Magnetic snaps are easy to install and they offer a simple way to attach a secure closure to all your bags and purses. Attaching them is quite easy, and well … a snap really.
There are two parts to a magnetic snap – a female side which has a recess in the center, and a male side which has a bump in the center. Each side comes with a washer that has cut-outs where the prongs on the back of the snap slide through.
If you’re attaching a magnetic snap to a bag that has a flap, I usually like to attach the male side of the magnetic snap (the one with the bump) to the flap, and the female side (the one with the recess) to the body of the bag. However this isn’t a hard and fast rule because as you can see if you look at the first photo above, I’ve attached them the other way around. (Note to self – pay more attention!) But if you’re bag doesn’t have a flap and instead has an opening like a basic tote bag, then it really doesn’t matter which side they’re attached.
Magnetic snaps should be attached during the construction process – after you have attached the interfacing to the fabric but before everything is completely sewn together because you need easy access to mark and cut the fabric, and then attach the snap. It is necessary to use interfacing when attaching magnetic snaps because it helps to support the snap so that the fabric doesn’t tear.
To begin, mark the position on both sides of the bag where the snap will be attached. It’s important to make these marks accurately otherwise the snaps won’t line up once the bag is finished. In this example I’m attaching one end to the bag flap and the other to the bag body.
I always like to make sure that my magnetic snaps have additional support so that they don’t tear the fabric on my bags and purses, so I always use a 1″ square piece of Peltex which is a heavyweight stabilizer, as a backing support for each side of the magnetic snap. You can get Peltex here and you can find out more about Peltex here.
If you don’t have a thick stabilizer handy, you can also use several pieces of medium-weight stabilizer or even a piece of thin cardboard.
Center the magnetic snap washer on the 1″ square piece of Peltex and mark the position where the snap prongs will push through using a pencil or Sharpie. Using a seam ripper make two small slits through the stabilizer along the marked lines.
Center the square piece of Peltex stabilizer over the markings on the bag sections where the snap will be positioned, and using a seam ripper make two small slits through the fabric to match the slits on the pieces of stabilizer.
On the right side of the fabric, push the prongs of the magnetic snap through the slits in the fabric and the heavyweight stabilizer to the back (wrong side of fabric), place the metal washer over the prongs, and fold the prongs back to secure.
And that’s it – you’re done! Couldn’t be easier.
