Sewing a Zipper
Sewing your own clothes gives you control over how they feel and what they look like. Whether concealing a pocket, venting a jacket or opening up a skirt, sewing a zipper into an article of clothing can be uncomplicated and easy depending on the length of the zipper and where it lies. Zippers of all lengths and styles can be purchased from online databases like Zipperstop.com. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Hem & Stitch
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Cut a slit the length of your zipper into your garment where you would like the zipper to go. At the top and bottom of the slit, cut perpendicularly a 1 cm slit that runs 1/2 cm in each direction from the long slit. Cut another 1/2 cm slit upwardly -- at the top -- or downwardly -- at the bottom -- from each of the four corners made by your perpendicular slits.
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2
Hem the edges of the fabric where you would like your zipper to lie by folding them underneath themselves by at least 1 cm, pinning them there and then sewing them on with a straight stitch. Hem the opening at the top and bottom in the same fashion, leaving ends open only where necessary.
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3
Lay your garment face down and line up your hemmed seams so that they are parallel, but not leaving an opening larger than 1 cm. The hemmed seams should appear as an open slit in the fabric. Pin them together in this fashion.
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4
Line up the zipper seams with the hemmed seams on your garment where you are attaching your zipper. Pin the zipper seams into the hemmed seams -- at the hem -- while making sure that the center of the closed zipper is lined up with the opening between your hemmed seams.
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5
Stitch the zipper into the seams by straight stitching the zipper seams directly over the straight-stitched hems. Continue this procedure down both sides while leaving enough room for the zipper to open and close.
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6
Sew a straight stitch over the stitches on the hem and zipper seams at the top and bottom of the zipper to secure the zipper to the garment -- leave ends open where necessary. Remove all of the pins and trim away any zipper ends that remain.
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References
Resources
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