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Snap tape



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 22nd 04, 12:34 PM
Karen Maslowski
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Default Snap tape

Cynthia, I also like this kind of tape, and was mystified by so many
saying not to use it. It's gentler to baby skin, IMO.

Karen in Ohio

Cynthia Spilsted wrote:
I've been following Tom's posts on the sleepers and noticed that a lot of
people advise against snap tape. Then I realised that they were probably
referring to the regular snap tape which is metal fasteners on twill tape -
horrid stuff really.
There is, however, another kind of snap tape that I really love: white or
black plastic (nylon actually) snaps on matching twill tape. It comes in
two 'spacings' of the snaps and is wonderful for costuming as it stays
together better than Velcro and does not scratch - or get caught in hair,
etc.. It is not cheap, but I love the stuff. I think it is called "Tapey"
fastener and can be bought by the metre. I buy the whole 10 yard roll at a
time just to have it on hand.
Just my two cents worth...
Cynthia



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  #2  
Old September 23rd 04, 10:36 AM
Tom Farrell
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Default

Karen Maslowski wrote in message .. .
Cynthia, I also like this kind of tape, and was mystified by so many
saying not to use it. It's gentler to baby skin, IMO.


I'm curious: gentler than what? (I'm not trying to be facetious here,
I really want to learn.)

My goal for baby clothes (excluding the PJs) is that nothing will
touch baby's skin but the 100% cotton fabric (lawn or batiste) and
100% cotton thread, and as little thread as possible at that. (For the
PJs I may use Polartec, and I'll chose a particularly soft one for
baby PJs, like maybe one of the lightweight microfiber ones.) I'll
probably use french seams wherever possible to make them as smooth to
touch as I can. (And, I've used them almost everywhere in the past, so
there should be few areas where I can't use them for this.)

So, my choice of fasteners is almost, although not quite, irrelevant
to me. I prefer to be sure there are no scratchy parts to scratch baby
while mommy is dressing baby, but that's easy enough. If I attach my
own snaps (instead of using snap tape) they shouldn't have any
scratchy parts, and I'll probably enclose the backs inside a facing
anyway. I probably won't use velcro on baby clothes. (I may make some
toddler clothes, and I may use velcro for that.) If I use a zipper,
I'll put in a facing to go between baby's skin and the zipper teeth. I
could use buttons, but I probably won't. Mommy won't want to have to
deal with buttons on baby's clothes.

Is it just that using snap tape is easier than putting in facings and
stuff to ensure nothing from the fasteners touches the skin? Or is
there some other benefit to the snap tape that I'm not understanding?

Really, the only reason I would say not to use snap tape is that I
figure I can install my own snaps cheaper and easier and have them
precisely where I want them. If you like it, that's great, use it.
You'll hear no objections from me, and if you can name some other
benefit to it, I'm all ears.

Tom Farrell
http://www.SewingWithTom.com/
  #3  
Old September 23rd 04, 02:22 PM
Karen Maslowski
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Default

Well, now that you mention it, gentler than metal snaps, which tend to
get cold. The nylon does not. Also, it was easier to install than the
old type of snaps; Snap Source snaps make that argument obsolete, though.

I've been making baby things since my oldest was in utero, 34 years ago,
and now hope to make some for her baby-to-be, so I'm glad we're having
this discussion.

Karen in Ohio

Tom Farrell wrote:

Karen Maslowski wrote in message .. .

Cynthia, I also like this kind of tape, and was mystified by so many
saying not to use it. It's gentler to baby skin, IMO.



I'm curious: gentler than what? (I'm not trying to be facetious here,
I really want to learn.)


  #4  
Old September 23rd 04, 04:52 PM
Olwynmary
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Default

I'll probably use french seams wherever possible to make them as smooth to
touch as I can.

You might want to consider felled seams as being even smoother.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.


  #5  
Old September 23rd 04, 09:28 PM
Cynthia Spilsted
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Default

