June 10, 2012
Are you afraid of zippers and buttons? Do you sew mainly in knits to avoid difficult closures? If so, Pearl snaps are going to be your new favorite thing! This tutorial will show you how to add these easy and stylish snaps to your next project. Also, did you know we have them in a variety of colors?!? Button holes take forever and when one goes wrong it can ruin a garment! The only tools you need besides what comes in the package is a hammer and a spool of thread.
1. Your work surface is important. You need a slightly padded area that is still firm. A carpeted floor is perfect or lay a thick towel out on a table. If you don’t use a padded surface, your pearls will crack when you hammer them and that’s not good for anyone!
2. Mark your garment where you want your snaps to go. You probably want to interface or at least be going through double layers or else the snap might rip your fabric.
3. I like to start with the top part of the snap (the pearl part) because it is the face of the closure. You will need piece A and piece B (the part with the pearl and the piece that looks like a doughnut). Push piece A through the face of the fabric so that the prongs are sticking out on the other side. The back of the package says you can press a pencil eraser onto the backside to pull the prongs through. I couldn’t find a pencil but had a glue stick handy and it worked just fine!
4. Place piece B on the other side of the fabric so that the raised inner ring is facing the prongs of piece A.
5. Put a spool of thread on top of the piece and hammer lightly. The pieces should be joined together. If not, put the spool back and try hammering again until the top of the snap seems secure
6. It’s the same idea for the bottom half. Piece D goes through the wrong side of the fabric, piece C fits into the prongs on the other side. Put the spool in place and hammer until its secure!
7. Test your snaps, make sure everything is really well hammered in, and, VOILA! You have an awesome closure ready to be shown off on the town.
For an awesome way to use your new pearl snap skills, check out our Circle Skirt with Pearl Snaps tutorial!
Happy Sewing!
Posted by hartsblog in Tutorials
