Zippers and garments made of sheer fabrics seem at odds with each other. We need to get in and out of our clothing, yet we don’t want to break up a delicate sheer panel with an obvious zipper.

I’ll share two ways to deal with this challenge. The first is to camouflage the zipper and its corresponding seam allowances. The other is to highlight the zipper as a design statement. This calls for purchasing a decorative zipper and incorporating it into the overall garment design. Both methods require planning and an unconventional approach to the zipper installation, but each can be the perfect finishing touch to a special garment.

In sheer fabrics, an invisible zipper’s tape and the fabric’s seam allowances may show on the garment’s right side. To hide them, cover them with fabric that matches the wearer’s skin tone. The example on p. 61 shows a…