Tutorial: How to Install an Invisible Zipper

In today's post I'll be detailing how to install an invisible zipper. The new pattern release The Betsy pencil skirt has two variations ( View A & View C)  that call for an invisible zipper to be installed but this is also a great  skill to have in your sewing arsenal.  Don't worry about the bad rap that invisible zippers seem to have.  Sewing one in goes smoothly as long as you do a little preparation beforehand.

The tools you'll need are, an invisible zipper that matches your fabric, zipper foot and/or invisible zipper foot, fusible interfacing, pins and matching thread.  If you do not own an invisible zipper foot don't worry. I'll be showing you how to get similar results with your regular zipper foot.

Before starting, make sure the seam edges being attached to the zipper have been finished.  If you are installing the zipper on a garment with a waist band, grade any seams that the zipper crosses and then press seam allowances up into the waistband.

You can install zippers with the CB sewn or with it left unsewn. Chose which ever technique is easier for you.

Step 1 - Fuse strips of interfacing to the wrong side of the garment where the zipper will be inserted. The fusible web will keep the fabric from stretching out of shape while you are sewing. Hand cutting 1/2" strips will does the job well.  You can also buy a roll of pre-cut interfacing for tasks such as this.

Step 2 - We will be basting the zipper into position first. Place the closed zipper face down on the right side of the fabric. Check that the zipper is positioned at the correct seam allowance. Then pin into place. Tip - Butting the zipper tape up to the overlocked edge usually gives a perfect 5/8" seam allowance.

Step 3 - Install a regular zipper foot on your machine and set your machine to a basting stitch. Baste down the pinned side of the zipper tape.

Step 4 - Turn the garment inside out to prepare for sewing the other side of the zipper. Again, place the zipper face down on the right side of the fabric. Measure the correct seam allowance and pin into place. If a seam needs to be matched, then run a line of basting only over the seam area.

  Check to make sure the two sides of the seam match.

If they don't unpick and repeat until they do. Once the seam join is to your liking, baste the entire side of the zipper tape.

Step 5 - Turn the garment right side out to check the zipper placement.  Seam joins should be aligned. If the CB seam is sewn, there should be no puckering at the base of the zipper.

Don't worry about all the zipper tape that can be seen at this step. The final seams will be close to the zipper making it "invisible."

Step 6 - Now that the zipper has been basted into position we will go back and sew it down.  Set your stitch length back to the 2.5 or the length you normally use. If you have an invisible zipper foot now is the time to install it on your machine. If using a regular zipper foot, than move your needle position over to the side the zipper tape will be on. (Needle position is the top bar. The normal position is 3, I've moved to to the left too.)

Open the zipper and position one side of the zipper tape under your presser foot. If you have an invisible zipper foot, put the coil of the zipper into the foot's grove.  Sew down the length of the zipper until you reach the zipper head. Back stitch well.

If you're using a regular zipper foot, use your finger to roll the tape open so that the needle will fall near the fold.  Sew down the length of the zipper, rolling the zipper coil open as you go. Stop when you near the zipper head and back stitch well.

Step 7 - Repeat the process on the other side of the zipper tape.

Step 8 - Zip up the zipper. If you were using an invisible zipper foot, than change back to a regular zipper foot. This is the time to sew the CB seam if it has not already been sewn.  Pin the CB seam together, sandwiching the zipper tape between the two seam allowances. Pull the ends of the zipper tape out of the way so that they don't get caught in the seam.

Stitch the CB seam up to the base of the zipper as far as the zipper foot allows you. If there is still a slight gap don't worry about it. You can always do a little hand sewing in that gap, rather than ripping your stitches and hair out.

Step 9 - Go back to the ends of the zipper tape and stitch them down to the seam allowances. Keep the zipper foot as close as possible to the coil since this area did not get stitched because the zipper head was there.

Step 10 - Turn the garment right side out and give it a good press. You should see no zipper tape sticking out of the seam.

There will be a slight gap at the base of the zipper if you pull the seam apart.

This is because the zipper head keeping the needle from getting close to the coil. The gap can be fixed with a few hand stitches if it irks you. If not just press the fabric well and the creases from the seam should disguise the area.

