How to Install a Zipper

I'll show you how to install a centered or slot zipper using a self-basing zipper. This is what our final zipper is going to look like. Nice and even on both sides all the way to the top, no weird bulges like that usually happen when you're installing a slot zipper. So let's get started. The first step, which I've already done, is to prepare the opening and how you do that is you just sew from the bottom of the zipper opening to the hem, back stitching at both the beginning and the end.

And then the next thing we're going to do is we are going to open this up and we're going to mark the 5/8 inch seam allowance on both sides of the opening. I've already marked one side, I'm just gonna go ahead and show you how to mark the other, using a clear ruler, go ahead and line it up at 5/8 inch seam and mark it with your chalk pencil and we'll use that later as a guide. The next step is to take our fusible interfacing which I've already cut to 5/8 inch wide the same as our seam allowance. And you're gonna have it about two inches longer than the your zipper. In this case, we're using a 9 inch zipper and the zipper really ends up being about 10 inches with the extra zipper tape and everything.

So, this interfacing is 11 inches because it needs to extend at least one inch below that opening. So we're gonna go ahead and line that up, matching at the raw edge and again, extending it about an inch below the opening. We're gonna go ahead and press that and what we're doing here is we're creating a stay. What a stay is, is it stabilizes a garment edge. So, it won't stretch or distort.

The other way you can do this too is also stay stitching, which would be done at a regular stitch length just inside the stitch line. And that will also prevent it from distorting when you're installing your zipper. So, once the interfacing is fused, let me go ahead and open this up and we are going to turn that raw edge in at 5/8 inch. We have our chalk line as a guideline and we also have our interfacing as a guideline. When you're choosing your interfacing to use on as a stay, you just wanna choose whatever interfacing is appropriate for the fabric you've chosen for your garment.

Just the same guidelines. So, once that's pressed, we now have our opening that is prepared and ready for the next step of our zipper installation. So we'll go ahead and set that to the side. This is what it looks like, a nice and pressed, nice crisp edge from that stay. So our step is to key the zipper on the garment.

Keying these two things just creates an easy match point when you move forward in installing the zipper. How you would key zipper is you would take a row of stitching about an 1/8 of an inch above the stop. And once that's stitched then you go ahead and open that up and that row of stitching stays there, that's your key. On the garment edge, you're going to do it just inside of your final stitch line. In this case, it's just to the inside of the 5/8 inch.

So again, we're gonna go ahead and flip that open and that is gonna make our match points for moving forward. So, the next part we're gonna do is we're gonna prepare the zipper. We're actually gonna make this a self-basing zipper and how we're gonna do that is a webl paper backed fusible webbing. It's sticky on one side and has paper on the other. So, the sticky part gets laid down on top of the zipper and then the paper backing will get removed and you can fuse it to the garment and I've already prepared this zipper here.

So this side, how you gonna do is you're gonna lay it down along the side of the zipper. You can use any size fusible webbing. I just happened to have quarter inch roll of this. If you had sheets of the paper backed feasible webbing, just go ahead and cut it to the length of your zipper. But I wouldn't do it any more than a quarter of an inch wide because you don't want it to be wider than the actual zipper tape and the zipper tape is about 3/8 of an inch.

So after that's applied, you go ahead and peel back the paper backing and it gets a little tricky cause it's sticky on both sides. So go ahead and lay that down and we're going to take our garment, our prepared keyed garment. We wanna take our zipper, we're going to lay it face down on the edge of the garment. First thing we're gonna do is we're going to match up those key lines. The next thing we're gonna do is we're going to lay the zipper very close to the edge.

You only want about one row of thread showing next to that zipper, so extremely close. And once you get that laid where you want it then you take your iron and you go ahead and just run it along, fusing that to the actual garment. And even though if this is sticky, I've never had an issue with any sort of residue or anything on my needle or holding up the machine in any way. So that we're gonna lay the other side down, again, very close to that edge, lining up that key line. I'll push that over a little.

