No-wrinkle Button Seam

No matter how many times I iron my button-up shirts the button seam always gets all wrinkly by the end of the day. What's even more frustrating is that the rest of the shirt is usually fine, it's just the button seam that goes all bacon-y and bunches up. SO FRUSTRATING!

I decided to solve this problem once and for all, and keep that crisp and ironed looks to my shirts all day long. The result is a straight and wrinkle-free button seam that can hold up all day, and have survived a handful of washes without losing any stiffness. This easy clothing hack was completed in under 10 minutes and required just an iron and fabric interface.

Ready to look sharp all day long? Let's make!

To keep my shirts looking crisp and ironed I used extra firm fusible interfacing, the extra firm stuff is really stiff and keeps the button seam straight and unwrinklable. They also make medium weight fusible interfacing if you want a more flexible seam.

You'll also need an iron and an ironing board, and of course a misbehaving garment you want to straighten out.

Plug iron in and turn the heat to the "medium" setting, typically the cotton setting. The interface works best with steam, so if you have a steaming option on your iron fill iron with water and set it to steam.

Allow iron to come to temperature before starting.

Before starting with any interfacing you'll need to start from a straight and flat section of fabric, so carefully iron the button seam flat.

Unfold the fusible interfacing and line your shirt button seam with the straight edge from one side of the interfacing.

Cut a straight section from the interfacing the same width as your button seam.

You'll probably notice that the fusible interfacing looks different on either side (if you didn't, check it out!) - there's a shiny side and a matte side. The shiny side is the side that adheres to the fabric, place your cut strip of fusible interfacing shiny side down on top of the button seam with the openings and then run your hot iron carefully down the strip.

Work the iron slowly over every step of the fusible interfacing, I spent about 20 seconds per inch of interfacing. Wait for the interfacing to cool completely. Resist the temptation to pull or peel the interfacing while it is hot as it will come off!

Because the fusible interfacing is now covering the button openings new openings will need to be cut into the interfacing. Using a sharp hobby knife I carefully sliced through the existing openings into the interfacing creating new slits for the buttons to pass through.

You're all done, and looking great!

With the interface backing behind the button seam keeping the crease crisp and straight, your button shirts will look great all day long.

Have you upgraded your button up shirts with with a no-wrinkle seam? I want to see it!

Happy making :)