How to Knit Horizontal Buttonholes — Easy Garter Stitch Step‑by‑Step

The knitted horizontal buttonhole is a simple, reliable technique that creates neat, functional openings in garter-stitch pieces. It works well for cardigans, baby garments, bags and other accessories where a tidy, reinforced buttonhole is needed. This short tutorial shows the materials, abbreviations and a step-by-step example to make a horizontal buttonhole using a bind-off and cast-on method in garter stitch.

Caption: Garter-stitch swatch showing a neat horizontal buttonhole made by binding off and casting on stitches.

Materials and tools

'DPN 4 mm (UK 8 / US 6)' or matching needles; Knit Picks Simply Wool (Bulky) – 100% Eco Wool, 100 g ≈ 193 yd per skein (or any yarn and needle size that give a similar gauge).

Common abbreviations

• k – knit
• st(s) – stitch(es)
• sel s – selvage stitch: slip the first stitch knitwise, work to the last stitch, purl the last stitch

Knitted horizontal buttonhole (example)

Cast on 15 sts. Work in garter stitch for 10 rows.

Rows 1–10: sel s, knit all sts, sel s.

Row 11 (make the buttonhole): sel s, k4, bind off next 5 sts without working yarn as follows: slip the next 2 stitches to the right-hand needle, insert the left-hand needle tip into the first slipped stitch and pass it over the second slipped stitch to bind off one stitch; slip one more stitch to the right-hand needle and repeat the pass-over bind-off until a total of 5 stitches have been bound off. Return the last remaining stitch to the left-hand needle and cast on 5 sts (to recreate the row of live stitches across the gap). Then k4, sel s.

Row 12 (reinforce the buttonhole edges): sel s, k3, pick up the front strand (one leg of the V) from the bound-off edge of the previous row and place it on the left-hand needle, k2tog (knit the picked-up strand together with the next stitch) — this anchors the left edge of the buttonhole. k5 across the cast-on stitches. Repeat on the other side: pick up the front strand from the other bound-off edge, place it on the left-hand needle, k2tog, k3, sel s.

Continue knitting in garter stitch until you need the next buttonhole or to finish your piece.

Tips

• Position buttonholes on a sample or measure carefully on your garment before making them so buttons will line up evenly.
• Practice the bind-off/cast-on sequence on a small swatch to get the tension and look you prefer.
• For extra reinforcement, you can outline the finished buttonhole with a few hand-sewn stitches after blocking.