I am in the process of sewing a zipper with a fly into a pair of pants that I copied for DH and would like to know if anyone would want to share their favorite way of doing this. I have made several of these pants, but was wondering if there might be a better, faster or simpler way. Does anyone want to contribute?
Beth,
I know this is an old message. But I just saw it. What does that say about me??? lol You probably already finished the pants a week ago. So save this for the next pair. ;)
My quicker simpler for fly zippers is the same as all other zippers. Washaway Wonder Tape. Nancy's carries it, so does Hancock's. It's 1/4" wide water soluable, double sided basting tape. For a fly, it's really handy for the side with the underlap. What I do is put a strip of the tape on the right sides of the zipper tape, and on the underlap. Then I position the zipper, remove the paper backing and stick the zipper to the pant front. Then I remove the paper from the tape on the underlap, and stick that to the wrong side of the zipper tape. That allows me to sew them in one pass with no slippage. I also use it on the other side of the zipper to hold it to the pants.
The great thing about this stuff is it allows you to skip basting in the zipper. Then you don't have to stitch the zipper twice, and you don't have to sit there and pick out the basting stitches. (I always manage to cross my shorter stitches over at least half the basting stitches, thus locking the basting stitches in there for life. :( ) The tape won't gum your needle up either. There are other tapes I've seen on the shelves, but this is the only one that says it won't gum up the needle. I know it won't, and I'm not willing to risk it with any of the others.
HTH
Sharon
InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.