These are a few of my favorite things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

Oh wait, we are talking about embroidery, right? 

Here are my favorite suppliers for all the things I use when making snap tabs: 

Marine Vinyl 

I love the marine vinyl from Joann's.  It's easily available and not terribly expensive when you consider that a snap tab takes only a 4' by 4' square or just slightly more if you are making multis (that's multiples in a single hoop, usually a 5x7 hoop).  Marine vinyl is durable and smooth and sews like a dream.  

Specialty Vinyl

This is where it gets fun.  Sometimes I find remnants of cool upholstery vinyl in my local independent fabric shop and sometimes I get lucky and get scraps (literally scraps, but these are really just small pieces that we need, right?) from a couple of upholstery shops that save them for me.  I have found leather, glittery vinyl, beautiful high end upholstery pleather that has become some of my favorite things to sew with when I have a special project in mind.  Lately, I have two favorite online retailers that I get small rolls or sheets from.  My Punkbroidery is absolutely amazing and has a huge selection of thinner vinyls, canvases and unique vinyl products like the amazing white geo glitter that you see on so many of my design samples.  I also am just crazy about the patent vinyls that I am getting from there as well.  And the selection of printed vinyl sheets from My Punkbroidery cannot be beat.  Shipping is fast, which only seems to feed my need for more and more of these amazing vinyls.

A new shop I've recently fallen in love with is The Vinyl Nest.  The owner is a fellow digitizer and knows exactly what we embroidery enthusiasts are looking for when we want a new embroidery vinyl product.  The Premium Vinyl products they offer are so smooth and luxurious and they are thin and beautiful.  And I love the glimmer canvas and the printed vinyls they offer.  Shipping is fast, which is so nice when you need a vinyl fix! 

Not so secret inside info: On the backs of nearly all my snap tabs and in the hoop projects I use blackboard vinyl from Joann's. It's super thin and not "sticky" like vinyl sometimes gets in humid weather, so it doesn't grab the bottom of the machine.  Also, it's extremely durable and fairly inexpensive.

Hardware

When making snap tab embroidery projects (like the adorable new Llamacorn snap tab that came out today!) you will want to attach some sort of keyring or d-ring attachment so that your cute project can be displayed and utilized to it's fullest potential.  My snap tab designs are carefullly designed to fit a 1.25" splt keyring (the last batch I ordered was from Craft Chameleon and they are SO pretty!) I also love using 3/4" swivel lobster clasps.  This is the seller I get mine from - but I order 200 at a time.  You may not need that many, so getting just a few from My Punkbroidery might be a better place to start. 

Snaps

The tabs that are on my snap tab designs work best with the size 20 kam snaps that I get from I Like Big Buttons.  Seriously I think they have a million different colors and shapes. 

If you really want to know - I'm a big fan of Isacord embroidery threads.  There is nothing that my machines like better and I always have consistent results.  I have tried many other brands of embroidery thread and I always go back to Isacord.  It's worth it to minimize my frustration by using quality materials instead of working too hard to make skimpy materials do and then being sad about the result. 

I hope this list was helpful in your new snap tab making adventure! Please let me know if you run across other great sellers of supplies! I love finding new things to use in these fun projects!