Sewing on Snaps

Dawn Anderson: Hi! I'm Dawn Anderson and I'm showing you how to sew by hand. Right now, we're going to sew on a snap. I've made just a little booklet here with a flap on top and then a flat piece of fabric on the bottom for the surface. There are actually two sides to a snap. There is a snap that has a prong in the center and then the opposite has a hole. This is usually on the top side and this is always on the bottom side and then they snap together.

Now, let's begin. I'd like to use double thread when I'm sewing on snaps so go ahead and thread your needle and tie a knot in the end. Choose the location for your snap and I'd like to use a pin to mark the center. Go ahead, put a pin through all the layers and then carefully open it up and you can mark it with a pencil and that's going to help you find the center of your snaps while sewing.

We're going to sew the top snap on first. So, leave your pin in the place where you marked it and drop the snap down. There is a nice hole all the ways through the center of the snap. Take up our needle and youre going to sew through the holes that you see in the snap. So, I work from the outside in, take up a small amount of fabric and then go through the hole on the snap and again we're using double thread so it's nice and strong and I give maybe two or three stitches for each side and then you're going to travel to the next side. So, go underneath and come up in the next hole and then again maybe two, maybe three stitches in each side, before you travel to the next.

Once you have at least two, possible three sides sewn, you can take out the pin which will make pulling the thread through a little easier and then continue to sew your first stitch, second. This third stitch, I'd like to use for the traveling stitch and then your final side. One stitch and then your second and then your final stitch. With your final stitch I go all the ways through, come back up, tie your knot right next to the snap and then before you cut your thread, take your needle back underneath the snap to hide your thread and then cut it and that's how you sew on the top snap.

Now, let's move on to the bottom side. You still have the marking here that we did earlier. Take your straight pin, work from the underside and then go ahead and drop the snap onto the pin. Tie the knot in your thread and then again working from the outside in, youre going to again go through two, maybe three times and try to keep your stitches neat. I'd like to work in a radiating pattern so that they don't get too clumped up. Then travel through to the next one and then, one, two, and then your third stitch and I'll go ahead and take my pin out. Then your first stitch, second and then third, you can travel and then the final side. Again, first stitch, second, and then third to knot off. On the bottom side, you can knot it on to the back side of the fabric. So, loop around, pull it tight and cut and that is how you sew on a snap. Now, let's move on to sewing on hook and eyes.