What is a hook and eye closure, and how do you sew one? #SewingHacks #SewWithMe

In the image, a pink arrow points to the part of the hook and eye that loops back upon itself; the green arrow points to the part of the hook and eye that feels flat in your fingers but has its wire ends curled into a U-shape with two O-shapes on each end of the wire. That's what's shown in Figure 1. In Figure 2, a vintage Skipper doll from the 1960's models a handmade ball gown with a strappy red bodice and a white skirt trimmed in two lines of red ribbon, exactly like the drawing for Dress View 6 on the envelope of the Simplicity 5861 pattern. — Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

Today I’m going to explain how to sew a hook and eye onto the back of a doll’s garment. Specifically, I’ll be working with the bodice for Dress View 6 in the Simplicity doll clothes wardrobe pattern 5861 for vintage Skipper dolls.

Let’s stat with a quick explanation of the notion referred to as a “Hook and eye” or “Hook and loop.” The pink arrow in Figure 1 above points to the “hook” and the green arrow points to the “eye” or “loop” so keep this in mind as I go through the explanation of how to sew these items on a doll’s dress bodice.

*Please note: when you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include Amazon, Etsy, and the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how my website uses affiliate marketing, please visit the website’s Privacy Policy page.

Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

First let’s look at the different kinds of hook and eye or hook and bar closures that are available. In Figure 3 above, you can see that they come in a variety of styles.

The Crane Craft brand (also shown in close-up in Figure 4) is often referred to as a hook and bar because the hook latches onto a straight bar rather than a looped piece of metal. If you really zoom in close to the image for Figure 3 above, you’ll see that a similar bar is offered on the packaging for the little silver hook and eye set, so you can often choose whether you want a loop or a bar for the hook to latch onto.

I’ll be using the black “Queen Mother” vintage hook and eye set, shown in Figure 5 above, but if you’re using a bar instead of a loop, the idea for sewing them on is very similar. The Crane Craft hook and bar closure is a better size for making people’s clothes, while the smaller “Size 0” Queen Mother hooks and eyes are better suited to dolls’ clothes.

In figure 6, a silver hook lies on a cutting mat with the metal hook winding up toward the viewer. In Figure 7, a woman holds the same hook between her fingers by its sew-on loops, such that the hook faces downward. — Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

I’ve seen where some people have tried to sew the hook onto the garment in the hook-up-facing direction, as shown in Figure 6 above, but that makes it really hard to catch the loop or bar. You have to fenagle the hook under the loop, if you sew it that way, and trust me, that is a formula for frustration.

And if you’re using a bar instead of a loop, it will be absolutely impossible to get the hook to connect with the bar, if you sew it with the hook upright (like you see in Figure 6).

Instead, I choose to sew my hook onto the garment in a sort of upside-down position, like you see in Figure 7, so that the hook more easily grabs onto the loop or bar from above.

In figure 8, a needle is inserted at the base of the hook, while the hook curves downward, toward the opening in the garment's back. In Figure 9, we see the same image from farther away, so we can tell that the hook is sewn with the hooking apparatus extending beyond the edge of the garment's back closure area. — Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

As you can see in Figure 8 above, it’s important to make the hooking apparatus extend beyond the edge of the garment’s back closure.

This makes it especially helpful as a closure tool, when you can’t get your garment to close properly at the waistline because the fabric just doesn’t overlap at the back. If I can get my fabric to overlap, I usually opt for snaps instead; I only use hooks and eyes when the fabric doesn’t overlap in the back closure area.

However I’ve seen where other sewists do use hooks and eyes when the fabric overlaps; in those cases, you’ll sew your hook to the underside of the fabric (often sewing it to a lining) at the back closure, but you’ll still want your hook to catch in the same direction as I’m showing in these images.

In Figure 10, a snap has been sew at the top of the back bodice of a dress, while a loop has been sewn to the bottom half of the bodice. The loop has been sewn along the edges of the little circles that attach to the ends of each tip of the U-shape for the loop. — Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

The eye or loop or bar is easier to sew, I think, because you just sew the two circular ends directly onto the fabric without worrying about which way is up.

