How to Fix a Broken Zipper

by One CrafDIY Girl

3 Materials

15 Minutes

Easy

If you find the perfect piece of clothing at your thrift shop, but the zipper is broken, go ahead and buy it!

Then, come back to this technique to learn how to fix a broken zipper.

Just think about all the clothes you’ve left behind, or relegated to the back of your closet, that you can now buy or wear again!

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Tools and materials:

Old clothes with broken zippers
Scissors
Sewing needle and thread

Broken zipper

1. Buy it!

Don’t let the broken zipper dissuade you from buying those perfect vintage jeans.

Snipping zipper

2. Snip the zipper

Assuming the damaged zipper tooth is near the bottom, snip the zipper on the side without the zipper pull, just above the damaged tooth.

Repositioning zipper

3. Reposition the zipper

Reinsert the cut side of the zipper into the zipper pull.

Zipping up pants

Now, zip up your pants!

Sewing the flap

4. Sew the flap

Hand-stitch the bottom of the zipper flap closed to create a new zipper bottom.

How to fix a broken zipper

Now you can enjoy wearing your new thrift shop find!

Leave a comment to let me know if you tried this method for fixing a broken zipper, and what article of clothing you have rescued.

Next, check out these Taylor Swift-inspired DIY Floral Jeans.

Follow me on TikTok for more content ideas: @onecrafdiygirl

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Comments

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3 comments

Terri on Jul 30, 2023

What 👀 about the metal slide that's supposed to be at the bottom of that 🤔

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- See 1 previous
- Man102918400 on Aug 25, 2024
  
  Step 3 tells you to reinsert the "cut" end of the zipper into the metal slide.
  
  1
- Virginia Jones on Aug 27, 2024
  
  I think you're thinking about the little bar at the very bottom. That's the zipper stop but the zipper doesn't go down that far now. She started just above the cut and sewed down to keep the fly closed. I would also go inside the pants and sew several times across that zipper to make sure it dosen't come apart. That is your new zipper stop. Below that stitched stop isn't used anymore. Need to make sure you can get the Jean's on with a shorter zipper.
  
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