Zips

Since I began sewing at age 12 I have hated zips. I hate wearing them, I hate sewing them, I hate repairing them. I have gone to great lengths to avoid them, using buttons, snaps, hooks and loops. Anything. However, in some garments, such as my daughter's prom dresses, they are unavoidable (because she hates snaps, etc). So these two years running I have wrestled with the infernal things in couture fabrics, most displeased. The whole garment looks fab until you sew in that blasted zip, and then the back or side is all wavy, hard, wonky. So I curse the 1920s for once, and the advent of the zip (at least theirs were metal and not stupid plastic.)


And now I discover, some thrity-odd years on, that I could have hand-sewn them to a much better effect when they were unavoidable. In fact, in couture wedding gowns (the costing in the tens of thousands varieties) they are de rigeur.

Jolly good.

All this came about because I was thinking today of putting on the last trimming on my daughter's latest killer prom dress. I left it off becasue I did not want to run it into the zip. Why should this be so hard (Whinge whinge). After all Sandy Irvine, who climbed Everest with Mallory, sewed zips into his pockets himself, by hand, in 1923 (or, rather, his grilfriend probably did.)

so here it is ladies, the how-to of handsewn zips, courtesy of Taunton Press:
A hand-picked, or hand-sewn, zipper is sturdy and easy to master. It doesn't distort or pucker, is great for heavily embellished or delicate fabrics, and -- best of all -- calls attention to your handiwork.

1. Stabilize the zipper area with a strip of silk organza, chiffon crepe de chine or non-stretch, fusible interfacing. This prevents distorting and rippling over time. Gently tack in place along the foldline.

2. Pin the closed zipper in place from the garment's right side. Starting at the zipper's upper right-hand side, center the folded edge of the fabric over the zipper pull and teeth. Lower the tape at the top to accommodate the pull; it will look right if you keep the stitches at an even distance from the fabric's folded edge.

3. Sew with a doubled thread. Starting at the top of the tape, stitch the zipper (unzipped) with a prickstitch on the fabric's right side. A prickstitch is a variation on the backstitch where you backtrack only slightly. The goal is to just barely see a bead of thread at each stitch. Stitches spaced 3/8 inch apart and from the zipper's opening work well.


4. Make a stitch just below the open seam of the zipper and tie a knot; stitching across the zipper's base is unnecessary and only invites puckers. Next, stitch the zipper's other side. Start at the bottom left of the zipper and sew to the top. It's common to find a slight mismatch of the two zipper tape sides at the top edges, but it's easy to mask with the waistband or facing. If the mismatch is more than slight (if the fabric is distorted), take out your stitches and restitch.