I've had enough of snap fasteners pulling through the fabric when I use them. It seems to happen a lot on children's clothing. This got me thinking and I tried to solve the problem when making some winter tops for little e. The following tutorial below creates a strong snap fastener details that is useful for children's clothes.

The original pattern (Simplicity 4054) called for sewn on snaps. The modified detail replaces them with hammered on snaps with a contrasting strip where ever the snap fasteners are used as seen in this finished top. Don't mistake the contrasting strip for some new fangled decoration. It is holding the snaps and fabric together.

The instructions are colour coded with

Pink – top layer of closure

Turquoise – lower layer of closure

Stripey pieces – trim, cut to 1 ¼“ parallel to the grain

Purple running stitch – fold line

Orange tailor tacks - stud and socket locations

1, Measure trim against opening to span between fold lines. Stitch across ends with right sides together, turn and press.

2, Baste tool tape onto the top piece of the closure, on the top side of the fold. Baste tool tape to the lower layer of the closure, between the fold line and the edge. Note: the tool tape is placed on surface that the prongs of the snap fasteners will be attached to. This reinforces the area of fabric that will have the most strain.

3, Overlock trim to the garment between fold lines.

4, Fold over the ends at the fold line and stitch. Trim corners, turn right way out and press. Topstitch, parallel to the trim edge.

5, Sew along basting lines on tool tape to fasten the outer surface with the folded edge. While hard to make out, this stitching is shown in yellow above. To avoid bunching in the stretch fabric below, create each line of stitching in two sections sewn from outer edge to centre or use a walking foot. Note: these stitching lines reinforce further by holding the outer and folded layers together at the fastener location.

6, Apply snap domes following manufacturers instructions.