I recently did a poll on Leim's Instagram Stories, asking followers whether they agreed with my hunch that the zips are the reason most people would find approaching one of my jumpsuit sewing patterns daunting. 75% of those who answered said 'yes' so I thought it would be a good idea to create a visual guide (also known as... a video!) on how to add invisible zips. Or, to be more specific, how to add invisible zips to one of my jumpsuit sewing patterns.
While the way that you add the zips doesn't change,wirel because there are 2 of them on either side of the jumpsuit trousers, it can feel a little complicated. Much better to see it in action, I think.
So please follow the link below to watch the video. The transcript for the video is also below, with timestamps, for those who like to read along!
Hello. In this video, I'm going to show
you how to add the concealed zips into
one of my jumpsuits. You could also use
it any time that you want to add a
concealed zip into any garment, but this
video should be super helpful for those
who don't have that much experience
adding concealed zips into clothing. Um,
particularly as there are two on either
side of the jumpsuit. This video works
for any of my jumpsuits. They all work
the same way. It's just some of the
construction around the waistband um
changes depending on the style. So,
refer back to the instructions if you uh
are still a little stuck. Um equally,
I'm always here if you need help. Um I
hope it helps and good luck. Okay, let's
go. So, if you unzip your zip, you'll
notice that the teeth curl in slightly.
Uh we want to remove this curl so you
can get the stitches as close to the
teeth as possible. So go ahead and unzip
them and lie them upside down so that's
the inside of the zip is facing upwards.
Uh and press that curl flat. You want to
try and get as close to the zipper as
possible. Repeat for the other side of
the zip tape and the other zip. At the
top of your zip, you'll have this little
piece of plastic that stops the zipper
from coming off the zip. But you want
this plastic bit to be 10 mm or 1 cm
from the raw edge of the waist of your
trousers. I start by putting a pin
there. And then you can double check.
Honestly, I've put in so many of these
zips that I just know what 10
millimeters is in my sleep. So, then pin
all the way down until you're about 10
mm or 1 cm again from the bottom of the
zip or 30 cm if you're going to trim
your zip or you want a longer zip
length. It's totally up to you. I
designed it with a 30 cm drop because
that's uh the average toilet height so
it wouldn't touch the floor when you're
sat down. Then, we're going to repeat
this for the trouser backs. Notice that
I have the right side of the work facing
me, as in wrong or right. And I'm only
doing the zips on the right side of the
work for now, as in left and right. So,
I've zoomed in a bit here, so you can
see how the zip is lying against the
fabric. It's upside down, so the right
side of the work or jumpsuit is facing
you, and the zip is right side down, so
the wrong side of the zip is facing you.
And the TE's of the zip are facing away
from the raar edge of the trouser legs.
Here's a nice closeup. You can see all
the pins all the way down the length of
the zip. There's lots of pins. Uh I
recommend putting as many pins as you
can if you've not done many concealed
zips. So now we're going to go over to
our sewing machine. Uh so change to your
invisible zipper foot. Um and then we're
going to put it on the left hand side
first because the teeth of the zip will
be on the left side. Put the foot down
and move your needle as close to the
teeth as you feel comfortable with. I
like to drop the needle into the fabric
manually at first to check that I'm as
close as I can be. Uh, okay. Deep
breath. Let's go. Okay. So, a little pep
talk while we're sewing. Um, the further
the teeth are from your stitches, the
more of the zip tape is going to show.
So, you want to have as little of the
zip tape is showing as possible really.
But I want you to know that I have put
in hundreds, and I mean hundreds of
zips, and it took me a really long time
to get as close as I can do now. So,
that's like lots of unsuccessful sewing.
unpicking and trying again. Lots of
wiggly lines of stitching that were
really ugly. So, you kind of have to
trust the process. Appreciate that
you're learning something new and that
it'll take time for you to get there.
You're doing great. So, when you get
down to the bottom, you want to go back
and forth for a few stitches to seal the
end and then trim all the loose threads.
So, now we're going to repeat for the
trouser fronts. Um, I've sped up the
video here cuz I don't really think you
need to watch me sew so so slowly. Um,
but you'll need to go carefully around
the pockets on these pieces. Make sure
that your stitches are catching the
bobbin thread. You might want to do a
few stitches back and forth where the
pocket joins the zip. Uh, only because
this can be quite fragile and can take
quite a lot of wear. Uh particularly if
you're using something light or floaty
or a knit, I would highly recommend
doing that.