Tom:
My guide is my inner arm. I rub most things against the inside of my elbow
to test - and since I have extremely sensitive skin, it is a fairly good
indicator!
The snap tape that I have described beats out regular snaps (as in applied
individually) in that there are not as great pressure points. Ever noticed
the red marks on a baby's skin from the snaps of their sleepers? I had some
wonderful sleepers for my second daughter that snapped up the back and
across the butt. You just flipped her out of the legs to change. They were
absolutely wonderful and I should have copied them before passing them
on....Whichever snaps you use, just test them for pressure - that's all. I
use all kinds of snaps in my sewing and have the bruised digits to prove it
(turn my head in mid swing of the hammer when interrupted by children - and
hubby wonders why I prefer to sew late at night!). I use snap tape in
costumes because it is effective, quick, and user friendly for both the
sewer and the wearer. For sleepers, I usually use a zipper and a snap tab
across the top (individual snap placed on a tab) because that discourages
undressing which toddlers are wont to do!
Another word of advice: don't use cotton thread on the sleepers. The
amount of laundering that they will go through will kill the thread before
the rest of the garment dies. Use Gutermann or another good quality
polyester thread and the garment will last through countless kids without
having to be re-sewn. A mock French seam is all that I would go for (serged
seam, topstitched flat) as it is far easier to repair in case of problems.
Last but not least: No buttons on infant or toddler sleepwear, please! It
is a safety issue because kids will swallow almost anything! My youngest
got up in the middle of the night and swallowed a piece of Lego that she
found on the landing shelf. (Explain that one to the emergency staff! She
had awoken and got up to come and find me. Seeing the yellow plastic disc,
she thought she'd scored a candy until she placed it into her mouth.
Unfortunately, the swallowing reflex was too strong in her half-asleep state
and down the darned thing went! Because she had a softened larynx, we had
to be sure it had gone down all the way and thus the trip to emerg....)
Cynthia
"Tom Farrell" wrote in message
om...
Karen Maslowski wrote in message

.. .
Cynthia, I also like this kind of tape, and was mystified by so many
saying not to use it. It's gentler to baby skin, IMO.


I'm curious: gentler than what? (I'm not trying to be facetious here,
I really want to learn.)

My goal for baby clothes (excluding the PJs) is that nothing will
touch baby's skin but the 100% cotton fabric (lawn or batiste) and
100% cotton thread, and as little thread as possible at that. (For the
PJs I may use Polartec, and I'll chose a particularly soft one for
baby PJs, like maybe one of the lightweight microfiber ones.) I'll
probably use french seams wherever possible to make them as smooth to
touch as I can. (And, I've used them almost everywhere in the past, so
there should be few areas where I can't use them for this.)

So, my choice of fasteners is almost, although not quite, irrelevant
to me. I prefer to be sure there are no scratchy parts to scratch baby
while mommy is dressing baby, but that's easy enough. If I attach my
own snaps (instead of using snap tape) they shouldn't have any
scratchy parts, and I'll probably enclose the backs inside a facing
anyway. I probably won't use velcro on baby clothes. (I may make some
toddler clothes, and I may use velcro for that.) If I use a zipper,
I'll put in a facing to go between baby's skin and the zipper teeth. I
could use buttons, but I probably won't. Mommy won't want to have to
deal with buttons on baby's clothes.

Is it just that using snap tape is easier than putting in facings and
stuff to ensure nothing from the fasteners touches the skin? Or is
there some other benefit to the snap tape that I'm not understanding?

Really, the only reason I would say not to use snap tape is that I
figure I can install my own snaps cheaper and easier and have them
precisely where I want them. If you like it, that's great, use it.
You'll hear no objections from me, and if you can name some other
benefit to it, I'm all ears.

Tom Farrell
http://www.SewingWithTom.com/



  #6  
Old September 23rd 04, 09:54 PM
Karen Maslowski
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Default

This brings up another point; snap tape might be better just because of
the sheer number of times that it's opened in the course on one day of
wearing by a baby. Small babies are changed as much as 15 times a day,
which is a lot of opens and closes on those snaps. Since you're usually
using thin cotton interlock (no Polarfleece or other synthetics for
newborns, please), snaps can pull out more easily when they are not
embedded in a tape and then sewn onto the fabric.

Frankly, I'd use the snap tape with the nylon snaps for a newborn,
unless you make my favorite garment for that age, which is a long
nightie with a draw bottom. Nowadays, these are made with a piece of
elastic on the opening, and no strings, but they are by far the easiest
way to dress a small infant.

Karen in Ohio

Cynthia Spilsted wrote:
Tom:
My guide is my inner arm. I rub most things against the inside of my elbow
to test - and since I have extremely sensitive skin, it is a fairly good
indicator!
The snap tape that I have described beats out regular snaps (as in applied
individually) in that there are not as great pressure points. Ever noticed
the red marks on a baby's skin from the snaps of their sleepers? I had some
wonderful sleepers for my second daughter that snapped up the back and
across the butt. You just flipped her out of the legs to change. They were
absolutely wonderful and I should have copied them before passing them
on....Whichever snaps you use, just test them for pressure - that's all. I
use all kinds of snaps in my sewing and have the bruised digits to prove it
(turn my head in mid swing of the hammer when interrupted by children - and
hubby wonders why I prefer to sew late at night!). I use snap tape in
costumes because it is effective, quick, and user friendly for both the
sewer and the wearer.


other excellent advice snipped

  #7  
Old September 24th 04, 04:33 AM
joy beeson
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Posts: n/a
Default

On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 13:28:44 -0700, "Cynthia Spilsted"
wrote:

Another word of advice: don't use cotton thread on the sleepers.


