Shank (sewing)

A leather button with a metal shank

17th-century Spanish metal shank button (courtesy of Peach State Button Club)

Buttons with shanks.

A shank is a device for providing a small amount of space in between a garment and a button. Shanks are necessary to provide space for fabric to sit in between the button and the garment when the garment is buttoned. Shanks also allow a garment to hang and drape nicely.

Types of shanks

There are two types of shanks:

Button shank

Shank boutons have a hollow protrusion on the back through which thread is sewn to attach the button. Button shanks may be a separate piece added to the back of a button, or be carved or moulded directly onto the back of the button, in which case the button is referred to by collectors as having a 'self-shank'.^[1] This is a common construction for older shell and glass buttons, for example. Buttons with shanks have no holes in the button blank (the main part of the button) itself because they are not needed for sewing. Buttons with shanks are more expensive to produce than shankless buttons.

Thread shank

A button without a shank. A thread shank is required to properly sew this type of button onto a garment.

A thread shank is made of thread and is intended to be used with a shankless button (a button with typically two or four holes). It is created while a button is stitched onto a garment.

Creating a thread shank

A thread shank is created by loosely stitching a shankless button onto fabric. This is usually done by keeping a toothpick or other small object in between the button and fabric while the button is stitched on. Once the button has been sewn through a few times, the toothpick is removed and the needle is moved down through one of the buttonholes, placing the needle and its thread in between the button and fabric. The sewer takes care to not tighten the thread too much. While holding the button away from the garment, the thread is then firmly wrapped around the button (in between the button and fabric) a few times to form a sturdy wrapper for the other threads. The needle is then pushed through the fabric to the underside of the garment, where it can then be securely fastened off. A thread shank's length depends on the thickness of the fabric that will be buttoned. The ideal thread shank is long enough to button the fabric and still have the garment draping nicely, but short enough that the button does not flop around when buttoned.

Specialty shanks

Regular thread is used on lightweight garments such as shirts which are subject to little stress, but a specialty thread called buttonhole twist is used on items that experience more wear and tear, such as coats and pants. If a sewer uses regular thread, they usually use a double thread to strengthen the quality of the stitching.
Long coats that are good-quality or better often have a special shank at the bottom button. Because the bottom button of a coat is subject to a lot of stress, shanks are typically longer than usual and are sometimes made with elastic-thread. In addition to the special shank, an additional (shankless) button with no thread shank is often used on the underside of the fabric when sewing the button on. As a result, the stress to the button, shank, and thread pulls on this second button instead of the fabric. This prevents the thread from damaging and ripping the fabric, and is one of two ways to prevent "popping a button" (the other method is to use good strong thread such as buttonhole twist).
In addition to the typical shank and shankless buttons, covered buttons are shank buttons that have fabric completely covering the back. They are stitched on like regular shank buttons, but the sewer has to "feel" for the shank while they are sewing the button on. Covered buttons are handmade (to some degree), expensive, and are used in high-end and specialty garments.

Citations

↑ Button Country (2010). "Back Types/Shanks (23-3)". Georgia, USA: Peach State Button Club. Retrieved 11 March 2010.

References

Singer Clothing Care & Repair by The Editors of Cy DeCosse Incorporated ISBN 0-86573-205-1
Threads magazine Issue 117 March 2005 pp.58

Sewing
Techniques	Basting Cut Darning Ease Embellishment Fabric tube turning Floating canvas Gather Godet Gusset Heirloom sewing Shirring
Stitches	List of sewing stitches Backstitch Bar tack Blanket Blind stitch Buttonhole Catch stitch Chain stitch Cross-stitch Embroidery stitch Hemstitch Lockstitch Overlock Pad stitch Pick stitch Rantering Running Sashiko Stoating Tack Topstitch Zigzag
Seams	Felled seam Seam allowance Style line
Notions Trims	Bias tape Collar stays Elastic Grommet / Eyelet Interfacing Passementerie Piping Ruffle Rickrack Self-fabric Soutache Trim Twill tape Wrights
Closures	Buckle Button Buttonhole Frog Hook-and-eye Hook and loop fastener Shank Snap Zipper
Materials	Bias Yarn / Thread Selvage Textiles / Fabrics
Tools	Bobbin Dress form Needlecase Needle threader Pattern notcher Pin Pincushion Pinking shears Scissors Seam ripper Sewing needle Stitching awl Tailor's ham Tape measure Thimble Tracing paper Tracing wheel
Trades Suppliers	Cloth merchant Draper Dressmaker Haberdasher Mercer Sewing occupations Tailor
Sewing machine manufacturers	Barthélemy Thimonnier Bernina International Brother Industries Elias Howe Elna Feiyue Frister & Rossmann Janome Jones Sewing Machine Company Juki Merrow New Home Pfaff Sewmor Singer Tapemaster Viking / Husqvarna White
Pattern Manufacturers	Butterick Burda Clothkits McCall's Simplicity
Glossary of sewing terms

Clothing materials and parts
Garment Structures	Armscye Collar Cuff Dart Facing Fly Lapel Gore Hem Lining Placket Pleat Pocket Revers Ruffle Shoulder pad Strap Sleeve Train Waistband Yoke
Cloth materials	Cotton Elastic Fur Linen Nylon Polyester Rayon Silk Spandex Wool
Skins	Artificial Calf Cattle Deer Goat Kangaroo Ostrich Seal Shark Sheep Snake
Fasteners	Back closure Belt hook Buckle Button Buttonhole Frog Shank Hook-and-eye Hook and loop Velcro Snap Zipper
Seams	Neckline Bustline Waistline Hemline

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