Tutorial - How to use Purse Twist Turn Locks

Purse twist turn locks look so yummy (and super-duper professional) on bags and clutches, as a design feature they really do add interest and they make your bags secure too. I have just managed to get my mitts on some pretty looking and professional quality purse twist turn locks for my shop so I thought this was a good time to post a tutorial on how to apply them to your bags and purses.  They are easy to use and they give brilliant results.

Twist locks work best when your bags are made from several layers (e.g. your chosen fabric and a combo of interlinings), this is because twist turn locks have a little weight to them and your purse needs to be able to support the weight without sagging. 

Here's what you get in a Purse Twist Turn Lock set: Front Plate (reverse side shown - which goes on the purse flap) and Twist Button with Washer (which goes on the bag body).  The coin is just there for scale.

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1.   Make 2 slits for the Twist Button - Apply the twist button before you do any sewing. Interface/interline your fabric now.  Mark the desired position of the twist button onto the bag front fabric piece.  Take the twist button and press the prongs into the fabric so as to make two indents in the fabric, if you like you can go over these indents with pen so you can see them more clearly. 

Here's the piece of fabric that I have selected to be my bag front and on it I have marked the position of the two slits  for the twist button.

2.  Apply the Twist Button - Take a stitch ripper and carefully make two tiny slits into the prong markings, push through through all of the layers.  Push the prongs of the twist button into the right side of the fabric, slip the metal washer over the prongs (at the wrong side) and then press the prongs down away from each other with your thumb. 

Wrong side of fabric: Be sure to double check that the button is straight (and not wonky) before you push them prongs down! Push prongs down away from each other.   Be nice and firm with it to ensure the button will be well secured into the fabric.

Result: one (non-wonky) twist button applied to the my bag front.

3.  Mark the Twist Plate position onto your bag/purse/clutch flap - make up your bag flap.  You may prefer to make up your bag and put the twist plate on at the very end of the bag construction.   I personally prefer to do this at the end because try as I might to measure these things, they usually don't work and I then end up turning the air blue and scaring my dog.  I am going to show you the "do it at the very end method'.  So finish making your bag and place your flap over the twist button and mark the position where the flap falls onto the twist button.

It's not very scientific, but hey it works!  Use some chalk and X marks the spot.

Now unscrew the screws on the front plate...

When you've unscrewed the plate you'll see that one half of the plate has a raised lip.  Get an ink pen and draw on the raised lip (including the lip around the outerside of the screw holes) like I have in the pic.  This will enable us to press the lip onto the bag front to get ourselves an ink imprint which will serve as our cutting guide...

Press the lip onto the plate marking draw around the ink imprint with pen if necessary.

4.  Cut a hole for the twist button - using the cutting guide we just made in the previous step, use small sharp scissors to cut a hole that is slightly smaller than your ink imprint.  It is very important that the hole is slightly too small or the twist plate will not be secure.  I would cut a bit and test, cut a bit more and test and so on..  and yes I know the cutting bit feels very butcher-ish; don't worry, go slow and all will be well.

Here's my inky mess imprint, as you can see I have cut a bit and I have tested a bit.  I'm testing to see that the hole on my fabric is going to be slightly smaller than raised lip on the twist plate.

Cutting finished:  the hole on the flap is now just about large enough to accommodate the lip of the twist plate.

5.  Assemble the Twist Plate onto the bag flap - Sandwich the fabric bag flap in between the front and back parts of the twist plate (at the hole you have just made) and screw the back of the twist plate to the front plate.  Ensure that there is no fabric showing through, pull any stray fabric away from the hole if necessary.

Here is the lining side of my bag flap and you can just see the see the front part of the twist plate  on the other side.

I've screwed one of the screws in and I am kind of stretching the fabric around the hole, at the same time I am keeping any stray bits of fabric away from the hole.  I'll just pop the other screw in and I'm all done!

Ta Dah!  I gotta say it; I think that lock looks pretty scrummy!

I hope you enjoy giving this tutorial a go, if you do I'd really love to see a pic of it in the new "Bags made from my tutorials' Flickr group.  I'll be checking it regular!

I'll show you what my bag with the twist lock looks like in my next post...**UPDATE here it is.

 

Comments

[Lisa G.]

Aren't you just the mind reader, I just bought some of these, and now I feel confident to use them! Thanks!

[Anna]

Wow! They look dead good!! I'll have to purchase some when I do my New Year's splurge.

Merry Christmas. x

[Lyndsey-Jane]

I was looking at those last night and wondered how they worked. I was also eyeing up the exact fabric combo you've used for the bag!! Can't wait to see what it looks like.

[Tina]

Thanks for the tutorial. I've been wanting to try it out but wasn't sure how.

[Liz]

Lisa, you ARE a mind-reader... I am about to order some twist locks for laptop bags I have in the works. I can't believe you're torturing us by not showing us the bag yet! As always, totally enjoyed reading your great tutorial.

[Claire (not Bahrain)]

Wow!!! What a great tut. Well done Lisa, as always. A big round of applause

[AmyP]

Excellent tutorial as usual Lisa!

[elle]

cool, thanks Lisa, I just bought one of these locks during the week and a tutorial is just what I need!

elle

[Ayala Levinger]

It looks great! thank you. I learn so much from you. I just started using magnetic snaps on my bags thanks to your tutorial!!

[Myam]

this is great! :) thanks thanks.

[Jennic]

Lisa, you are SO talented!! How I wish I was even 1/10 as good as you!
The bag is beautiful.

[Silvia]

Hi!
The tutorial it's amazing! Thanks a lot!
A hug.

[Karen Marble (Martch_Hare)]

Oh, I love this! How stiff is the flap that you are applying the turn lock to? Are you using really stiff interfacing? Or Timtex? Or what?
Thanks! Your site if *so* helpful! I can't stop sewing!
k

[Sarah Lewis]

I was wondering if you could tell me who supplies turn locks as you use here...ps. your work is cool!