A collarless button-front blouse is a darted woven top whose front is cut in two halves with the facing cut on: the front edge folds back on itself to make the button band, a back neck facing finishes the neckline, and the buttonholes sit on the center front line of the right front with the buttons on the left. The sewing order is darts, shoulders, facings, side seams, sleeves, hem, then buttonholes and buttons last. Allow six to seven hours and 1.6 to 1.9 m (1 3/4 to 2 1/8 yd) of fabric.

The pattern pieces for size EU 38 / US 6, drawn by Sewly's drafting engine (seam allowances included). Woven top / blouse →

What do you need to sew a button-front blouse?

The pieces:

  • Two fronts, each cut once, with the facing extending beyond the center front line, a cut-on facing. There is no separate button band.
  • Back, cut once on the fold.
  • Back neck facing, cut once on the fold. The front facings fold back to meet it at the shoulders.
  • Sleeves, cut twice, or 4 cm (1 5/8 in) wide bias strips to bind the armholes.

The notions: 40 cm (16 in) of lightweight fusible interfacing, for a strip on each front facing and for the back neck facing; six 1 cm (3/8 in) buttons for a hip-length blouse, seven for a tunic; thread and a 70/10 or 80/12 needle; a buttonhole foot.

Fabric on 140 cm (55 in) wide fabric, in a mid-range size: 1.6 m (1 3/4 yd) with short sleeves, 1.9 m (2 1/8 yd) with long sleeves, 1.4 m (1 1/2 yd) sleeveless. The two fronts are cut from a single layer, side by side, mirrored, so lay the first one face up and the second face down.

Which fabric is easiest for a first button-front blouse?

A stable, light fabric that takes a buttonhole cleanly: cotton lawn, poplin, chambray or a light linen. Viscose challis and crepe de chine make a lovely blouse but shift under the buttonhole foot and fray at the cut; save them for a second one. Avoid loose, open weaves, where buttonholes pull apart. Pre-wash, and press the fabric dry before cutting: sewing with cotton lawn has the settings.

How do you space the buttons on a blouse?

Three buttons are fixed and the rest are spread between them. The top button sits 2 cm (3/4 in) below the finished neckline. One button must sit level with the fullest point of the bust, where a gap would open otherwise. The bottom button sits at least 8 cm (3 in) above the hem so the blouse can be tucked. Measure from the top button to the bottom one, divide by the number of gaps, and check the bust button falls where you need it; move the whole set up or down by a centimeter if it does not. On a hip-length blouse the buttons end up about 8 cm (3 1/4 in) apart. The button spacing calculator does the arithmetic.

Buttonholes on a blouse front run vertically, centered on the center front line, so that the button pulls against the end of the hole and stays put. Each one is the button diameter plus the button thickness plus 3 mm (1/8 in): 1.5 cm (5/8 in) for a 1 cm button 2 mm thick.

How do you sew a button-front blouse step by step?

Sew with a 1.5 cm (5/8 in) seam allowance.

  1. Interface and mark. Fuse a strip of interfacing to the wrong side of each front facing, from the fold line to the outer edge, and to the back neck facing. Mark the fold line, the center front line and every buttonhole position with chalk on the right front, and the button positions on the left. Staystitch the front and back necklines at 1.2 cm (1/2 in).
  2. Sew the bust darts, and the waist darts for a fitted blouse, and press them down and toward the center.
  3. Join the shoulders right sides together, press open and finish the allowances.
  4. Prepare the facings. Finish the long raw edge of each front facing with a zigzag, pinking or a 6 mm (1/4 in) turned edge. Sew the back neck facing to the front facings at the shoulders, press open, and finish its outer edge the same way.
  5. Sew the neckline. Fold each front facing to the outside along its fold line, right sides together. Pin the back neck facing to the back neckline, right sides together, so the facing runs in one continuous line from one front fold to the other. Sew around the neckline at 1.5 cm. Trim the allowance to 6 mm, clip the curve every 2 cm (3/4 in) and trim the corners at the front folds diagonally.
  6. Turn and understitch. Turn the facings to the inside, pushing out the front corners with a point turner. Understitch the back neck facing to the seam allowance as far toward the front as the foot will go, then press, rolling the seam 1 mm to the inside. Tack the facing to the shoulder seams by hand.
  7. Sew the side seams, press open and finish.
  8. Set in the sleeves with two rows of ease stitching on the cap, in the round, following set-in sleeves without puckers, or bind the armholes with the bias strips.
  9. Hem. Unfold the facings at the hem, turn the hem up 1 cm then 1.5 cm (5/8 in), and sew across the facing at the hem fold line, right sides together, before turning it back: the corner comes out square and enclosed. Stitch the hem.
  10. Sew the buttonholes on the right front, on the marked center front line, from the neckline down. Sew a test buttonhole on a scrap with the same interfacing first. Open each one with a seam ripper, with a pin across the bar tack to stop the blade. Sewing buttonholes walks through the foot and the four steps.
  11. Sew on the buttons on the left front, on the center front line, with a thread shank the thickness of the overlap. Press the finished blouse, buttoned, with the fronts lying flat.

How do you stop the front from gaping at the bust?

Put a button at bust level, first of all. Then check the ease: a regular blouse has 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in) at the bust, and if your blouse pulls into horizontal drag lines between buttons, the fronts are too narrow for you, not the buttons too far apart. A toile of the two fronts and the back, pinned closed along the center front, shows this before you cut. A hidden snap halfway between the two buttons nearest the bust is a fair fix on a finished blouse.

What are the common mistakes with a button-front blouse?

  • Fronts of different lengths: the fold lines were not folded exactly on the marked line, so one overlap is wider than the other and the hems do not meet. Press the fold lines before sewing the neckline and measure both overlaps.
  • Center fronts that do not match: the buttonholes and buttons must both sit on the center front line, so the two fronts overlap by exactly the facing width. If the button is sewn at the edge instead, the blouse is a facing width too tight.
  • Skipping the interfacing: an uninterfaced front stretches at the buttonholes and the band ripples.
  • Buttonholes before pressing: the fronts should be hemmed and pressed before the buttonholes go in, so the positions are measured on the finished length.
  • Buttonholes too short: a 1 cm button needs 1.5 cm, not 1 cm. Test on a scrap.

Can you draft the button-front blouse to your own measurements?

Sewly's woven top pattern with the buttons-down-the-front opening drafts the two fronts with the facing cut on and a back neck facing only, with the number of 1 cm buttons set by the length you choose, the bust darts placed from your measurements and 1.5 cm seam allowances included. Shirts with a collar and a collar stand are not in its library yet; for those, a traditional shirt pattern is still the way to go.