Okay, so that's both right as in left
and right sides done of the zips. So lay
both pieces of the trousers down on your
table and the lie the zips flat.
This is maybe the trickiest bit to get
right. Uh, but once you've done it once,
you'll be able to see when it's wrong.
Um, so lie the zips flat so that
everything's lying the same way. And
then you're going to want to twist the
tape counterclockwise, so anticlockwise
for Brits. Twist it once, twist it
twice, and then pin it down as before.
If you only twist it once, the teeth of
the zip are going to be lying in the
wrong direction. They're going to be
against the edge, and that's not what we
want. So, this is the most confusing
bit. You want the zip tape to lie with
the teeth away from the raw edge of the
jumpsuit. So, it can help to close the
zips, which I'll show you in a minute,
so bear with. And then you want to pin
all the way down the zip as you can see
when we get to the bottom that the zip
essentially looks like it's inside out.
Okay. You can see from this quite blurry
video, sorry, that the presser foot is
now on the other side. It's on the right
clip. That's because the teeth of the
zip are now on the right hand side. You
also don't have to sew it this way
around, by the way. You can do the left
sides first if you prefer. Uh I'm
actually not sure if it's habit or I
just um am right-handed, so I find it
easier to do it that way. Um who knows?
Again, you're going to want to move your
needle around so that you can get as
close to the teeth as possible. And you
can see here that my needle got stuck in
one of my pins. Look at the state of
that. Okay, so now you've done with one
side of the zip. At this stage, I check
that I've done it correctly. Um, I've
had to unpin a lot of zips here. You
turn the zip pull so that it's facing
outwards uh or onto the right side of
the fabric. And then you do the zip up.
You can check you're happy with your
stitching here on the right side of your
work.
If you could hear the original audio of
this clip, you'd hear me saying like,
"Oh my god, yes." to my partner about
the pattern matching.
Okay. So, if you're happy with
everything, we're going to close off the
end of this zip. So, pull the tape away
slightly. And then you're going to want
to put a pin where the stitches are at
the bottom of the zip. And then I'm just
checking the pattern matching here
really. Uh but you can then pin a little
way down because we're not going to sew
the whole of that seam in one go.
We're just going to close off the end of
the zip.
Um, and then we'll finish the trouser
seam later, but put a pin in this for
now. We're going to come back to it in a
bit.
Okay, we're going to finish off the zips
now. So, we're going to do the right
side as worn. So, you can see it's on
the left hand side here. And as I said
earlier, I'm going to do up the zip to
show you that way. So, do up the zip.
And then, as you can see, it's so much
easier. You can pin it directly.
So once again, I've left a 10 mm or 1 cm
uh seam allowance at the top. Uh and
then I'm going to pin all the way down
and then take it over to the machine and
sew. Of course, you keep the presser
foot on the same side as previously
because you've already moved it over. Uh
again, be careful around the pockets. Uh
and keep on going down to the bottom.
Okay, so we're going to close off the
end of the zips now. So you've got the
wrong side of the work facing you.
You're going to move the zip out of the
way slightly with your right hand and
then take the trousers in your left
hand. Put a pin in there as close to the
stitches as pos. In this clip, you can
see the pin on the furthest left that so
the top the pin as if it was worn is
where the line of stitching stops and
there's a couple of pins below this. So
we're going to start sewing as close to
the end of that line of stitches as we
can. So, if you drop your foot as close
to the zip as you can and then lower the
needle, you may need to move the needle
around a bit to get closer. You want the
new line of stitches to sit as close to
the outside of the existing row of
stitches as you can. So, you go back and
forth a little bit. These stitches will
take some wear, so you want to try and
stabilize them as well as possible. And
then sew down towards a 10 mm seam
allowance. So the stitches that you're
putting in now will have more than 10 cm
seam allowance. So you're going you're
making that seam allowance smaller
basically.
So give everything a good press. This is
like the last time probably that you'll
be able to lie this flat. So you want to
make sure that everything is nice and
crisp.
Okay, we're so close. Um, finally, we're
going to add some stitches at the bottom
of the zip at a 90 degree angle to the
zip. This gives the fabric a little bit
of protection. Um, because those
stitches really take a beating sometimes
when you do up and undo the zip if
you're not like super careful, which you
know, you can't be that careful all the
time. At me for my pattern matching,
please. I did go back and repair it. And
then, so this is what the rest of the
trousers will look like when you're
finished.
Tada. I hope you found this video
useful. You can save it for the future
or send it to a friend if you think that
they might find it helpful, too. And
that's it.
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