DIY snap fasteners on raincoat?

January 18, 2021 6:42 PM

I'm thinking about buying a new raincoat but I don't like the velcro on the placket / storm flap. What are my options?

(1a) How difficult would it be to add snap fasteners myself without somehow ruining the coat? (I wouldn't remove the velcro; I would just put the snaps in-between them.)
(1b) What kinds of snaps and tools would I need? Where should I buy them? (Looking for that sweet spot between "affordable" and "not complete garbage.")

(2) Do you know any seamstresses or tailors that offer this service in NYC? (Ideally in Brooklyn or Queens, but also Manhattan in a pinch. I couldn't find anyone to do this on Yelp.)

(3) Are there any coats that are similar in price and quality but with snaps instead of velcro? (In addition to snaps, features I'd like include: mid-thigh to knee length on my 5' 2" frame, two-way zipper, Gore-Tex or similar, adjustable hood, and decent pockets. Optional but nice to have: pit-zips, vaguely flattering cut and/or adjustable waist.)

Any advice and/or alternatives would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

posted by junques to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (8 answers total)

Honestly, I hate mucking with adding snaps.

I would buy more Velcro, and cover the hook side with a loop patch, and the loop side with a hook patch. Neutralize the suckers.

Once you’ve got that sized, take them off and sew them to decorative fabric, with a powerful magnet in one and a bit of metal (like a washer) in the other. Reapply to coat.

Use as a magnet fastener.
posted by tilde at 7:11 PM on January 18, 2021

Orvis Pack and Go Jacket with snaps, interior drawcord waist, two-way zip; Barbour, at Nordstrom Rack (snap plackets, interior drawstring waists, two-way zips)
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:48 PM on January 18, 2021 [1 favorite]

I don't know if Jonathan Embroidery does snaps. I do know they do buttonholes. I have not used them myself personally but checking various reviews, the front customer service is a bit of a mixed bag so be warned on that.

If you want quality snap equipment Kam Snaps is a woman owned small business with quality service and products. Its a bit of investment but you'll have these tools forever.

For under $20 from amazon is this set. I know this says for leather but it will work for fabrics.
posted by tipsyBumblebee at 8:18 PM on January 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I just got some snap setting tools to add heavy duty snaps to a varsity jacket. I bought the Dritz heavy-duty snap pliers which you use to set these 5/8" heavy duty snaps. Links to Wawak, where I buy these sorts of things, but you could probably order from any number of other places like Joann or Michaels or maybe your local art supply shop?

If you are going to do this yourself, get some extra snaps and do a couple practice rounds. It's not hard at all but I struggled a bit with keeping track of which piece of the snap goes on the wrong/right side of the fabric, because all the little snap pieces look pretty similar, but after doing 1-2 practice snaps I figured out the logic and was good to go. The hardest part is making sure you mark where to apply the snaps precisely so they are evenly spaced.

Some thoughts: I guess I am a little confused how having snaps will improve the situation if the velcro is still going to be there, unless you "neutralize" it like tilde suggested. Aren't you just going to have to fuss with velcro and snaps every time you open the jacket? Also, step one of applying the snaps is to poke a little hole through the fabric. You'll need an awl or similar, and I might worry that it could affect the water-resistance of the jacket by causing small leaks?
posted by sparkling at 9:16 PM on January 18, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for all the answers so far! Still unsure whether I'm going to suck it up and deal with velcro or invest in some snaps/tools. If I do the latter I'm leaning slightly toward ordering supplies from WAWAK because they have the best prices for what I want. Kam Snaps looks good too but geared toward more industrial-level applications; I don't anticipate needing to install a lot of snaps in the future. Amazon has the lowest prices of all but the reviews for the cheap sets are not good.

I might neutralize the velcro like tilde suggested; it would prevent scarves, sweaters, etc. from getting caught on the hooks, which hadn't occurred to me. I'm not sure if magnetic closures would be strong enough, though.

I mostly want snaps because that's what my old raincoat had and they seemed more convenient. Most of the time I'd only use snaps to close my coat because it was faster than zipping. Velcro might work for that too but snaps feel more secure.

I don't think the small holes would cause leakages because the hole would be covered by the snap? I might be misunderstanding the installation process.
posted by junques at 7:23 AM on January 19, 2021

You can add snaps yourself with a kit like this. No sewing required, just a bit of elbow grease.
posted by hydra77 at 8:18 AM on January 19, 2021

Best answer: I have set heavy duty snaps with pliers, exactly as sparkling describes. It was definitely worth setting a few practice snaps as the pieces do not look that different; I got my first practice snap completely wrong. This video shows the process of setting snaps, and starting at 1:40 and you can see the size of the holes (small) and snap coverage (thorough).

Once installed, the heavy duty snaps do require a fair amount of force to open. To reinforce the fabric, you could apply something like these patches to the inside of the jacket before setting the snaps.

I wonder if you could trim the velcro spikes with very sharp scissors? Embroidery scissors are small and curved and available on Wawak. If the velcro is sewn on, trimming might also expose that seam and you could unpick and remove the velcro.

I have a raincoat with velcro and it worked ok for a while but is now worn and basically useless for holding the coat together, though it's still stabby enough to attack my scarves. I might try this too!
posted by esoterrica at 8:48 AM on January 19, 2021

Response by poster: Update: I ordered the coat, but after seeing it in person I decided to be extremely picky / cheap and did not keep it. In the end neutralizing and/or removing the velcro and adding snaps seemed like more modification than I was comfortable with, and I didn't want to buy supplies that might not work on the fabric. Also it just didn't fit that well--the waist was too low, the coat itself was too large overall, etc.

I don't *need* a waterproof coat right now, so I think it makes more sense to wait a season or two to see if I can find something that would better suit my needs. In the meantime I have an old raincoat that I'm going to try to revive with Nikwax Tech Wash and TX.Direct Wash-In. Plus I can always just use an umbrella.

Thanks all!
posted by junques at 8:06 AM on January 27, 2021