I'm a guy who loves to sew, but mostly has covered ATV and motorcycle seats or made cushions for furniture I have built. I have been wary of any zippering.. Your video really helped me today sew a 35" zipper into a cover on a camper bed cushion. Thanks for the help!
Hi I am not good at zippers the problem is wen am done it doesn't look evenly stitched either one is wider or smaller than d other n the zip head always gets in d way I don't have a zipper foot I have the regular sewing foot the machine was bought with. do you have any tips to help thank u
Hey Wendy, say if I was to see that zipper into the bottom side of a t shirt .. Do I use the just the sides of the shirt ? Or would I have to use extra fabric then insert it along with the shirt already ?-
I watched this and paused it every few seconds and followed it through all the way to put a zipper into a skirt I am doing for a project. I have never done a zipper before and this video made it so easy to do. Thanks so much for putting this up here.
SEW A ZIPPER IN A SEAM RESPECTED INSTRUCTOR, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WELL FOCUSSED CAMERA, CLEAR OXFORD ENGLISH, WELL THOUGHT INSTRUCTIONS, SPENT EVERY SPLIT SECOND SO USEFULLY (PERFECT TIME MANAGEMENT), PERSONAL TECHNIQUES DEVELOPED BY OWN EXPERIENCE, ALL THE ABOVE MAKES YR VIDEO WORTH WATCHING AND WORTH IT. YOU ARE A "SUCCESSFUL INSTRUCTOR/TEACHER AND DEMONSTRATOR" Vatsa, INDIA
Handy tip......If you turn the seam ripper upside down, you can run the side with the little red ball down the seam and seam rip without fabric ripping!
So helpful! I just installed my first zipper and was so intimated, but your tutorial really made it simple. It's not perfect, but it's functional and I will do better each time. Thanks!
Ugh! A knit! Even the pros have trouble sewing zippers there that don't wave and buckle. :-( I don't know how tight it is, but it sounds like a really stretchy knit. Any chance you could get into the dress without a zipper? Close it up with safety pins and give it a try. Otherwise, I recommend pinning the heck out of it. Maybe the non-stretchiness of the zipper could help stabilize the knit? Good luck. And happy birthday! :-)
Crank your needle down to help hold it in place everytime you stop to shift things. The dress WILL bunch up something awful - but remember you only need to get a couple of inches smooth at a time. Take a deep breath and be as patient as possible - it won't be fun. And next time - regardless of what the instructions say - put the back zipper in BEFORE you sew the sides or shoulders. You'll be working with a flat piece of fabric and it will be a dream.
I'm guessing you already have the side seams sewn and the sleeves attached? You're not going to want to undo all that work. The you have two options. 1. Sew the rest of it on my hand. It's slow, but it won't take as long as you think and it's a good way to salvage a nearly finished dress. 2.Try feeding it through the machine again. It'll be a pain, but I haven't had one yet that I couldn't get through there. Just take it a couple of inches at a time. More. . .
You can still sew on a zipper with a regular foot - you just can't get as close to the teeth. Try out your machine and see how close you can get. If you can't get as close as you want, you might want to just hand-sew the bit around the zipper. It usually goes pretty fast. Good luck!
Wow. I’ve been self taught sewing for about 13 years (my only sewing class was Home Econonics in 1991!). I always hate putting in zippers because they were tricky and always came out messy. I don’t know why I never looked for a tutorial before today, but this was very eye opening!! Thank you!!
Any masking tape will work. You can use it on fabric that frays, but be SUPER careful when you remove it. Pull in the direction that minimizes fraying.
I tried a fabric glue stick once and it didn't stick at all. I think I still have it - I'll try ironing it to see if that makes it hold better. Thanks!
I'm glad it was helpful. I don't think I can do a video that covers the things you asked for (filling a bobbin, etc.) because those instructions would be different for different machines. I've used a lot of different machines when I teach classes - and they all have their little quirks. Your best bet for specific instructions would be to find instruction manuals for the machines you have. You can find many online now - even for older machines. Good luck!
