Make a pattern and sew a hooded vest

Step 11 Inserting the Zipper the Quick and Dirty Way

A lot of people worry about setting a zipper, but I promise you, it is super easy.

Now that you have your pressed fold along the front edge of your garment, you will simply pin the tape of the zipper into that fold, so that when you sew the garment closed you will sew the zipper in place at the same time.

Start pinning everything together at the bottom edge. The bottom of the garment is half an inch up from the raw edge of the garment (unless you are adding a bottom band). As you are pinning, the teeth of the zipper should stick out and the zipper pull should move freely. From here you will continue to make a zipper sandwich, outer fabric, zipper, inner fabric. Continue pinning everything together until you reach the center of your hood. Your zipper should stop where the hood attaches to the front of the garment.

If your zipper is too long, you'll need to cut it off where it is appropriate. If you are using a metal zipper, you'll want to carefully pry the zipper stop off and reinsert it at the new top of your zipper (just cut between the teeth). If you are using a plastic zipper, you can either melt the top two teeth together, or do it the "proper" way. You'll want to remove about an inch of teeth (try to cut as little of the tape away as possible) the when you are pinning the seam shut, curve the zipper tape away from the teeth and into the seam. You'll need to purchase zipper stops if you want to keep the zipper pull from running off though.

Now go back to the bottom of your garment and pin the other side together in the same way you just did. I usually leave the zipper closed to start, so that I can make sure everything is lining up. Once you have your zipper started on the second side, you can open it to make your pinning easier. The raw edges at the bottom and the seams where the hood attaches should match across the zipper. Continue pinning up the garment until you meet your previous row of pins.

Now sew everything down. If you have a zipper foot for your machine, feel free to use it. I usually just use my regular foot, move the needle as far in (to the right) as it will go and start there. Begin at the bottom of your garment, sew all the way up, along the hood, and down the other side. Be careful that you are not pulling or stretching your fabric as you sew, this will result in a wavy zipper.

Lastly, I move the needle as far out (to the left) and sew the whole long stretch again to keep the seam lines consistent with what I did earlier.