How do I use a loop turner for sewing?

Question

I am sewing a tote bag and have just finished stitching together the handle pieces. My instructions are telling me to use a loop turner to turn the handle inside out (so the right side is on the outside). I'm pushing the loop turner through the handle tunnel so the hook is sticking out the other side. I'm aligning the inside of the fabric so it's inside the hook, but whenever I try to pull the loop turner out, the fabric just gets scrunched together. In other words, it isn't working. Can someone please help me through this step?

Answer 1

Did you press open the seams before turniing?



When the hook catches, can you help it by turning the edges to the inside?



It may be easier to make a flat strap instead.

Answer 2

Here's how it's done in the factory:



You sew the strap or bias tubing, then cut the end of it at an angle. Push the loop turner through the tubing with the latch open. The hook catches the end of the angle, while the latch pokes through the fabric just above it.



Now put the loop over something stationary -- in a factory, it's often a spool pin on one of the 200 lb sewing machines -- and start pulling the fabric back over itself on the turner. Yes, it will scrunch up, but eventually it turns. Start with the bit closest to the hook, and work up towards the handle end from there. Sometimes, with stiff fabric, a little spray of water will soften the fabric enough to turn more easily. When you get it right side out, finger press it and then press with the iron.



Since I don't have a factory machine, my loop turner has a cloth loop on its loop that I can slip over my foot to provide the pull needed to turn the tubing. Watch out you don't hit yourself in the face when you're pulling, too!



Loop turners are really meant for small stuff like spaghetti straps, not tote bag handles.



With wide strips, it's easier to cut the straps 2x the finished width + 2 seam allowances. Draw a line down the exact middle of the length of the strap on the wrong side. Fold under the seam allowance on each long edge. Bring the edges of the folded seam allowances to meet on that line you drew. Sew down the middle of the seam allowances, like you were topstitching but really far from the edge, and also topstitch the edges.



Glue-basting with a little Elmer's school glue can help the sewing effort with something like this.

Answer 3

How wide is the handle?



I have found that some fabrics are tough to turn - I've broken a loop turner trying to turn denim. How wide is the strap supposed to be and what fabric? A thicker fabric or a pile fabric is harder to turn.



If you have enough fabric - you can cut another handle and press it into the width it is supposed to have - folding the seam allowance and butting the edges together "as if they were sewn" then using a slightly longer stitch (called top stitching) in three or four rows along the length of the strap to keep it in shape and reinforce it.



If you are using a pile fabric (corduroy, velvet, or flannel come to mind) then try to turn it from the other end. Like fur, the pile will resist being brushed backwards against itself and will drag - making it much harder to feed the right side out portion of the strap through the wrong side out part of the strap.



Try "feeding" the part on the inside through by smoothing the wrinkled part on the outside into the inside. Rather like shoving a wormhole into itself on a sci fi show - you are going to have to drag it along the inner tube to get it to change directions.



I've seen another loop turner that involves a plastic pipe large enough to slide the inside out tube of fabric over (sew along one short end and make the tube a little too long) then a long stick is used to shove the sewn end inside and through the pipe. The pipe prevents some of the gathering problems because the fabric is no longer rubbing against itself - the smooth plastic or metal pipe allows the fabric to go much more smoothly.