So by laying it very close to the edge but not right on the edge, it's gonna create a peak in the middle when it's zipped. And you want that peak because that will ensure that when the zipper is worn, the zip won't be exposed. So now that that is fused, you can close it. Now though the stop is sort of hidden down here. So let me work that out, happens every time.

Okay, now that the pull is exposed, you can close it. So here, you would wanna close it before you move on, just to check alignment, make sure everything looks good, make sure you have that little peak in the middle, you have a little peak there. And this is actually, I noticed this came up a little bit. So, I'm gonna give it another little quick press here, make sure it's fused because this is what's gonna hold it in place as you sew it. We're not gonna use any pins, we're just gonna sew it with this.

All right, so now that, that is pressed in place, there's one other option, if for some reason you don't wanna use the fusible webbing, you don't have it, you just don't wanna use it. You can also hand-based it in place, which would be this guy here. You do all the same prep work up to this point but you would do a very short running stitch along the side. Don't nod it at the beginning and the end because this is a temporary stitch, this will be removed. But it works the same way, once it's based in and you can open it up, check alignment.

And for both of these, once they're installed whether it's with the fusible webbing or hand-based and you can try them on if you need to for fitting purposes or anything like that. But whatever method you choose from this point on, we're ready to sew. So before we start stitching I like to mark across the bottom. So I know where to pivot when I get to the end of the zipper. So, just go ahead and find the metal stop, you can feel it and then take your ruler and mark about a quarter of an inch below that.

And you're only gonna be sewing a quarter of an inch on each side of the seam. So just do a tiny little mark and that done you'll know where to pivot and you have a nice straight line when you get down there. Okay, so the next step is to open the zipper and we're just gonna sew using seam guide on the throat plate of our machine. So go ahead and line it up at a quarter of an inch and we're gonna back stitch. Like you normally would.

We're just gonna stitch down the side. And when you get to about two inches from the bottom, what you wanna do is you want to put your needle in the fabric. Lift your presser foot and go ahead and close that zipper. That way it moves the zipper pull out of the way, you don't have to deal with it and it'll give you a nice smooth line rather than trying to compensate around the zipper pull. So go ahead and continue to stitch all the way to that line that you marked at the bottom.

And when you get there, when you get close don't be afraid to use your hand wheel. You don't have to use your foot pedal all the way to the end. So, go ahead and put your needle into the fabric at that line and then pivot and stitch to that line. Again, it's very close, if you're more comfortable using your hand wheel use that or you can use your presser foot. Just a few stitches crossed and then go ahead and back stitch as soon as you hit that line.

and pull it up and clip your threads and we'll move on to the next side. Now on the other side, if you were to sew the right side face up, you no longer have a seam guide on your throat plate to use, it's gonna be on this side. So you can put it in, no seam guide. So what I like to do is flip it over and sew it wrong side up but again, when you get towards the bottom, you're gonna have that two inches that you close it and you will no longer be able to see the seam guide again. So if you wanna mark on your zipper that bottom two inches, it'll just give you a good guide, so you have a nice straight line.

So I'm gonna go ahead and line that up, draw my line. And now that we have our first row stitching, we'll line that up with our ruler, again, just to make sure we have a nice straight line going across. So we're gonna open that zipper back up and go ahead and stitch again at a quarter of an inch. Back stitching at the beginning and end. Again about two inches needle in the fabric, take that zipper pull, close that zipper, move it out of the way.

It gets a little tricky but you can work it through. It should be out of the way, so we should be fine. Again, as you get close to the bottom, use your hand whee, pivot, go ahead and close that and this should overlap with our first drove stitching. Back stitch at the end, pull it out, clip your threads. What you wanna do to finish this is you want to clip all your threads really close to the right side of the garment.

And then, flip it over and give the wrong side a little tug. It pulls those ends back to the wrong side and it cleans it up and close it up and we have our slot zipper.