My Love for Pearl Snaps
When I was a little girl I spent a lot of time in the fabric store with my grandma. Usually, this was torture for me since it always felt like we were in there for hours. Still, the notions department was my favorite section in the fabric store. I loved looking at all the colors of thread. And the buttons! So many buttons. But my very favorite items were the little cards of snaps. Pearl snaps. Think western style cowboy shirts. They came in 3 colors. White, blue, and pink. The white was more of a milky shade and the pink and blue were very pale—a bit translucent. Still, I loved them. We’d never bought snaps and I always wanted to get some but, grandma always said no. Not even a hope of “maybe next time.” Just, no.
So at the first opportunity, I would head to the notions section and find the snaps. I would just stand there and hold the cards, turn then this way and that way to see the lights reflect off of them. I’ve seen diamonds sparkle and sometimes the light will catch my ring just right but the feeling is nothing compared to how mesmerized I was about snaps. And every-time when went in the store I would hope that they magically had a new snap color. Never happened. Always the same 3 shades. But I would stand there and imagine what an orange snap would look like. A green one! Bright pink! Red! Purple! And I’d go home and think about this and concoct way to, one day, make my own beautifully collared snaps.
And that is why I use snaps on my handbags. (Plus, zippers are my nemesis!) But snaps! They still bring me such joy. Just opening my box of snaps is exhilarating and soothing at the same time. I still tilt the box this way and that way to watch the light reflect off of them. And I’m always, always looking for new colors. The snap is the final step in the bag making process but it isn’t an after-thought. I take just as much time picking the perfect shade of snap as I do picking the perfect shades of fabric. This happens with each bag that I make. Everything is carefully selected—thread, fabric, and even the snap.