How to Sew on an Invisible Zipper
Do you have a lined vintage dress with a broken zipper? Or maybe you’ve made a lined garment but don’t know how to add the zipper so it looks good.
In this tutorial I’m going to show you how to sew on an invisible zipper in a lined or unlined dress or skirt. Follow along and let’s get sewing!
Tools and materials:
- Invisible zipper
- Scissors
- Pins
- Invisible zipper foot
- All-purpose zipper foot
- Sewing machine
1. Prepare the dress
Don’t attach the lining to the seams where you’re putting the zipper.
Move the lining out of the way so you don’t catch it by accident when you’re sewing the zipper.
Make sure the outer fabric seam is lying flat.
2. Attach the zipper to the first side
Open the zipper.
Place the right side of one side of the zipper to the right side of the fabric.
Align the top edge of the zipper tape to the top edge of the seam and the long edge of the tape to the raw edge of the seam.
Pin the zipper in place first if you prefer.
Attach the invisible zipper foot to your machine.
Line up the fabric on your machine so that the zipper teeth fit in the groove in the zipper foot and the needle is as close to the teeth as you can get it.
Roll the teeth away from the needle as you sew down one side of the zipper.
Sew as far down the tape as you can and backstitch to secure the stitches.
Close the zipper and check your stitching is close enough to the teeth.
3. Sew the second side
Unzip the zipper again and place it right side down on to the right side of the dress on the other side.
Make sure the zipper isn’t twisted.
The teeth should be facing towards the inside of the garment and the top edge of the tape aligned with the top of the seam as before.
Sew the zipper close to the teeth as you did for the first side.
4. Close the seam
Attach your all-purpose zipper foot to your sewing machine.
Close the zipper and turn the dress inside out.
Working from the inside with the right sides together, sew the seam from the zipper downwards.
Leave the ends of the zipper tape free and start sewing just before the end of the previous stitches in the same stitchline.
Sew the tails of the zipper tape to the seam allowance on each side.
5. Attach the top edge of the lining
Turn your dress inside out and open the zipper.
Place the lining over the zipper.
Continuing the seam at the top edge of the lining, sew the lining over the zipper.
Repeat on the other side and check that the top edges align on each side.
6. Understitch the seam
Push all the seam allowance towards the lining.
Stitch through the lining and seam allowance 1/8th of an inch from the edge of the lining, as far around the neckline as you can.
Repeat on the other side.
7. Sew the side edge of the lining
Turn the side edge of the lining down over the zipper tape.
Make sure you’re folding it at the original seam line and not at the understitching.
Sew the lining to the zipper and the dress fabric, along the center of the zipper tape.
Sew the second side of the lining in the same way.
Turn the dress right side out.
Flip the lining right side out and push out the top of the zipper.
How to sew on an invisible zipper
This method for how to sew a zipper on a dress gives you a beautifully neat and professional-looking finish both inside and outside the garment.
You can use exactly the same technique to put an invisible zipper in the side seam of a dress or skirt.
Wasn’t that easy? And I bet it was something you’d been dreading before! If you have any questions at all, please let me know in the comments.
And I’d love to hear how you get on sewing in your invisible zipper.
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