Yeah, if you leave the tail long enough it won't slip out. Doesn't a knot leave a hole bigger than the needle in the fabric?

I put a thread double the length I need through the eye so the needle is the middle of the thread and I'm sewing with a double thread. If I'm lazy I'll tie the ends in a knot so I don't have to be careful when I'm pulling it through the cloth on the first stitch.

Adventures in hand stitching!

Doesn't a knot leave a hole bigger than the needle in the fabric?

I see what you mean, but it's not a big knot -- I've never had a problem doing it this way.

The double thread way makes sense to me too, now that I know about it, but I would never have thought of that on my own.

Also, to be clear, I sew maybe a few buttons or a hem or two every year. I'm hardly very practiced at this!

I don't remember where I learned how to thread a needle, maybe back in my 4-H days when I was a kid. I won a blue ribbon at the county fair for one of my projects! (I kept that ribbon for a very long time)

I do the doubled-up thread method and I tie a knot in the tail because I am crap at sewing. I can either sew a button on OR keep track of the tail, but not both.

For buttons I do the doubled thread with a knot in the end. For high end work you shouldn't do that because the thread is actually directional. If you pull it through the fabric in the wrong direction it frays the thread slightly. *The more you know*

What aurelia said. My father the tailor does what she does.

What Aurelia said about the grain or directionality of the thread. If I'm doing fine work, antique textiles, etc., I choose the finest gauge needle that the eye will accept the thread. I thread the needle with about a yard of thread, and then pull the thread so the long end has the grain running the right way. I tie a double knot at the end of the long end of the thread, so that I don't tug the end through and out of the first stitch. As I stitch, the needle slips so that the long end gets shorter. As I reach the last eight inches or so of thread, both ends are nearly the same length now, I pick where I'm going to stop stitching, and tie off the thread at that point. If there's more stitching (hems go on forever) to do, I thread the needle again and go.

For buttons or heavy stitching, I use a heavier gauge thread, thread the needle and tie both ends together, and stitch with the doubled thread for hard-wearing seams. Buttons, too.

ETA: Beeswax! For very fine thread, wax your thread. It helps it slip through the fabric, prevents the thread getting tangled, and also makes the thread stronger. For heavy sewing, it does all that, and helps waterproof, too. Sewing departments will have beeswax holders and refill tabs--they really make any hand sewing you do so much more headache free.

Thimbles, on the other hand, I have several, inherited from my mom and gram, and that high school sewing class. I've never been able to use one.