This is by far my favorite tutorial for attaching zippers, you explained things really well, and you also explained exactly why you used the techniques you used, which was very helpful. Thank you!
Wendy, thank you so much. So informative, you such have a calm voice and the pace of this video was perfect. Thank so very much, by the way your nail are really pretty.
I'd love to help, but I'm not sure exactly what's going on here. I THINK it sounds like you were having trouble feeding the dress through the machine zipped up - and that can definitely be a hassle sometimes. On all my patterns I always tell you do add the zipper to the dress back before sewing it to the front - to make that step much easier - but some commercial patterns have you do it last. I have no idea why - it just makes things trickier. More to come in a new comment. . .
It would be - but then I wouldn't be able to see the stitching. Sometimes my machine snarls up the stitching underneath so I like to be able to see what it's doing.
I have been struggling with zippers for years and watched several videos but you explain it much easier for me to get it finally. I'm going to try it out today. Thanks for sharing. You have a fan in me🤣😄
Omg thank you you are amazing!! I never learned how to do this properly and have been doing it my own convoluted way for ages. This is a million times easier though.
For this kind of zipper placement you have to leave the seam in the lining open where it will go over the zipper, then handstitch it in place. You can do lined zippered bags without any handstitching by using a different zipper technique. That video is at wendigratz[dot]blogspot[dot]com/2011/05/how-to-sew-in-exposed-zipper-video[dot]html
I had never thought of doing it with tape and zipper side down. My husband is a painter and we have so much painters tape around. I have done dozens of zippers wrong- they never came out perfectly smooth at the bottom. This is genius. Thank you very much for sharing!
You don't often see a zipper and elastic in the same garment. My guess (without seeing the project) is that you'd sew it in like in the video. If there's a separate waistband in the pattern you could attach that after sewing in the zipper - as part of finishing the top raw edge.
It's not a silly question. :-) Sew the zipper into the main part of the dress first, then handsew the lining down on either side of the zipper after everything else is finished.
When I was a little girl (50 years ago) my mother used regular masking tape from Woolworths. It was 15 cents a roll Lol. It worked great. I still use tape but its painters tape from dollar store.
For those of us who have been taught by a professional sewing teacher, we all let out a big gasp when you pulled out the painter's tape instead of the straight pins. When you can't find the tape will you be using glue? I am being facetious but it's because it's a pet peeve of mine seeing people not utilizing the basic tools created for making great garments. To be honest, I have used safety pins, paper clips, and bobby pins when I have run out of straight pins. Now, I will add painter's tape. Keep up the tutorials. :)
i did not like more than one straight stitch in my zipper and i did not like fabric that the lines are not meeting. you coud get away with the tape but that was all for me.Esther T
I don't see why not - as long as it's strong enough to keep it from shifting around it should work great. I've never used one - do you have a brand you recommend?
I've never had a problem with the painters tape holding (many problems when I tried scotch tape) but some fabric softeners interfere with all kinds of "stick." Maybe that was the problem?
The two kinds of zipper installations I show in my zipper videos ARE easy. Your aunt and grandmother may have been talking about putting in a fly zipper (like in a pair of pants) and that IS a bear. :-)
Finally!! a close-up in focus video. Congratulations! a wonderful explanation of how to easily sew in a zip. I hope you are a teacher. Our schools need people like you.
Somebody suggested one of the wash-away tapes instead of the masking tape. I think that's a terrific idea and I'm definitely going to try it next time I put in a zipper. I just haven't had occasion to since the suggestion.
Thank you. I have been afraid to try zippers. I think now I'll give it a shot. I do have a question I want to make a buttercup style purse. I can use this technique to put in a zipper. I just sew reg stitches before and after the zipper. I was wondering how to get fabric towards the top and bottom of the zipper. This explains it. Going to see more of your videos. Thanks again
Thank you. I need to slow down, probably. It is a weird stretchy cotton that is kinda thick and almost spongy feeling, and this is my first zipper. I kept loosing the feeling of where the zipper was, and my stitches got crooked, and then I got some bumps, and I wanted to cry. I needed to step away from the machine and go to bed. I was hoping to wear it to my birthday dinner tonight, but I am going to be patient and finish it tomorrow instead.
