copper, silver
- Synthetic: nylon, polyester, melamine
The two basic types
| Type | How it attaches |
|---|---|
| Holed | 2–4 holes through the centre; sewn flat or on a thread shank (which elevates the button for easier movement) |
| Shank | A stem on the back (fabric, moulded, or metal); permanent or removable |
Tuck/jeans buttons are a shank type attached with tacks through the fabric into a moulded shank, once inserted they can't be removed without damage. Fast to apply but placement must be exact; common on jeans, jean jackets, overalls.
Sizing in lignes
Button diameter is specified in lignes (L) or millimetres:
- 1 inch = 40L = 25.40 mm
- 1 mm = 1.5748 L
- 1 L = 0.635 mm
A full spec includes diameter and thickness, number of holes, hole diameter and spacing, and shank type/depth.
Buttons & Buttonholes: Types, Materials, Sizing
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