Angie206

I have a Singer 206K25, and recently bought a buttonholer for it. I watched videos on line and read the instructions, but the only way I can get the buttonholer to work is if I take off the plate and remove the feed dogs. I haven't found a way to keep the feed dogs lowered all the time, and they move and make the buttonholer plate wobble, and my needle won't fit through the hole in the plate, or hits the plate. If I put the plate on without the feed dog, it works well. Anyone with advice on this? I see that many don't use the 206 and there really isn't a lot of info out there about them. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you in advance!

JoeJr

Unless the 206 allows you to drop the feed dogs such that they don't come up at all, you will need a plate that attaches to the machine base via a thumb screw to cover the feed dogs.

Most vintage button hole attachments include such a plate, otherwise you can buy a generic one. I bought a generic plate from Central Michigan Supply, I believe they called it a darning plate, but i think it would serve the same purpose.

OurWorkbench

Welcome, Angie.

The 206 does not have a feed dog drop - but did have a darning plate.

I have used Singer buttonhole attachment on a couple of straight stitch machines and there are buttonhole attachments for zig zag machines. There are also buttonhole attachments for slant shank machines. The Singer buttonhole attachments make great buttonholes. After reading about the problems you are having I looked at the manual for a 206 and the 306 and initially thought that maybe a darning plate 189723 might help. Upon further reading, I realized that these early zig zag machines were made to make buttonholes with a special buttonhole foot 86616 and the what is called all purpose throat plate. I'm wondering if even though this is a low shank machine that perhaps there are some slight differences so that the attachment was not made to work with these machines. I know the 319 has motor boss is in a slightly different position so that a regular hand crank will not work. Also because the 206 takes a different needle and threads from front to back that the buttonhole attachment will not work on these machines.

If you don't have a manual, one can be found at https://www.singer.com/search/support?title=206

We like pictures. In order to post pictures on Quilting Board, you will probably need to reduce or compress the picture to a file size that is smaller than 2MB. How to post images can be found at https://www.quiltingboard.com/attach...020-01-17-.pdf
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Some additional info regarding reducing images at post #4 and images for the scroll and upload button can be found at #5 of quilt block ID?

Or simply - Make sure pictures are smaller than 2MB
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Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
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Angie206

thank you Janey and John! I am able to attach the buttonholer to the machine, and I am able to make it work if I remove both the throat plate and the feed dogs. My buttonholer does come with a plate to cover the throat plate. With most machines, it appears that I wouldn't have to remove the plate or lower the feed dogs, at least from the instructions that I have with the buttonholer. It does make fabulous buttonholes! And yes, my machine makes button holes, according to the instruction book, with the all purpose throat plate and a buttonhole foot. It still means you basically make them by hand on the machine. The buttonholer makes them so nice and consistent though.
Thank you as well for the info on posting pics!

Angie206

I do have the plate that attaches with a screw to the machine. For some reason, the feed dogs still move the plate around and then the needle misses the little hole and hits the plate. It is possible my darning plate could be used instead of the plate that came with the buttonholer. The feed dogs would still move but it wouldn't move the plate since the darning plate has a round raised area. I'll have to take a look at it. The buttonholer might not fit over it though.

OurWorkbench

I'm not sure that I would try the buttonhole attachment on a 206 (and like machines) mainly because of the issues you have encountered. If I was really desperate, I may try setting the stitch length as close to zero as possible and go very slowly. That would almost defeat the purpose of using the attachment. The uniqueness of the 206 machines, I would worry about messing up the machine for regular sewing. I know that some have a designated machine for buttonholes - like a 66, 99 or 15.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.