Sewing Magnetic Snaps for Perfect Bag Closures
Before you sew a bag, one essential technique you need is knowing how to give the bag a closure. Magnetic snaps are easy to use and an effective way to add top closures or flaps. Sewing Magnetic Snaps for Perfect Bag Closures
There are two different kinds of magnetic snaps: invisible and traditional. In this post, I’ll walk you through how to install both methods — you can adapt these into many different bags!
HOW TO INSTALL AN INVISIBLE MAGNETIC SNAP
Invisible magnetic snaps come in several different sizes. I like to use the ¾” (or 18mm) size for bags. The round magnet is enclosed in a clear vinyl sleeve. The sleeve assists you in sewing the magnet directly to your fabric or interfacing (I prefer to sew mine to interfacing).
The most important thing to remember when working with invisible magnetic snaps is that one side of the magnet will repel against the other, and one side will attract. Sewing Magnetic Snaps for Perfect Bag Closures
Sewing Magnetic Snaps for Perfect Bag Closures
STEP 1:
Marking the magnetic sides of the invisible snaps.
Before beginning, I like to mark with a pen or marker which side of the magnets will repel. I’m in the habit of using the letters ‘A’ and ‘B’ to mark the attracting side of the magnets because I often need more than one pair of magnets to make a bag, and this way I can keep track of my pairs.
STEP 2:
Marking the interfacing for snap placement.
I like to attach my invisible magnetic snap to the respective interfacing before I fuse or baste the interfacing to the fabric. In my example, I am using ByAnnie’s Soft and Stable interfacing for a flap piece. Sewing Magnetic Snaps for Perfect Bag Closures
First, with an invisible fabric marker, mark the snap placement on the flap according to the pattern you’re working with. I often place my snaps centered, and up 1½” from the bottom edge of the flap, as I’ve done in the example here.
Place the snap directly on top of the mark that you made. For my flap example, I placed the marked magnetic side face down.
STEP 3:
Stitching the invisible magnetic snap in place.
Next sew along the outer edge of the vinyl sleeve with a 1/8″ seam allowance. Use either a tight zigzag stitch or two rows of double stitches — since opening and closing the snap puts stress on that vinyl sleeve, you want to make sure that the snap is attached well.
STEP 4:
Attaching the fabric to the interfacing.
Now you just need to fuse or baste your fabric to the interfacing. Since I used a sew-in interfacing, I basted the fabric to the outer edge of my fabric using a 1/8″ seam allowance.
In my example, I basted the fabric to the opposite side that I have attached my snap, as I want the magnet to go through that layer of interfacing before it touches the other magnet. I use really strong magnets!
Invisible magnetic snaps are that easy to attach! Now you just repeat the process to install the other half of the magnetic snap. If your pattern doesn’t call for invisible magnetic snaps, you can substitute them in — just be mindful of which side of the fabric or interfacing that the magnetized side of the snap needs to be facing. Sewing Magnetic Snaps for Perfect Bag Closures
