ABOUT ME

I am Angela and I love to sew. I started sewing as a child and by the time I was a teenager I was wearing the very latest fashions to go out in. All me-made. I am passionate about reducing the amount of textiles sent to landfill, and encourage you to repurpose fabrics and clothes I started this blog in order to have a way in which to pass on my gained knowledge, and my professional knowledge to you, Sewing is empowering, you can save money by making items, make money by selling then, You can pass your knowledge on to others. What is there not to love? Interestingly I am a direct descendant of the Flemish weavers who came over to England in the 1300's. I find that fascinating especially as most of my family from as far back as I can trace are somehow involved in the manufacturing of fabric . . I have a degree in tailoring with a special interest in WW2 fashion.

Saturday 9 July 2022

Lapped Zipper Insertion. A tutorial

 

Most garment need a  closure of some sort. This is my favourite 

The lapped zipper Tutorial 

There are three basic  ways of inserting a zipper - lapped, centered and invisible.  I am going to show you how I insert a lapped zipper which is my preferred choice.





There are many different ways of sewing a lapped zipper, over the years I have found a method which works and is easy to sew and I want to share it with you.





You need an ordinary closed end zip, all colours and sizes are stocked by Jaycotts.co.uk  Zippers so do look . 

Why choose a lapped zipper? I find it to be incredibly neat, professional looking , and it is easy to sew. As you know I trained as a Tailor and this was the preferred zip application even then, except it was faced and stitched entirely by hand. Whether you sew it by hand or machine your zipper will be totally hidden and you will only see one row of stitching.



It is also very comfortable for a side zipper which can otherwise irritate the skin on the inside of your upper arm.



You will need to start the process at cutting out stage. Check the length of your zip against the pattern to make sure it is the right length, it needs to extend a little beyond the top of the fabric.



Cut the seam allowance where the zip will go to exactly one inch , then cut the fabric out. This is the back of a dress.



Stitch the centre back seam up to the zip extention, securing your stitches firmly at the top. Then press the centre back seam open.





Working on the LEFT side press the seam allowance under by exactly one inch .This will become the underlap.  






Then on  the RIGHT side press the seam allowance under by 3/4" this will form the overlap 


Place the  closed zipper underneath the underlay,  right side up. Then zipper teeth should be at the very edge of the underlay crease. Pin it in place and using a normal zipper foot stitch directly next to the left of the zipper teeth


This will all make sense when you try it I promise..


Place your overlay carefully on top of the zip and underlay. This is where I like to use masking tape to hold everything in place. I put it so that I can easily topstitch the right  side and  bottom of the zipper this simple little trick really does make a huge difference to the ease of application , and the appearance





The zipper is now in place and on the wrong side all you can see are two lines of stitching 


The right side is beautiful in my opinion , there is no sight of the zip which is neatly covered. 






Later on in your garment  construction you can deal with the top of the zipper by trumming it to size and bar stitching the top. I would do this at the facing  stage




This dress is on my blog Organic Cotton Dress
Do click on the link and read the post,, it is a stunning dress. The fabrics are from 


Do have a practice at inserting a lapped zipper, it's fabulous on a pair of trousers ,

                        Angela
             Sewangelicthreads 
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