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Member since 4/12/05
Posts: 22369
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Posted on: 2/21/06 0:55 AM ET
I had such a hard time trying to get them sewn where I wanted them to be sewn. They kept moving on me and the 2 pieces would not stay where I wanted them to be. I finally got them sewn on, but it was hard to get them to stay. I would drop them or they would move on me and I would have to try again. I bet it took me over 20 minutes to sew them on.

Any suggestions?

Carol
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Currently working on a boys quilt. Sized 40 x 40 inches. It has chickens, chicken eggs, cows, fish, sea life, afield with water, Dachshunds, mini sailboats, and many colorful other fabrics. The blocks are a 4 x 4 finished size, so many of them are needed.
This my 4th quilt in 7 months.

Bernina 630, Bernina embroidery module, Pfaff 2036, Bernina 1200DA serger, Unique Sewing Cabinet 450L

Gardening info: zone 8 standard map and zone 6 Sunset map
  
Member since 10/20/05
Posts: 1185
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Posted on: 2/21/06 1:26 AM ET
Glue stick. I haven't tried hooks and eyes yet, but on the one, yes, just one, zipper that I've done, it helped hold it in place fairly well. I'm sure others will be able to come up with more sophisticated answers though.
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... but what do I know?
  
Member since 2/17/03
Posts: 241
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Posted on: 2/21/06 2:40 AM ET
Do you have a #18 button-sew-on foot? It holds it in place and the sewing is fast & secure. You zigzag with stitch length set to zero and the width adjusted to desired width. The 18 foot has a prong that can be removed to sew on hooks & eyes. When you sew over this prong the thread has a little play (space above the fabric) so a button won't be too tight to slip through the buttonhole. Here's a link to the #18 foot description and picture on the BerninaUSA web site.

Edited to add...click on video displaying this foot in use.
-- Edited on 2/21/06 2:44 AM --
  
Member since 12/4/05
Posts: 70
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Posted on: 2/21/06 3:19 AM ET
You can stick it in place with a piece of scotch tape (the "invisible" kind works best). Sew through the tape. The holes will perforate the tape and it will peel right off. I do this for hooks and eyes and for buttons when I am sewing by hand or machine. I have a button foot for my machine, but I still like to place all my buttons/hooks before attaching to check the placement.
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Terry
  
Member since 6/22/04
Posts: 4602
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Posted on: 2/21/06 8:15 AM ET
In reply to Learn To Sew
You could use something other than a hook and eye. Sometimes I think the pattern companies just stick a hook and eye somewhere because it takes the least amount of thought and effort for them. A faced pants wasit is really nice finished with a tab on the inside with a button. The point is to take the strain off the closed top of the zipper and you can be creative with how it is done.

I know what you mean about the hook and eye sliding around. One method I use is to take a first stitch without the hook or eye in the place where I want it, then I have the in and out of the first stitch to guide me and then I can anchor it with another stitch sort of like I would a button. It helps but the hooks and eyes still like to wiggle around. HTH
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Liz

thefittinglife.blogspot.com
  
Member since 10/28/02
Posts: 168
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Posted on: 2/21/06 8:16 AM ET
In reply to Learn To Sew
I use a pin with a head large enough to not pull through the eye you are sewing through. I stick the pin through and use the shaft of the pin as a handle to hold it in place. This also works with snaps -- put the pin through the hole in the center of the snap (I learned this last one from Cynthia Guffey).

Julie B
No Va
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Julie B
Charlottesville, VA
  
Member since 4/8/02
Posts: 8572
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Posted on: 2/21/06 8:22 AM ET
I combine methods already mentioned: take the first stitch without the hook or eye in place, then use the stitch as a guide to position the hardware, tape it in place (yes to invisible tape), then stitch through the tape.

BTW - I no longer know how to attach buttons without taping them in place. Invisible tape stays next to my sewing machine all the time. You can also use it to mark tricky topstitching lines.
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“Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.” -Robert Heinlein and Ann's father. Thanks for the reminder, Ann.

Where are we going, and what am I doing in this handbasket?

Matthew 25:40 (New International Version)
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'



  
Member since 11/3/03
Posts: 245
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Posted on: 2/21/06 9:48 AM ET
In reply to Karla Kizer
Quote:
BTW - I no longer know how to attach buttons without taping them in place. Invisible tape stays next to my sewing machine all the time. You can also use it to mark tricky topstitching lines.


Or to hold a zipper in place on a dryclean-only dress where you can't use wonder tape.
I second (third, forth?) the use of tape for holding on hook and eye parts!

Nora
  
Member since 8/31/03
Posts: 888
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Posted on: 2/21/06 10:11 AM ET
I always sew the eye on first. Then hook the hook into the eye, zip your zipper and hold the hook where you want it, making sure it's a little bit taut. Take a few stitches, then unhook, etc. and finish. Otherwise, it's hard to get them exactly where you want them.

Stitch around each hole in the hook and eye, not across between them. It will look better, lay flatter, and stay in place better.
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Liana
http://sewintriguing.blogspot.com/
http://artisanssquare.com/sg/
http://www.pbase.com/lianasews
  
Member since 1/30/03
Posts: 2172
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Posted on: 2/21/06 10:57 AM ET
Hooks and eyes give me fits, too, so I do my best to avoid them. :-)

Another Cynthia Guffey trick is to use size #3 baby snaps instead of hooks and eyes:

Your zipper gets sewn in with the tab a smidge lower than you usually do. Above the zipper tab on the inside, sew the female side of the snap. Then on the other side, sew on the male snap, protrusion side up, so that the snap hangs off the edge.

kinda like this

The snap is well hidden when closed.

Think she called it a Chinese Snap.
-- Edited on 2/21/06 11:17 AM --
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Leslie
  
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