Coats Secura Button Thread

Buttons are among the most basic methods of fastening one thing to another. They also make a pretty embellishment all on their own. We love them lots… until they come off. And, they almost always come off, especially from store-bought items, which often seem to be sewn with some kind of  “quick release thread.” If you’re tired of buttons coming loose or popping off, you are going to love the new Secura Button Thread from Coats. It sews like regular thread, but the secret comes when you’re done sewing. Steam the sewn button from the back for just a few seconds and the heat activates the thread’s coating, allowing it to stick to itself. It doesn’t stick to the fabric or the button – just to itself.

Secura is a heat-activated polyester button thread. It creates a super tight seal that can eliminate the problems of loose or lost buttons.

We put it to the “tug test” on two different samples.

Our first sample was a store-bought shirt that was missing a front button. We removed the old thread remnants, threaded up our needle with Secura, and stitched the button in place. The thread sews beautifully, passing smoothly through the fabric. And, we were able to easily tie a nice, tight knot at the back. It feels no different from standard button thread.

With the button in place, grab your iron. You need to pre-heat the iron’s temperature to at least a polyester setting so it can generate a blast of steam. As always, make sure the temperature matches the fabric you’re working with. If your fabric cannot withstand steam heat, this may not be the best option for your project.

Working from the back, hold the iron just above the knotted thread. Steam and then continue to hold the iron just above the fabric for 10 seconds.

That’s it; the heat penetrates the thread and activates its ability to stick to itself. Once activated, the button lives up to its name, it is very secure. We pulled on the button with enough force to pop off a traditionally sewn button, but the Secura-sewn button didn’t budge. And, it did not stick to the button or the fabric – just itself.

Our second test was a larger button on a layered piece of quilting cotton to simulate sewing a button onto a project you’ve made yourself. This time we used a four-hole button. Again, we stitched the button in place just as we’d normally do with regular thread.

Then, we steamed from the back and held the iron in place for just 10 seconds.

We really pushed and pulled on this button when done.

The force did a great job of wrinkling the surrounding fabric but the button held fast.

Secura is currently available in White and Black (which is what we tested), and will soon be available in a full range of six neutral colors: White, Black, Smoke, Indigo, Praline, and French Roast. The thread’s special coating gives the darker thread colors a bit of a variegated appearance, but that disappears once it’s been heat activated and only the thread’s solid color remains.

One by-product of the heat activation is a tidier look from the back. The fusing helps seal the thread tails to the rest of the stitches so the thread looks a bit nicer overall.

Coats Secura can also be used in the top and bobbin to stitch on buttons by machine.

And, it can be used to attach beads, sequins, even snaps and hook-and-eye fasteners. It even works with metal buttons, which can be one of the worst offenders when it comes to loosening rapidly and popping off.

Coats tells us Secura is best for sew-through buttons and embellishments. However, we tested it with a shank button with excellent results

Just because it’s secured doesn’t mean you can never get it off. If you need to remove a button you certainly can. We used our seam ripper to cut through the thread, pulling the remnants from the fabric without a problem. Once the fabric was re-pressed, you can just barely see the remaining holes.

Watch the Coats video for additional step-by-step examples.