How to Knit a Buttonhole for Big Buttons on a Coat-Style Cardigan
Big coat buttons need a proper buttonhole. Bind off a few stitches on the band, cast them back on firmly on the next row, and size it to your button.
A small button slips through the knitted fabric easily, but the big buttons on a coat-style cardigan need a real buttonhole. Here's how I make them on the button band, sized to the button. The pockets on this cardigan are already done. The full cardigan video is on my channel.
The button band
My button band is 13 stitches wide. The counts below are for that band. Adjust them if yours is wider or narrower.
Right side: bind off
- Knit 5
Work the first 5 band stitches as your pattern says (in mine, they're knitted).
- Bind off
Knit 2, pass the first over. Knit 1 more, pass over. Keep going: bind off 3 stitches for a normal button, 4 for a bigger button.
- Finish
Knit the remaining 3 stitches of the band, then carry on with the rest of the row.
For an even bigger button, don't move the buttonhole closer to the outer edge. Take the extra stitch from the other side: knit 4 instead of 5 before the bind off, and bind off 5 (or even 6).
Wrong side: cast on again
- Work to the gap
Work the band stitches as your pattern says (for me: slip 1, purl 3).
- Cast on
Over the gap, cast on the same number of stitches you bound off, 4 in the video. Use any method you like. One easy way: knit into the stitch, pull the loop out long and put it back on the left needle, and repeat.
- Finish
Purl the next 5 band stitches (as the pattern says), then continue the row in your pattern.
Space the buttonholes evenly up the band. I'd already made two before filming, and each one is made exactly this way.
- buttonhole
- knitting buttonhole
- coat cardigan
- button band
- knitting technique
- cardigan finishing
- hand knitting
- wool
