Zipper Tutorial

I ran across a great video tutorial this morning at Wendi Gratz's Happy, Shiny, World Blog that shows how to sew an exposed zipper.

The technique she uses in the video is the exact same as the one I use to make the outer pocket on my Kindle covers. When I first started making them I didn't add a lining but as I got faster at putting them together I thought it would be a nice addition. I use zippers with nylon teeth and it's hard to 'feel' the edge when the zipper is sandwiched in between two pieces of fabric. So instead of doing it the way Wendi describes, I use two steps, first sewing the zipper to the outer fabric and adding the lining in a second step.

I leave more tape showing than the video shows by sewing on the opposite side of the zipper foot from the teeth. Since I use coordinating colored zippers, I think it looks nice to have most of the tape showing. And I don't add the top stitch either as I think it distracts from the overall look.

Overall, the video is a fantastic tutorial. Click here to see Wendi's Video Zipper Tutorial.