Chisel those buttonholes

The good way to tell if a shirt is homemade is to checkout the buttonholes, or so I hear.

I read somewhere recently that you can buy a special tool to cut a clean buttonhole (I should keep better track of my sources since now I don't know where I read that) and avoid that frayed homemade look. Sounded good to me so I set off to Joann's to find one. Of course, no special buttonhole cutter could be found so I left empty handed.

On my way home, it occurred to me that I might have the right tool already. Why didn't I think of it before? I had purchased a Craftool 1-Prong Chisel 3/32" from Tandy Leather last year and added it to my ever growing (and prized) tool collection. I decided to pull it out and give it a shot.

I dabbed fray check inside the buttonholes and let them dry per a sewing tip I read on Pattern Review.

It took two passes with the chisel but made nice, clean buttonholes!