Faster Fastener

My granddaughter is just four.  She attends pre-K, which means she  wears uniform pants that are very difficult to fasten.  

The zipper is short (maybe 3 inches, but I doubt it) so the zipper head is a mess when it gets stuck and, worse, there are a button and a hook and eye. This means, of course, that going to the bathroom is difficult because she has so many different fasteners to deal with. Holding it till she gets home is not an option, and the teacher can't fasten 30 kids' pants.  So her mom, Jenny, decided that we needed to come up with a better solution.  Enter Velcro! 

First we had to remove the button (easy peasy) and the metal hook and eye (not lemon squeasy).  Her pants have the heavy duty hook and eye sets that require lots of interfacing for stabilization.  No matter what I tried, I ended up with a big hole once the metal parts were out. The solution was to cover the hole with the Velcro....that works.  The button hole is on the inside tab, so it doesn't show.

To remove the hook and eye pieces, I snipped a small hole near the metal hook, then cut around the hook on the two short sides and one long side.  I pulled the inside piece of the hook through the hole I'd made and clipped it out trying not to disturb the inside.  I removed the second half of the hook and eye pair, again making a big hole.  You can try to separate the two metal pieces, but that is very difficult and tends to shred the fabrics, which will cause other problems. 


Once the old fasteners were out, I cut two sets of 1/2 inch Velcro hook and loop tape about 3/4 inches long.  I placed one piece against the outside edge covering the hole and stitched it down around the edges. 
Then I added the second piece about 1/8 inch from the first. 

This part is important if you have little kids: the second piece is the opposite of the first (see the picture above).  So, if you stitch a hook first, you need to stitch a loop section beside it.  On the opposite side of the waistband stitch down the matching hook and loop pieces so that they line up with the first ones.  

Now to answer your question why I didn't just stitch one long piece: it's important that the two pieces be different so that they DON'T stick when Marley misses the mark.  She won't have to struggle to get the parts of the closure to work correctly because they work only when they are matched correctly.  This is important because she is, after all, only four.  

There you have it.  Marley can now fasten and unfasten her own pants, and they look especially darling, don't you agree? 

Linky Party and keeping scissors

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Quilter's Favorites

Oh my, this Quilter's Favorites Linky Party is turning out to be some kind of fun!  Thus far, I've read several tips and ideas, found four quilt blogs to follow, and met some of the nicest people.  

Geta has done a great job of pulling in some inspiring bloggers with useful ideas and tips. 

While reading one of those blogs, I realized that I have another tip.  I have a pair of scissors, a pin cushion, a seam ripper and a tape measure at every work station: sewing, cutting, pressing, and so on.  This way I don't have to remember to take the items with me from one station to another. 

The problem I had, for a while anyway, was remembering to leave the items in the designated station, especially the scissors.  To solve that, I tied the scissors to the area using a long string.  Once I got used to leaving them there, I removed the string.  It worked!  Now I just carry the project pieces as I move around the room.

Of course, this means duplicates and triplicates and quadruplicates of some expensive notions, so I don't imagine that it's affordable for new quilters.  But those of us who have been in the biz for a while already have many of the items we need: it's just a matter of figuring out where each particular item is best kept.

Managing my scissors was most difficult and took some trial and error.  In the end I've put the biggest, best scissors on the cutting table.  These babies cut 6-8 thicknesses of fabric at once.  I rarely cut that many, but it's nice to have them when I'm cutting many of something.

Another good pair of titanium scissors is near the Studio cutter to finish off the little threads that don't quite make the blade cut.  And since I cut lots of applique pieces, I use them for that as well.

An older pair is near the ironing board.  I sometimes need to snip or trim while pressing a block or applique pieces.  When sewing garments, I also often need to snip around arm holes and such.  These scissors are older and no longer razor sharp, but the point still snips very well.

At my sewing machines I keep little snips or scissors that will quickly cut thread or trim fabric.  My husband gave me this little pair and I love them--no problems with my fingers getting stuck in the finger holes.  

If you look back at the first photo, notice that I added a plastic hook to hold a pair of scissors on my machine.  I've done this on every machine.  It's one of my best ideas yet.  The long arm doesn't leave the scissors behind and I can always find my scissors at the serger or the Bernina. 

Now quickly, go visit Geta's blog and link up with the many quilters who have more great ideas to share.
Happy Quilting,
Mary