I wish I could get some good advice on getting a nice installation on a separating zipper. I took an online zipper class but the teacher never went into the details of a separating zipper. If you look at RTW, the zippers look so nice, but I’ve yet to find any advice in my books or videos on how to get those results. The two things I find most difficult are:
1. Topstitching the zipper so you get a lovely 1/4 inch on top and on the underside the stitches just catch the edge of the facing beautifully. (So far the only answer I’ve found for that is my own which is to scooch over some fabric on the front, center it over the zipper teeth and baste painstakingly so I get a good catch on the other side.
2.Where the zipper joins up next to the collar of the jacket, I think it is hard to push it in under the fabric to get a nice topstitch without the teeth peeking out into the air. It’s like there is not enough fabric up in that little corner to spare to scooch over to cover the teeth.
It seems there must be some good tricks. I wish I could sneek into a factory and learn some of them!
I’m sure I’ve asked about this on other boards, but I know the threads sewers are more serious about getting it right. Any wisdom would be appreciated.
Blue skies and straight seams,
Sun
Replies
go to the thrift store, pick up a jacket with a zipper that you like and carefully take it apart to see how it was inserted
Thanks for your reply. It sounds like you learned alot from taking apart a jacket. Can you tell more?
Sunny,
I got a good chuckle out of your reply - I HATE zippers and avoid them when ever possible, I put them in by hand when I can - I haven't done a separating zip in years, but if I had to, I would take my advice and pull apart a jacket to see how it was done!
Actually I do want to take apart some second hand jackets. I did it once before and it was helpful, but still wondered about the order in which they did what they did. I wish threads would do an article on some RTW variations of zippers. So far I've only seen the basics, though those articles were helpful too, as even a basic zipper is good to know how to do easier.
You can go to Pattern Review and take an online class in zippers.
what I do is sew the front up with a gathering stich and then lay the zipper on it and sew the zipper from the back side so you can make sure that it comes out nice and straight and then turn it over and take the stiches out and I use lots of pins so the material does not shift around
If you sew the lining to the back of the zipper first you don't have to worry about catching it when you sew on the front side.
This post is archived.