Make that "don't use *three-ply* cotton thread.

Six-ply DMC Cordonnet holds up just fine. Unfortunately, it
comes only in white and off-white, and is no longer made in
sizes smaller than #100/6. But #100 Cordonnet is equivalent
to #50 in sewing thread, the most useful size.

I find Cordonnet well worth winding off the ball onto a
spool. But it's *possible* to sew it directly off the ball.
Probably best to hang the ball from a button tied to a
string that is poked through a hole in the label. But hang
it someplace you won't be too startled when the thread
unwinds off the label, and the almost-empty spool comes
crashing down.

Joy Beeson
--
http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/ -- needlework
http://home.earthlink.net/~beeson_n3f/ -- Writers' Exchange
joy beeson at earthlink dot net


  #8  
Old September 24th 04, 02:59 PM
Marilyn
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Posts: n/a
Default



Cynthia Spilsted wrote:

I've been following Tom's posts on the sleepers and noticed that a lot of
people advise against snap tape. Then I realised that they were probably
referring to the regular snap tape which is metal fasteners on twill tape -
horrid stuff really.
There is, however, another kind of snap tape that I really love: white or
black plastic (nylon actually) snaps on matching twill tape. It comes in
two 'spacings' of the snaps and is wonderful for costuming as it stays
together better than Velcro and does not scratch - or get caught in hair,
etc.. It is not cheap, but I love the stuff. I think it is called "Tapey"
fastener and can be bought by the metre. I buy the whole 10 yard roll at a
time just to have it on hand.
Just my two cents worth...
Cynthia

Cynthia,
I was one who recommended against the snap tape. I've never been able
to find more than one spacing available. The spacing I found was
ridiculously close together for resnapping a baby's clothes. They were
white plastic snaps on twill tape so they sound like what you describe.
I resorted to marking every second snap with permanent marker so we
could do just those up. Otherwise we inevitably ended up with the
sleeper closed one off, sometimes even two off. It is the moving target
thing, plus my older daughter just did not like the fuss of being
dressed. I gave up on those outfits with my younger daughter. Well,
there was one particularly cute one that I still used but the trick with
the marker helped. If there were a different spacing, the snaps would
have been fine.

Marilyn

  #10  
Old September 24th 04, 05:27 PM
Tom Farrell
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Default

"Cynthia Spilsted" wrote in message ...
The snap tape that I have described beats out regular snaps (as in applied
individually) in that there are not as great pressure points. Ever noticed
the red marks on a baby's skin from the snaps of their sleepers?


No, I think I was the only baby in my family that had them...

on....Whichever snaps you use, just test them for pressure - that's all.


At this point I'm leaning strongly toward a zipper.

I use all kinds of snaps in my sewing and have the bruised digits to prove it
(turn my head in mid swing of the hammer when interrupted by children - and
hubby wonders why I prefer to sew late at night!).


Paulo and I were joking that if we use too many snaps we'll have to
make sure to put them in with the good sewing hammer...

I use snap tape in
costumes because it is effective, quick, and user friendly for both the
sewer and the wearer. For sleepers, I usually use a zipper and a snap tab
across the top (individual snap placed on a tab) because that discourages
undressing which toddlers are wont to do!


I'm going with zippers for the sleepers.

Another word of advice: don't use cotton thread on the sleepers. The
amount of laundering that they will go through will kill the thread before
the rest of the garment dies.


Yes. I should have thought to say something about that. I don't worry
so much about the softness of the thread on a polartec item because
the polartec will just curl slightly in the seam allowance and make
the thread almost impossible for a baby to touch anyway.

A mock French seam is all that I would go for (serged
seam, topstitched flat) as it is far easier to repair in case of problems.


I don't have a serger. Anyway, I expect that if a seam actually gives
way, they'll get sent to me for repair, and I'll live with whatever
I've done.

Last but not least: No buttons on infant or toddler sleepwear, please! It
is a safety issue because kids will swallow almost anything!


Right, that I knew. I'm curious, do you have any strong opinions on
buttons on toddler day-wear? I'm inclined to avoid them, but wondered
if people felt it's not a problem.

Tom Farrell
http://www.SewingWithTom.com/
 




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