Bound buttonhole

From the right side of the garment, narrowly topstitch the edge. This decorative buttonhole can be sewn in leather as well as fabrics. When working on leather, always reinforce the area around the buttonhole with an interfacing or small fabric backing piece. For each buttonhole, you will need two leather strips, each twice as wide and approx. 1 1/4" (3 cm) longer than the finished buttonhole opening area. Mark the buttonhole on the wrong side of the leather and transfer markings to the right side. Interface the back of the pocket opening area. Fold the leather strips in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Glue strips together with leather cement. Place the leather strips on the right side of the garment so that the long open edges of the leather strips meet at the centre of the marked buttonhole area. Set the stitch length slightly longer than normal. Sew along the centre of each leather strip, beginning and ending at the marked buttonhole lines. Make sure you secure the beginning and end of the seam. Cut along the centre of the buttonhole area, ending approx. 1/4" (7 mm) from ends. Clip into corners, making sure not to cut into the leather welt strips. Pull the leather welt strips through the opening to the inside of the garment. The folded edge of the strips should meet in the centre of the buttonhole opening. Fold the small triangles at the ends of the buttonhole toward the inside and stitch across to secure them to the leather welt strips. Trim the ends of the welt strips to approx. 1/4" (7 mm). From the right side, stitch-in-the ditch around the marked buttonhole opening.