pressing matters.

 

It's quite un-Australian not to own a clothes line. I wish I had a big beautiful hills hoist to display all the gowns in the sunny outdoors. We live in an apartment complex though. No hills hoist for us. I had to make due with yarn on a chair. I couldn't display them all.

I'm still working on the NICU gowns for the Miracle Babies foundation. I hit a bit of a stall worried about all the snaps that I was going to need to add, but Cass came to my rescue and loaned me her snap press. I started working on snaps this morning and have already put them in forty gowns!  It's a dream.

I've never used a snap press before, and I assume many of you haven't. I've always used the hammer-in metal snaps or the smaller hand sewn ones. Both of those methods are time consuming and fussy. This machine was great. If I were still sewing for markets, I'd definitely invest in one. It'd be a great "community tool" to share in a sewing collective.  Cass got hers and buys parts from Snaps Australia.

It's a fairly big and heavy industrial looking machine. It's heavy. Really heavy. I knew it would be hefty, so I cleverly tricked Sheridan and Zoe into carting it around for me. Thanks ladies. 

The machine comes with replacement die sets which can suit two size of plastic snaps, as well as one set of metal snaps. I'm not sure what size these are. My guess is that they are the largest size. The snaps come with three types of pieces. There are the front clasp, back clasp and the smooth button side. Essentially the pole of the smooth buttons fits through the hole in clasp. The weight of the machine smashes and spreads the pole which locks the the snap in place. It's quite easy.

As you can see, the pieces lock onto the dies to make things easier. It was much easier to show this while the dies were off the machine. Normally you'd place the piece on the die on the machine.  The dies interchange with a simple hex key.

You place your item onto the die and press down once with a little bit of force.

As tempting as it is to press down twice to make sure it's secure, avoid that urge. It will smash the snaps and they don't work. Lesson learned.

It's that easy. I was hesitant about the plastic snaps, but they are quite good. They secure well, but are also easy for snapping and unsnapping.  Given that these gowns are for preemie babies with sensitive skin, the plastic snaps seem like a wonderful choice. They come in heaps of fun colors too.

I'm really thankful that Cass has loaned out snap press for the cause. It was the much needed kick in the rear that I needed to finish off some of the preemie gowns in my cupboard. I'm still sewing though!  Also a big thanks to the gals around Australia who have donated such lovely fabrics. Hopefully these small gowns will bring smiles to parents and infant ward carers during an otherwise difficult time.  You guys rock. Thank you.