OT Zipper help!

Not difficult but a bit "fiddly". If there is a bottom zipper stop, remove it, carefully (a small screwdriver helps.) Separate the teeth and start the pull at the bottom, trying to keep the ends fairly even as you feed them into the pull one at a time. It may take a couple of tries, but you can do it. Then, after you have the pull back on, make stops at top and bottom of the zipper. You may be able to replace the bottom stop, or just use a wide zigzag in place across the teeth. make it sturdy. Do the same at the top, with a smaller zigzag going over the edge of the teeth where you want the zipper to stop. I prefer to do both sides, but that is up to you. You can also buy metal replacement stop kits at some shops (Jo-Ann's used to have them... in two different sizes for dress/skirt zippers and for heavy duty ones.

After you have this problem once, you tend to be a bit more careful with zippers from then on.....

Pati, > I just installed a long polyester zipper in a green jumpsuit for one of t= he

Thanks, Pati. The zipper is defective- it has no metal stops at the top which is why it just pulled right on off. I think taking it out and starting over is easier than what you described. VBG But thanks for the info.

From now on I'm gonna check the zippers *before* sewing them in!

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

After you have this problem once, you tend to be a bit more careful with zippers from then on.....

Pati, > I just installed a long polyester zipper in a green jumpsuit for one of > the

I hate zippers. I would rather sew a zillion buttonholes by hand than mess with them. They are easy enough to put in, but they misbehave a LOT once they are secure. Doing costuming you are pretty much stuck though.

You pretty much have to just feed the zipper back into the slider. If you pin the zip down so that the sides are even you have a better chance of getting it right the first time.

Here is a page that may be of some service:

P.S. Putting it back on from the bottom is usually easier than trying to get it back on from the top.

NightMist

Lots of synthetic garment zippers don't have stops, at the top or the bottom. That is not a defective zipper, that is a zipper company cheaping out. They figure that zipper sizes are approximate and you are going to buy oversized and trim to fit. So why should they spend money on stops when you are just going to cut them off and throw them away anyway? Several overcast or buttonhole stitches in the spot where the stop would be on either side of the zipper, or if on the bottom right across both sides while the zipper is closed, will do the trick. You can buy stops for the zippers made for outdoor gear and such, I imagine that you can for garment zippers as well.

NightMist

I am fretting and moaning with you . . . and wondering if you would be much better off if you used a metal zipper of a reliable brand (assuming that there is such a thing). I don't recall ever seeing a poppy jump suit and don't have a clue to whether they are fitted tightly and will have to bear some bending and stretching. ?? Maybe you just buy a few yards of that tape with serious snaps on it and give the tape a dunk in Rit dye.

Polly (growling with you)

"Leslie& The Furbabies in MO." I just installed a long polyester zipper in a green jumpsuit for one of the

The poppy costume is just a Dolman sleeved one-piece jumpsuit in emerald greens- rather loosely fitted since I have noooo idea what the kids will wear underneath the costume. The fabric is the cheapest poly/cotton I could find. I'll make a neck circle thingy with stiff red/orange petals and black hoods (on their heads) for the poppy centers. The sleeves have a big 'swoop' on the undersides and a long point over their hands to make their arms look like leaves when arms are extended. These are just functional- not any works of art by any means! I'm just going to unsew that $#%$@ zipper and start over.

(SIGH!!!)

Leslie & The Furbabies in Exhausted, MO.

cant you just put some ties maybe with leafy shapes on the ends so it looks like more leaves hanging off their stem bodys? tell the kids to wear green t-shirts underneath so there wont be any weird colours showing when the space between the ties flops about. seems easier to me than another zipper. j.

"Leslie& The Furbabies in MO." wrote... The poppy costume is just a Dolman sleeved one-piece jumpsuit in emerald greens- rather loosely fitted since I have noooo idea what the kids will wear underneath the costume. The fabric is the cheapest poly/cotton I could find. I'll make a neck circle thingy with stiff red/orange petals and black hoods (on their heads) for the poppy centers. The sleeves have a big 'swoop' on the undersides and a long point over their hands to make their arms look like leaves when arms are extended. These are just functional- not any works of art by any means! I'm just going to unsew that $#%$@ zipper and start over.

(SIGH!!!)

Leslie & The Furbabies in Exhausted, MO.

L: When you get it back together, you can create a barrier by turning a 1/2" of tape back on itself and stitch that down. HTH. PAT