Good morning! My new pattern, Treats!, features a Velcro closure for the bag to hold everything in and keep it safe from snooping puppy noses. But what kind of Velcro do you need? How do you sew it?

What Velcro to Use

When you’re using Velcro for a sewing project, you likely want sew-in Velcro. Sew-in Velcro doesn’t have a sticky/glue side, so you’re going to need to sew it to keep it in place. The sticky version of Velcro can work well, but it’s not a guarantee that it’ll hold to the fabric through hundreds of times opening and closing it. Sew-in Velcro is going to stay put. Plus, you won’t want to sew through the glue and make your needle sticky, so if you purchase the self-stick Velcro, you won’t want to sew on top of that. Stick with the sew-in Velcro for a project like this.

Tape the Velcro in Place

When you have sew-in Velcro, called just Velcro from here, you’ll need to sew it in place to get it to stay. I recommend using a piece of double-sided tape in the center of the Velcro to hold it in place while you sew. The tape will just stay there once it’s all sewn, so it’ll help hold the center in place. Once you have it taped where you want it, the next step is to start sewing.

Sew it On Your Bag

I haven’t found that a special needle or thread is necessary for sewing Velcro. I simply use what I’m using for the bag and it easily sews through the Velcro. I pick a corner to start with and go across the top, down a side, across the bottom, and up the other side to create a box. Backstitch at the start and finish to hold it all in place. I find this is enough to keep it in place. If you would like to make it a little more secure and don’t mind sewing over your double-sided tape, you can make a cross in the middle of the box.

Which Piece Goes Where?

When you are choosing the side to go on the front or the back of the back (on the inside), you will want to think about which piece of Velcro you want where. There is one that is harder and one that’s softer. In general, it’s a good idea to put the harder Velcro on the interior back piece and the softer one on the front. Why? When you are pulling the Velcro to open it, having it set up so you’re pulling the soft away from the hard piece can make it a little easier. In truth, though, it doesn’t really matter.

Do make sure you carefully measure where you’ll place the Velcro before you sew it in place. You’ll want it centered and will want to ensure both pieces fit together perfectly when the bag is closed. While it won’t be a big deal if it’s a tiny bit off, if it’s too far off, you’ll have trouble opening and closing the bag, and your puppies might not want to wait!

Cleaning Your Bag

If you need to clean the bag, the Velcro can be cleaned just like the rest of the interior. You should be able to brush off crumbs easily. Rinsing in water is fine for getting softer foods to rinse off of it. If you’ve used waterproof canvas or another similar fabric, you should be able to pull out the inside and rinse it off in the sink or just brush off any crumbs that may have accumulated along the bottom of the bag or in the Velcro.

Questions?

Do you have any more questions about using Velcro? Let me know! If you don’t have the pattern yet and would like to give it a try, buy it now.