There's A Quick Little Secret To Sew On A Flat Button That Will Help It To Stay On Longer

 Flat buttons are commonly found on men's and women's shirts, some waistbands on pants, or in these pictures, sometimes on blazers.

 As you can see in here, 4-holed, flat buttons* are sewn on in 2 different ways:

• the threads are crossed over each other or,
• the thread runs parallel through the button holes

 Most men's shirts and women's oxford shirts/blouses have                 the buttons sewn on using the "x"...sewing so the thread              criss-crosses over each other. 

If you're sewing the 4-holed button with parallel stitches as you can see here in the second picture, I recommend you sew each row of holes separately.  In other words, sew through the left holes first...anchoring the thread underneath the garment.  Then, sew the other 2 holes separately.  This will give the button more strength. 

Either way you decide to sew the button on, the trick is to put a straight pin, toothpick, or even a matchstick under the thread to prevent the button from being sewed on too tight.  

If you sew the button too tight, you end up forcing the button through the button hole, thereby weakening the thread. This increases your chances of the button popping off sooner than you want.

Having the little bit of slack with each button creates a little "give" when you move the button through the button hole.  

*Note: You can use this method for 2-holed buttons as well.