Adaptive Sewing with Sophie Hines: Fastenings & Closures

We are continuing our series on adaptive sewing with guest writer Sophie Hines. Our first post on tools for adaptive sewing can be found here.

Accommodating physical needs with your clothing is such a beautiful way to care for yourself or a loved one. Typical fastenings and closures create many of the pain points around comfortable clothing and dressing independently—the good news is there are so many ways to adjust garments to the needs of the wearer!

If you're in the market for inspiration for adaptive garments, my advice is to check out winter sportswear and hiking or camping wear. The way a high-quality garment is designed to accommodate every challenge you can think of when you're outside in any weather is so comforting. It makes me feel both compassionate for my physical limitations and confident that I deserve to accommodate my body in whatever way is bringing me frustration—no matter how small!

Magnets

Magnets are one of the things I'm most excited to play with in my exploration of adaptive clothing. They make such a fun and easy closure because they can find each other without much help from you—a perfect match for mobility impairments! I used them to close this Axis Tank with a Wrap Front Hack, and I was impressed with how strong they are. I'm looking forward to trying them out in more garments.

Clothing magnets come in multiple shapes and sizes, depending on your preference and where you're using them. Because they can help find each other, they're also great to use in tandem with a hook for extra security—the magnets can hold the garment in the right position to line up the hook and eye for you, so you can close the hook easily with less fumbling!

Zippers

Zippers are such a great way to solve adaptive design challenges, from adding secret vents and accommodating tubes, ports, and access sites, to creating secure pockets for monitors, supplies, or keeping your phone from falling out of a seated pocket. You can add them to the sides of seated pants to eliminate the pressure of front closures or create nursing-friendly t-shirts and tops. Zippers are manufactured for many different uses and come in waterproof, separating, non-separating, rust-resistant, featherweight, and a million more varieties! This is a fantastic place to research things like camping or outdoor gear to see how people are using zippers and the design challenges zippers can solve.

Snaps

Snaps can be difficult for many people to use, especially if there are a lot of them or if you have difficulty pressing firmly with your fingertips. But they can be very strong and are great for securing waistbands, button plackets, or jackets. You can also be confident that they won't fly open with a sudden move or strong wind. This is a really easy hack to incorporate into your existing wardrobe and sewing preferences, as they can be used in place of buttons on any pattern! Experiment with different sizes, sew-in versus applicator pliers or press, fabric-covered ones—you can even get Liberty-covered snaps!

Elastic

You're familiar with using elastic for easy and flexible waistbands, cuffs, and collars, but have you ever thought about how great elastic can make your life? You can add elastic to the back of your trouser waistbands to add secret easy dressing to your professional clothing, or place it in the front of your waistband if you have bloating or abdominal challenges throughout the day. You can even add elastic stirrups to your pants if your pant legs ride up and you have difficulty bending to adjust them! If there are any little places on your clothing that tend to stretch out quickly, you can add a narrow elastic along the seam to help give it a boost of recovery and last longer.

For elastic allergies, my favourite hack is to use strips of micro mesh or spandex as a binding. The folded layers achieve a pretty decent substitute, and they're very easy to sew! It doesn't have as much stretch or recovery as elastic, but it's a great way to finish or stabilize a stretch seam, and it can be paired with a drawstring for firmer support.

Buttonhole Elastic

If your weight is prone to fluctuating, try using buttonhole elastic in your waistbands or in your sleeve and pant cuffs if you use a support brace or have swelling! Not only do you get the ease of dressing with an elastic waist, but you can also fine-tune the fit from day to day, or even hour to hour if necessary. This is a fairly common detail to find in children's clothing, but you can also find it used in luxury garments. The lovely Stephanie Bodnar of Evgenia Lingerie uses buttonhole elastic as one of the staple elements in her bras. Not only does this method make your clothing more comfortable and flexible, but it's also a really fun way to add a little secret personality to the inside of your garment with your button choice!

Velcro

It doesn't have a very glamorous connotation, but after researching different types of adaptive clothing, Velcro is a clear frontrunner in its flexibility, closure strength, and ease of use. Velcro is a fantastic way to effectively and securely close garments. It can add flexible positioning around tubes or access sites and doesn't require force, fiddling, or precision to use. It accommodates size fluctuation more easily than many closures, and I also love it for adaptive underwear, like this pair of Hadal Panties! Use Velcro dots in place of buttons or smaller openings, or strips in place of zippers and wider openings.

Loops & Pull Tabs

When designing an adaptive closure, don't forget to think about how the garment will be used and worn. If you struggle to hold something in the right place while you're doing up a fastening or have difficulty using your hands, try adding loops to increase the ease of dressing. These Hadal Panties have an elastic strip across the edge, which makes pinching and holding the little piece so much easier!

You can add a loop to a zipper pull or a nice tab at the other end to hold on to more firmly—or even to clip on to something to hold the zipper for you while you zip it up! An elastic loop near Velcro or a magnet can help you grab and put the garment in the right place without your fingers fumbling or getting in the way. Paying attention to the little details can really go the extra mile to make your garment design feel thoughtful and look amazing.

Combining Closures

Like using both hooks and magnets, combining closure methods can be a great way to overcome any drawbacks a single closure might have. For example, a Velcro strip can curl up and lose its stickiness over time, and a strip of magnets alone may pull open at an inopportune time. Adding a hook and bar can lock your easy closure in place.

Hooks can also be used to keep a garment in place while you put it on, like the hook and eye on the waist of these Median Knickers. It's placed at the elastic waistband to give extra strength when the waistband is being stretched during deep breathing or other movement, and it keeps the panty in place while you do up the Velcro!

See all of Sophie's adaptive hacks for lingerie here.

Get Creative!

If there's something that's not working or causing you frustration, or you wish something had a specific adaptation, try something new! You're not alone in your wants or needs; there are many people out there who share your situation and have created things to help. Researching what's already available is an excellent way to discover things you never knew you needed, but if you can't find any examples of the detail or item that you're looking for, try making it yourself! Maybe you're the innovator! Fashion and beauty influencer Tess Daly's fantastic videos of the ways she adapts her clothing to fit her, even without sewing!

The most important thing to remember is that your clothing is for you! Your body is never at fault for needing something different, and you deserve to have your life made easier, even if it's in small ways. Those little aggravations add up, and life is hard enough without forcing yourself to endure discomfort.

What are your favourite clothing hacks? We'd love to learn from you!

Pin for Later: