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.