How To Sew In A Jolly, Open-Ended Zip In A Wrap Robe - hand Sewn - No Sewing Machine Needed, dress 615

 

Buy an open ended zip the right colour to match or co-ordinate or contrast with your towelling wrap or dress.

find the fixed point at the top or bottom of the area you need to join with the zip.

Mark the top and bottom on both sides with safety pins or pins.

Undo the zip.

Cut thread as long as the zip, with some over. If that is too unweildy or the cotton in lumpy and likely to snag, use a shorter length. If the zip is short, to avoid re-threading and loose ends, cut thread longer than the zip.

Sew down one side. Make sure the teeth are in the middle to meet the other half of the zip.

Check the colour and size of stitches on both sides. I try to hide the stitches on the top/outside. Hide by using matching colour thread. Make the smallest stitches on the top or visible side.

Oversew the start and end. You ight oversew at intervals. That way if you catch the thread or break it,you don't lose the entire line of thread in a long ladder. However, you don't want the stitching so tight that the zip puckers. Leaving the thread with large stitches and long lines means you can flatter out the fabric and pull the thread tighter or looser.

When you finish one side, sew the other side, checking the bottom and top and where the hem of the garment is so both sides are the same height off the ground, and the top covers enough of your chest area. 

Again, check that the two sides of the zip match up, with matching teeth, by zipping up the zip and checking the top and end before starting to sew.

You might find that the edges of the zip are too thick to be pierced by the tip of the needle. If so you will have to adjust your entire line of stitching, or just the part at the top and aend of the zip. You might want to oversew to hold the end of the zip in place, if it can be done neatly.

In theory, you are supposed to fold back the fabric beyond the ends of the zip. Alternatively, leave the fabric ends visible to close a gap. 

In theory, you could add a button or Velcro or other closure beyond the top and end of the zip if the zip is not long enough.

If you need another zip, such as one to secure a pocket, or two pockets, preferably choose the same colour and style. You might want to choose a smaller teeth for a small pocket, which looks less clumsy. Consider visual appeal, practicality, and cost.

 Sewing in a pink zip into a towelling bathrobe. Dress 615. Selfie photo by Angela Lansbury.

 Sewing in a pink zip into a towelling bathrobe. Dress 615. Selfie photo by Angela Lansbury.

Angela Lansbury selfie, showing pink wrap robe with long pink zip sewn in by hand. Copyright. 

I took this in the bathroom, balancing the mobile phone on the ledge in front of the washbasin, using the basin as support. I set the timer on the phone to ten seconds to position myself so that the hanging items were mostly hidden.

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See post 610.