And as you can see in Figure 10 above, it’s also possible to couple a hook and eye or hook and bar with another type of closure, like a snap or a button, as needed.

The image on the left shows a close-up of the black hook and eye against the red fabric of the dress bodice. The image on the right shows a vintage Skipper doll modeling a lovely ball gown from the back, and the dress has a red bodice with red ribbon straps and a white long skirt with red ribbons running horizontally along the skirt, parallel to one another. Less noticeable from this back view is the fact that the hook and eye are visible at the closure of the garment. — Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

While the use of a hook and eye does resolve the problem of a bodice that fits the doll without overlap, it is more visible than a snap would be. Of course hooks and eyes do come in different colors, and you may wish to choose white or silver instead of black for a garment like this, to make the closure more camouflaged against the fabric.

Either way, the child who plays with this doll’s dress will learn about different types of closures, and that’s a good experiment for brain growth. And let’s face it, from the front, Skipper looks fantastic in this lovely ball gown from Simplicity 5861!

Skipper looks especially elegant in her red and white ball gown. Her hair is twisted into a knot-bun at the top of her head and tied with a similar red ribbon and bow, like those displayed on the red and white ball gown. Her dress is made of red cotton (for the bodice), white cotton (for the skirt) and satin one-eighth inch wide ribbons tied in bows at the top of each shoulder strap and at the front of each embellishment ribbon which has been sewn to the skirt horizontally, marking each one-third section of the skirt. — Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

Today’s Simplicity 5861 hook-and-eye themed blog post is a re-post, since I’m on vacation in Chicago. Feel free to leave comments. It helps with search engine optimization (making my blog more visible to the public on search engines like Safari and Google). But since I’m on vacation, it may be a while before your comments will be approved.

If you’re wondering why I’m in Chicago, you can go back to read this post from last week.

Most of the commercial patterns I display and talk about here on ChellyWood.com are also available for sale on eBay. However, if you’ve never purchased a pattern on eBay before, it’s a good idea to read the article I wrote called, “Tips for Buying Used Doll Clothes Patterns on eBay.” It will save you time, money, and will likely prevent buyer’s remorse.

And by the way, if you use the links I’ve provided to make your eBay purchase, this website will receive a small commission, which helps fund the ChellyWood.com website, so I can continue to provide you with all the free patterns and tutorial videos offered here.

For more of my free tutorials, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, ChellyWood1.

If you would like to make a donation to this free doll clothes pattern website, please click here. There’s also a “Donate” button in the main menu.

For anyone who would like to expand their dolls’ wardrobes, you should really check out my “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” course and my “Design Your Own Doll Pants Patterns from Scratch” classes on the Creative Spark online learning platform. Here’s my bio page on their website, where you can learn more.

For any class on Creative Spark, you don’t have to follow a schedule. Just sign up when you’re ready.

It’s a one-time fee for the course, and there’s no specific time limit to finish your course. You can just take your time and learn at the pace that suits you. So go check out my paid courses on Creative Spark, using this link.

As always, feel free to pin, like, or tweet about my free patterns and tutorials.

To read more about my free sewing patterns and tutorials, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.

Disclaimer/Credit/Affiliate Marketing Link:

*Please note: when you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include Amazon, JoAnn Fabric, Etsy, and the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how my website uses affiliate marketing, please visit the website’s Privacy Policy page.

Chelly Wood and the ChellyWood.com website are not affiliated with the pattern company or companies mentioned in this blog post, but Chelly finds inspiration in the doll clothes designed by these pattern companies. To purchase patterns from Simplicity, McCall’s, Butterick, Vogue, or other pattern companies shown and discussed in this blog post, please click on the links provided here. These links below the “Disclaimer” section do not help raise money for this free pattern website; they are only offered to give credit to the company that made these patterns.