This is actually the BEST and easiest zipper instruction video I have EVER seen! Wendy makes it very simple! Perhaps it is your English that makes it difficult and not her instructions! I can see you don't write English very well and it is possible you do not understand it very well either. I don't mean to be harsh, but your critique seems very unfair.
i put a zipper in an expensive dress pined pressed and did everything right to have it crooked i have no idea why or what happened when it was on the mannequin it was straight but now the hole dress is a bust or i will have to replace two hole panels in the back as well as lining i am so bummed iv been working on the dam dress for what seems like an eternity
Thanks!!! looks there is a hope for me - I haven't fiished my skirt yet, got stuck in this zioper thing. This video brings me hope ;) just curious about the mask, any mask tape will work, or should we notice things like brand, etc? Does it also work for fabric which frays? Thanks!
HELP! I followed this, I used tape... but by the middle of the zipper, all the rest of the dress is tugging around my machine and a mess. I thought I could just unzip it a bit, but the top got all messed up and it is a disaster. What do you do with a 22 inch zip in a dress that is mostly complete?
Outstanding! I'm very grateful of this tutorial being a new seamstress. Keep up the great work. And to Rosalishi, it's obvious you're not an avid reader. Your punctuation, grammer, and overall lack of intelligence for the English language is at an all time low.
i want to learn to sew and i was looking at a sewing machine at joanns and the lady recomendid one for me. would i be able to change out the foot on the sewing machine to alow me to put on a zipper foot
I "Pinned" this on Pinterest.... I'm just beginning at sewing but you definitely made it seem easier than it sounds, lol I always remember my aunt saying she HATED putting in zippers.... she and my Grandmother used to sew for a living. anyway. Thank you!
I would advise those sewing to sell to hand based rather than using masking tape that way it's just a better quality way of sewing. good idea if your sewing for yourself/beginner-friendly but for selling it's gonna look better with hand sewing than having scraps of tape in your garments.
hi Wendi, i'll be making t-shirts and i want to attached like a limb or arms on both sides to make it look like a zombie, like a pair of gloves which people have the choice to zin in anytime they want. Any advice on what i should by? The zombified arms are both made put of latex material. Please! Thank u
Disaster, people go to profesional tailor!!! Karen Jackson zipper has to be between upper and inner materials, just inner has to be slightly smaller. Any way, if you happy with this cind of quality, good luck!!!
No, it is def a woven, not a knit. I have knit experience. It is just weird cotton stretch woven purple stuff. It does fit without a zip, I actually was going to do that first, but decided to try this new skill.
Just an FYI, when you use the ripper, the part with the ball needs to be under the stitches, not on top. This way you won't rip the fabric when you slide it along. I've used paper medical tape because its not sticky and doesn't gum up my needles.
my homemaker teacher just rolled over in her grave because I FINALLY GET IT! ☺ I drove that poor lady nuts. Humm come to think about it, she did the same to me .
Thanks for the great tutorial. I wish you would have finished the seam along the top, after you put the zipper in. Then I could see how to finish the seam at the top of the zipper. Do you have another video tutorial for that? Thanks.
how do you add a hem behind the zipper? I mean, like if it were jeans and the zipper doesn't touch your skin? I want to make a dress for a baby and I would like a piece of fabric between her skin and the zipper.
I like to start with the zip open. Sew the top.... Then zip it back up again. Gets a nice single line of stitching without the extra backstitched threads
I recommend "Wash Away Wonder Tape"... it's transparent, dissolves in the wash and is great holding zippers in place while you sew them in. A lot cleaner looking than painters tape.
After you rip your first stitch out with the seam ripper, flip it over so the ball tip of the ripper is inside the seam! Then you can push the seam ripper through and you won’t catch on any of the fabric with the sharp tip, since it is on the outside and the ball tip is inside the seam.
Why not buy a longer zipper and that way the tab is pulled up of the way to stitch. When done slide the tab down to open and trim off the excess. you can pull out the extra teeth within the top seam allowance to reduce bulk.
