Buttonhole Bars

Buttonhole bars or detached buttonhole bars as they are also known are used in cut work embroidery to bridge a space. You usually work the buttonhole bar before cutting away the unwanted fabric. A row of buttonhole stitches are created which are attached to the fabric only at either end.

To work a buttonhole bar bring your needle up at 1, down again at 2 and then up above 2 at 3. Take your needle down again at 4 and then up again just under 1 to start the first buttonhole stitch. Next work a buttonhole stitch from left to right over the top of the two long stitches you have just produced, without piercing the fabric as shown. Pack the stitches close together so that the buttonhole bar lies flat. When you come to the end of the row insert the needle just below 2 in order to fasten off the last loop.

Spiders web using detached buttonhole bars