How to Install a zipper!

I remember learning to sew and thinking that zippers were so Daunting, I was very concerned about putting one in and tried to avoid it like the plague.  But eventually, I put one in, and you know what? It's pretty easy!

Start by pinning the zipper onto your fabric, right sides together. Like this:

Using your zipper foot, sew down with a straight stitch very close to the actual zipper.

Fold the zipper under, and top stitch into place. I stitch about a 1/4 away from the fabric edge.

Stitching the other side down can get tricky, but with some maneuvering isn't too bad. I opened the zipper here, but you could leave it closed. Again, stitch close to the zipper.

Turn the zipper out, top stitch again, and you're done. Now open and close the zipper a few times and congratulate yourself! 

Viola! Finished!

Easy Alterations

Do you have pants that won't fit? OR a Husband who buys pants a size too big because he KNOWS you can fix them? How about little kidlets who don't fit into the extra large 'small' sizes sold in stores? (Can you tell this is a problem in my house?)

Be cheered, there is a quick fix.

First, Have your Husband (in my case...) put the pants on inside out. Pin little darts in the waistband, by little I mean no more than 1/2 inch.  Pin. (Stitch along the dotted lines.)

Repeat at various places throughout the waist band.  Turn right side out.

And then Congratulate yourself for saving that pair of pants, or hiding the diaper on your little one!

STRIPES!!!!

Now, lets practice on material.  Sewing stripes is not only great practice, but it gives you the option to create your own look.  I started with two pieces of fabric, 1/8 yard each. I used black and gold. Line them up and use your rotary cutter to cut strips.

One of the things I hate when sewing is all those long ends of thread.  So this is a handy trick when sewing straight lines.  This is just a folded piece of extra fabric that I sew through at the end of a line. Here it is at the start position.

Feed two strips through with right sides together.

And Immediately, with no break, feed your next set through. End with a second folded scrap.

Continue sewing strips together, alternating colors.

Backside, Iron down the seams into the darker color.  I ironed the seams in different directions so none would show through the gold.

Front side:

For these stripes, I cut a cute baby sized tie on the diagonal. It looked great sewn onto a onesie!