[aprilshowers]

I was wondering if you more experienced sewists could hold my hand a bit on this. I’m making the School Days coat with a laminate cotton and cotton lining. I’d like to use sew-in magnetic snaps but couldn’t find much in the forums in terms of how to actually do this. I saw someone put them on the outside of the fabric in a different jacket so the snaps were actually exposed, but I am considering putting them inside the layers so that you can’t see the snaps.

So, if I were to do this, would I do it on the steps that tell me to apply the Velcro but do it on the wrong side of the fabric instead of the right side? And do you think 2 are really enough to hold the coat closed? This is the size 7.

I am sure I am overthinking this but this would be the biggest change I’ve made to a pattern in my relatively short sewing career so I want to make sure I’m doing it correctly!

Thanks!

[Lightning McStitch]

I haven’t (yet) done what you’re talking about but I’m nutting through it with a similar coat at the moment. I’m going to use magnetic snaps that will only be in the facing (I think it’s technically called a placket for the School Days Coat) and thus not visible from the outside. I’m just placing mine where I think they need to be to make the coat close, but that’s cause I’m making it up as I go along (weeee!).

For the School Days I’d probably use four closures. Maybe two near the top toggle and two at the middle toggle. Putting them through the inner layers only should work fine, and yes at the time when you would sew on the velcro.

The placket will completely overlap the other placket, so anywhere would work so long as you use the same positions on the other side. Use the velcro spots as a guide but don’t be afraid to add more in other spots – (just don’t blame me if that was really bad advice after all!)

Someone else may have pictures of where they’ve used more internal closures that could help….

[with love Heidi]

Lightning, where did you get the magnetic snaps, and whay do they look like?

[Lightning McStitch]

These ones I found at http://www.rathdownefabrics.com.au/ which is a favourite of mine for picking up great wools, basic drills and some luxury remnants. Anyway, by the counter they had a bucket of them and I had to sort through to find some matching size and colour.

I’ll try and take a picture. They have pliable metal “ears” that fold flat after being pushed through the fabric.

I’ve decided this coat that I’m working on needs buttons anyway, so the snaps will be for winter’s School Days Coats after all.

[with love Heidi]

Thanks Lightning, I was hoping they were at Spotlight, but I might have to check out my LQS, espically the ones who seem to carry bag patterns.

[aprilshowers]

Thanks Lightning. I think we are talking about different kinds of snaps. The ones I have are sew-in and don’t have those tabs that get pushed through the fabric. So I was hoping to invisibly sandwich them between the placket and facing. I went ahead and sewed them in yesterday, to the back side of the right placket, which is the opposite side of the fabric that the velcro gets sewn to. I haven’t gotten far enough to see if it will work but I am hopeful that it will. I’ll report back when I’m done!

Oh, and while you can’t see the snaps themselves, you can, of course, see the stitching that I used to sew them to the wrong side of the fabric. But you won’t be able to see it when the jacket is closed.

And a little light comic relief – I had hoped to sew these in using my machine but quickly realized that wasn’t going to work when the magnet just stuck to the machine 🙂

[needlewoman]

LOL, april showers – hope you are going to post pics of the finished garments.

[aprilshowers]

Of course! I put my pics up in the Oliver+S flickr group. I couldn’t get decent photos of her in it but the camera will come out the next rainy day we have!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8630728595_efe7e2e6a1.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8257/8631833416_4e82c352ae.jpg

(Don’t ask why her pant leg is rolled up or why she has such a goofy expression on her face! These are questions I can’t answer.)

[Maggie]

So you put the snaps inside the placket? Did you use those large sew- in ones from dritz?

Looks great.

[Jennifer1568]

You did a good job with the coat. It is cute. I have never seen sew in magnetic snaps. Where did you get them?

[aprilshowers]

Yes, I used the large sew-in magnetic snaps from Dritz and got them at Jo-ann. I looked online and they are expensive everywhere (about $5 each) so decided to just look for them in person. After the fact I found these on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/listing/71068404/17mm-hidden-sew-in-magnetic-purse-snap?ref=usr_faveitems

which are much less expensive if you don’t mind buying in bulk and also look like they might be easier to sew in.

I sewed one side to the back of the placket and the other to the front of the placket so you can’t see the stitching when the jacket is closed. It took some serious thinking to get them in the right place but I think it was worth the effort. My 4yo loves pulling her big sister’s coat open and closed so I guess I will have to make one for her when she outgrows her current raincoat!