Friday, September 10, 2010

A hole in one

I finally found a moment to play with the new grommets, and made a little how-to for you!

This little bag was left over from other how-to shots I was doing for le book. It was interfaced with Vilene S320 on the outside and medium-heavy interfacing on the inside, which I thought was pretty perfect for cutting holes in.

NOTE: If you need to cut into your fabric to insert hardware or fittings of any kind, I'd recommend that you use only sturdy, stable fabric or else fuse interfacing to your fabric.

1. Place a grommet on top of the fabric and trace the inner circle (I used a fabric marker pen).

2. Cut away the centre of the circle (through all layers of fabric). Check to see if the hole will fit snugly over the centre of the grommet. Carefully trim a few millimetres (about 1/16 inch) outside the circle if necessary to make it fit the grommet.


3. Spread a little bit of craft glue around the shank at the centre of the grommet. This is to hold the fabric still while you snap the grommets into place. Don't squirt too much glue in.

4. Push the grommet through the hole and press the raw edge of fabric into the glue.

5. Snap the other side of the grommet into place with your hands (no tools!). Lovely!
For plastic, these things look remarkably swish - and they're a lot lighter than real metal. Considering the set-up cost for the real McCoy grommets - or the cost and inconvenience of finding a stud setting service -they're not as expensive as they may appear ($4.40each).

I think they'd be a pretty cute addition to a Beach Bag, Mod or Carry-All, in place of belt loops, and I'm sure there are lots of other applications for them .... and they're as much fun as self-cover buttons.

12 comments:

LakshmiRP said...

Very useful. Will give it a try.

Fiona said...

They look like a real time saver and stylish too! May have to add those to my shopping list!

Liesl said...

Oooh, they look fabbo!

Gay McDonell said...

Awesome!!

A Peppermint Penguin said...

Very nice!

However, I beg to differ. *nothing* is as much fun as self cover buttons.

Cheers,
AJ

Tania said...

Self covered button fun is a hard act to follow...

Fer said...

They're plastic? Easy too? That's a definite WOW!

Mary said...

wow they look very cool. Madly thinking about what I can use them on.

CurlyPops said...

Ooooh another new gadget to try!

Mary said...

Very nice result. Thanks for the pictures!

Anonymous said...

Hi nickki, I have been searching high & low for these in metal..any idea where I can get them..want to use them in leather bags & really don't want plastic..thanks for your help..Lynette

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

I love the look these give! Thanks so much for this, I'll be linking.