Cute & Creative Closures: Sewing Snaps on a Garment

We’ve talked about sewing magnetic snaps on bags, but snaps also make a great alternative to buttons and buttonholes for clothing closures. Sew on snaps are also ideal to use on baby bibs and baby rompers or any item where the type of closure is to be concealed.

Sew on snaps make it so easy to conceal the closure when no decorative finish is desired or when sewing a buttonhole would prove difficult.

Learn how to use snap buttons for a creative closure for any garment!

Photos via sewVery

Snaps come in a variety of sizes and are typically offered in black, nickel, gold, or bronze colored metal as well as clear nylon and are easy to find on the notions wall at any fabric store.

Above is an example of a blouse I made where I used sew on snaps in lieu of buttons.

The center placket of this blouse was very narrow and thick due to the ruffle sewn into the placket making it near impossible to sew buttonholes on it correctly. Using snaps instead of buttons gave the blouse a clean, simpler look as well.

Since sew on snaps also come in clear nylon, sew them on using clear nylon thread for a near invisible snap! Clear nylon snaps would be ideal to use on delicate or sheer fabrics.

Sewing snaps onto a garment is truly a snap!

If you follow these simple steps, you’ll be well on your way to finishing up a garment without having to sew a single buttonhole!

Directions:

1. With the fabric overlapped, place a straight pin where the snap is to be located. With a fabric pencil, mark the fabric where the pin comes through.
2. Place a small piece of Wonder Tape* on the back side of the snap pieces to temporarily secure the snap to the fabric centered over each mark. The snap piece with a prong is usually sewn to the overlapping side while the snap piece with a hole is sewn to the overlapped side.
3. Double thread a needle and tie a knot in the end. Sewing through only the top layer of fabric, sew each slot on the rim of the snap 2 to 3 times before moving on to the next slot.
4. To make this transition neat, be sure to stitch down at the first slot and bring the needle up through the next slot. Repeat until all slots have been secured.
5. Finish by sewing a knot and then slip the needle under the snap without sewing through the fabric. Snip the thread close to the edge of the snap.
6. Repeat with the other side of the snap.*Note: If you don’t have Wonder Tape, then use a piece of transparent tape to temporarily hold the snap piece in place. Once at least two slots have been secured on the snap, remove the tape and continue sewing.

So on your next project, instead of dreading sewing buttonholes, try sewing on snaps!

Still want your project to have the appearance of a button closure? Then simply sew the button onto the outer portion of the item as a purely decorative touch!