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Tips For Using Zippers

September 23, 2010 by Sarah J. Doyle Leave a Comment

We’ve just begun on the series of “zipper” posts, but I realized that before you can really dig into working with zippers I need to throw out a few handy dandy pointers on working with zippers.  Some of these tidbits may be items you already use and are familiar with, but perhaps there will be something new for you to try.

** Did you know that sewing a zipper into a garment is faster than making buttonholes and sewing on buttons?  Now I know why I tend to lean to garments with zippers!!

** If you have a nylon-coil or polyester-coil zipper that is the right color, but too long for the sewing project, simply cut it to the necessary size and “bar tack” across the coil 3/4″ from the bottom for the “stopper”.  The bar tack can be machine sewn or hand sewn.

** Do you have zippers that will not “zip”?  Rub up and down the zipper with a pencil lead and the zipper will be as good as new.  (We’ve done this dozens of times, especially on jacket zippers that seem to get stubborn quite frequently).

** If you can’t find a zipper the exact shade of your fabric, choose a slightly darker zipper.

** When making skirts or pants with a zipper lap in the back – it doesn’t matter which direction the lap goes.

** Small zippers sewn on the front of a child’s play shirt will fascinate him for a long period of time.

If you have some hints and pointers for using zippers, please let us know so we can pass them along to our other readers.

Filed Under: Sewing, Sewing Tips Tagged With: sewing zippers, tips for using zippers, zippers

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