Sewing Invisible Zipper November 8, 2006

By Diva Els 

I prefer to sew the zipper after the seam underneath the zipper opening is closed. I use a longer zipper for example the zipper opening is 12 inch my zipper is at least 13 inch. A too long zipper can be cut of with a pinking shear from the bottom after the zipper is sewn. If your garment will be lined a couple of stitches over the coil will do to stop the zipper from separating .For an unlined garment it is a neat way to finish the end of the tape by covering it with a piece of lining or a satin tape.
The opening is stabilized with fusible interfacing .

I find it easy to have a mark on my fabric where the zipper needs to be stitched ,that’s why I start sewing the zipper opening with a large stitch and a loose tension. sew the seam beneath the zipper opening as usual.
Press the seam open and remove the stitches of the zipper opening seam. The pressed seam for the opening has now a fold which acts as a guideline.
I sew on a Pfaff with snap on feet and do not use the plastic invisible zipper foot which has to be screw on. I use the normal zipper foot,

Press the seam open and remove the stitches of the zipper opening seam. The pressed seam for the opening has now a fold which acts as a guideline.
I sew on a Pfaff with snap on feet and do not use the plastic invisible zipper foot which has to be screw on. I use the normal Pfaff zipper foot.

I need to press the zipper coil flat so I can sew with my usual zipper foot.

Here you can see the difference of the flat pressed coil with the not yet pressed coil.

The zipper coil is placed over the pressed fold, you can pin the zipper in first to check if you are on the right spot.

If you want to be sure you can baste the zipper tape (in this example the left side because that is the one which will be sewn first) Using a non perfectly match color thread in the spool will be handy if you need to rip the stitching in case it went bad. Think black thread on a black zipper you can use dark grey or dark blue which is easier to see if you need the seam ripper.

I start sewing the zipper from the top down ( I sew the left side of the tape first) with a few backstitches and the last stitch is at the end of the opening I don’t backstitch here but I sew backwards.

The next step is sewing the zipper from the top down ( I sew the left side of the tape first) with a few backstitches and the last stitch is at the end of the opening I don’t backstitch here but I sew backwards in a diagonal line for about 1 inch towards the outer edge of the zipper tape.

Close the zipper and pin / baste stitch the other side of the zipper at the fold line sewing from the bottom towards the top. Do not backstitch at the beginning this can be done later when you have checked if the zipper is sewed perfect without bumps.

Close the zipper the full length again to check if the zipper is sewed perfect
Because the zipper is longer than sewed the pull is now at the loos end of the zipper .

The last inch gentle pulling the zipper pull from the inside.

A few backstitches by hand with the upper thread pulled down .

Zipper is done, view from inside.

And ouside.

posted by Els | 9:19 AM   

14 Comments:

Gorgeous Things said…

Els, what a great tutorial, thank you! I have always sewn my invisible zippers on before closing up the seam, and I always have a fight with my garment to avoid any bubbles at the zipper bottom. This method looks like it will eliminate that problem. Thank you!

11:50 AM  

Lorna said…

Thanks, els! I have also sewn these in before sewing the seams. I don’t use the invisible zipper foot either as it does not fit my machine. I usually just use the machine zipper foot as I cannot adjust the needle position on my machine. Do you switch the needle over when sewing in the zips?

1:37 PM  

Abi said…

Thank you very much for the visual tutorial.Almost exactly what I do except I use the Viking invisible zipper foot and leave a 5cm gap unsewn.I then try to fudge a bubble free end.All I need is to use a longer zipper.
Excellent.

2:09 PM  

Anonymous said…

Els, thank you very much. I hate fighting that little bubble at the end of the invisible zipper. I’m going to have to give this a try. It looks like a very sleek method.Jodi

2:29 PM  

hjm said…

Thanks. I use invisible zippers a lot but have never produced one that I really liked. You have several tips here that I will try!
hjm

2:52 PM  

Mary Beth said…

Great tutorial, Els. Thanks!

4:51 PM  

Gigi said…

That’s great, Els! I’ve always inserted mine into an open seam but I’m excited to try your method.

4:51 PM  

Anonymous said…

Thanks for this. I’m going to print and follow on my next invisible.
Betty Fleet

4:59 PM  

Phyllis said…

T%his is great! Very thorough and easy to understand. I’ve been wanting to improve my invisible zipper sewing for a while now.

6:30 PM  

Lisette said…

Very good timing! I have a bunch of stuff that needs Invisible zips and the ones I’ve done I haven’t liked much. Thanks so much for this!

6:21 AM  

Cindy said…

Els, Thank you! Great tutorial! I cannot wait to try this method on my next invisible zipper.

8:03 AM  

Anonymous said…

Somehow these pics remind me of another example in one of Threads Magazine’s tutorial. The colors you chose are very difficult to show details just as that of the Threads tutorial. Invisible zippers are easy and fun once you know how but can be daunting for a beginner. I personally prefer to use the special invisible zipper foot but I have also used the same foot/machine brand like you did successfully. I would finally like to add that Pfaff did make an invisible zipper foot (metal) which has the same part number as the one you used, however it cannot be used with the IDT.
Signed: Aging Eyes

9:24 AM  

Anonymous said…

Els,This is a great tutorial! I wish more people knew how to put in an invisible zipper. It looks so much more professional! In fact, I only ever use a fly front or invisible zipper application, so I can’t wait to try your method. I, like others use the open seam method.

3:44 PM  

Anonymous said…

Thanks Els for this tutorial! Always try to finesse that little bubble at the bottom with tiny handstitch. But I’ll try your method - that diagonal stitching on bottom intrigues me. I’ll be off to the machine to try this. Thanks again! UTZ

3:12 AM