This topic landed in our free Stitchery Journey community not long ago, and it’s a good one. Have you ever knit or crocheted a cardigan, with buttons up the front, and then watched it slowly stretch and sag right where those buttons live? Or maybe you’ve avoided making one because you could envision the sag happening.
I see this exact thing happen in handmade pieces so often that I wanted to bring you a solution, with a little more detail than I initially gave in the community, and it doesn’t come from knitting at all. It comes straight out of couture sewing. We’re stepping into Grandma Marge’s sewing basket for this trick she taught me.
Why this happens in the first place
Knit and crochet fabrics have stretch built right in. That’s part of what makes it feel so good to wear. But it’s also exactly why a button placket gets into trouble.
Every time you button up, you’re putting weight and tension on a spot your stitches were never built to hold on their own. Over time, that pulls the fabric forward. The whole front of your sweater starts to hang wrong, and the stitches around the buttons get distorted.
The fix
The fix isn’t in your yarn at all. It’s in your sewing basket. You’re going to add a stabilizer to the back side of your placket, and it’s going to carry the tension so your stitches don’t have to.
🧵 Grosgrain ribbon is my go-to. Here’s why:
🧵 It’s sturdy and won’t stretch sideways the way satin ribbon does
🧵 It has a nice clean edge
🧵 It’s got enough density that it won’t tear
🧵 It comes in a bunch of widths, so you can match it to your placket
You can also use fabric instead of ribbon, and we’ll talk about why you might want to choose that a little further down.
Getting it placed
Fold over the end of your ribbon and press it, so it stays put and doesn’t fray on you. Then pin it to the wrong side of both of your plackets, right where your buttons and buttonholes are going to live.
Use long pins with the flat heads so they lay flat, and use a lot of them. Take your time here. You want that ribbon lined up with your stitches, lying flat, and the fabric underneath smooth and not stretched while you’re working.
Run it the full length of your placket. Cut it to size, fold folding both raw ends to the underside. A crisp edge on both ends makes a real difference in how the finished piece looks.
Sewing it in by hand
Don’t sew this on with yarn. A yarn needle is too big, and as it pushes through the woven strands of the ribbon, it’ll either distort them or break the fibers, and that kind of defeats the whole point.
Grab sewing thread instead. A simple, short, running stitch close along the edges will get the job done.
Here’s the thing to watch. What’s happening on the front of your work matters more than what’s happening on the back. Keep those stitches small and even enough that they’re holding that facing securely in place, but not crushing or distorting your yarn fabric stitches on the right side.
It’s not hard. It is a little tedious, especially the first time through. Go slow, especially at first, and it’ll start feeling natural the more you do it, the same way mattress stitch or Kitchener stitch can.
Sewing it in by machine
Machine sewing gets you there faster, but it takes a little planning to make it look intentional instead of like an afterthought.
If you already know you’ll be sewing this by machine, plan for it while you’re still knitting. I’ll often work one column of stockinette on either edge of a seed stitch placket, right where the facing will land, so I’ve got a clear line to follow later.
Pin from the back along that column, then sew from the knit side, right down the center of the stacked V stitches in your knitting, or along the stitch column you’ve identified in your crochet. Go one stitch at a time. Slow and steady is what keeps everything lined up and keeps the fabric from crushing.
⚠️ A couple of machine tips that make a real difference:
⚠️ Your feed dogs will try to pull and shift the fabric as you sew, so disengage them if your machine lets you
⚠️ Can’t disengage them? Lay a piece of waxed paper between the fabric and the feed dogs. It tears away clean afterward and won’t hurt your machine or your fabric one bit
Buttons and buttonholes
Sew your buttons on through the stabilizer as well as the yarn fabric. That’s what gives them something solid to hold onto.
For buttonholes, think about whether yours run horizontal or vertical. Horizontal buttonholes need a wider placket facing, with enough margin on either side to fit the width of the hole.
And here’s the part I really want you to get right. If you hand knit or crocheted your buttonholes in, sew around the opening on the front side once your stabilizer is in place. Do this before you cut anything. That stitching is what keeps the button hole lined up with the spot you’re about to open in the facing.
Only after that’s securely sewn do you take your sharp scissors and cut the opening in your stabilizer. A simple straight stitch by machine or a buttonhole stitch by hand around the edge will hold everything secure and lined up.
Elegant or playful, your call
Now that you know the technical part’s handled, here’s a fun detail to play with. Think about whether you want this piece to feel elegant or playful, and let that guide your stabilizer choice.
For something quiet and elegant, pick a facing, ribbon or fabric, that blends into your project’s color. For something with more personality, go with a contrast. I had a sage green jacket once with the placket and every inside seam finished in an orange and white floral print, and that hidden pop of color made the whole thing fun every time I put it on. Tailored on the outside, playful on the inside.
If you go with fabric instead of ribbon, cut it with wide enough margin to press all the edges under to the backside for a clean finish. Or don’t! A raw edge might be exactly the playful, boho feel you’re going for, so let the vibe of your project decide.
This is the kind of detail that takes a project from homemade to handmade, and from handmade to something closer to couture.
Watch the full walkthrough
Got a question of your own? Bring it into the free Stitchery Journey community at perfectlyknotty.com/community. That’s exactly where this one came from, and it’s a great spot to get yours answered too.
Happy Stitching! Love, SuziQ