Step 11- Remove the basting stitches from the zipper tape to finish. Now you can attach any facings that may be needed.

Bonus Tip - Invisible zipper pulls can be painted with nail polish if you have trouble finding one that matches your fabric.

Happy sewing!

Heather

The Winifred sew-along #6 - Front tuck darts centre dress front & shoulder seams

Morning all you fine sew-alonger's! Today's blog post we will be stitching up our front tuck darts, the dress center front seam, shoulder seams and also the collar.

If you're just joining us or  need a refresher below are all the previous Winifred sew-along blog posts:

•   #1 - Getting started
•  #2 - How to complete a FBA & SBA
•  #3 - Collar, neckline and sleeve adjustments
• #4 - Sewing time!
• #5 -How to add smocking

So let's get started!

FRONT TUCK DARTS

1. On the wrong side of the fabric, create both the tuck darts on the dress (1) by folding the fabric together along the marked lines. Pin in place.
2. Stitch along these marked lines from top top bottom of the dart.

 3. Press the darts flat to form a slight box pleat effect on the inside of the dress and also lightly press them on the right side of the dress.

* Apologies for the crinkles, i actually wore this Winifred to work all day :)


STITCH DRESS FRONT 

1. Right sides together stitch the front center seam of the dress together from the small dot at the neckline to the lower hem edge of the dress.
2. Right sides together stitch the center back seam of the collar together. Trim the collar seam and press open.
 

Clip the seams at the neckline. Finish seams and press the seam open

 

SHOULDER SEAMS
  1. Right sides together stitch the front and back of the dress together at the shoulder seams up to the collar only. Don't stitch the collar to the back neckline of the dress as yet.

2. Clip the seam close to the collar.

DRESS COLLAR

1. From the inside of the dress ease the neck edge of the collar into the back neck edge of the dress and pin in place. If you have completed Heather's post on adjusting the neckline and collar you can miss the easing into the neck edge part of this step and just pin the collar to the back neck edge and then continue with the upcoming steps.

2. Stitch the neck edge of the collar into the back neck edge of the dress.

3. Clip seams along the neckline.

4. Finish the shoulders seams and neckline seam and press them open. 

 5. Grab your two collar facing pieces (3) and stitch them together at the center back seam. Trim this seam and press open.

6. Place the dress collar and collar facing right sides together. Line up the collar edges, match the  notches and back center seams and pin in place.

7. Stitch the collars together, by stitching around the around edges all the way round. Start from the bottom edge of the collar and simply followthe shape of the collar as you stitch.

8. Clip the seams the entire way round this collar  seam and trim. Finish the raw outer edges of the facing as you desire. I use my over locker or just my pinking shears.

9. Turn the collar facing to the inside of the dress and give your new collar a  good press all over. 

10. Grab a needle and thread and on the inside of the dress tack the collar facing down to the front dress center seam and both of the shoulder seams. Tacking the collar facing will help keep your collar in place and stop it from turning to the outside of the dress.

   

 
Tomorrow's post we will assemble our belts, attach them and also hem our sleeves. 
Exciting times peoples, nearly at the finish line!

Happy Winifred sewing and weekend :)

Abby
x

The Winifred sew-along # 2 - Fitting Winifred & Bust Adjustments

Hello Sew-a-long participants, today's post is all about bust fitting adjustments.  I'm going to walk you through how to perform an FBA or an SBA alteration to the Winifred pattern.  These alterations add/subtract both length and width to the pattern. 

Some of you might find that you only need a length adjustment in the bodice area. Skip down to the bottom of the post where I'll be illustrating how to lengthen or shorten the torso area of the pattern. 

Before we start slicing up our pattern, let's talk about how to calculate your personal bust adjustment. My go to method for determining this is to do a little tissue fitting over a T-shirt. You might want to mark your CF on the T-shirt with a pin. I usually eyeball what seems to be the center point between my breasts.

- For a full bust adjustment, take your front bodice pattern piece and lay it on the front of your body.  You'll want to position the pattern so that the side seam is over top the T-shirt side seam.  Now look to see how far away the CF of the pattern is from your real CF. Measure this amount and record it as your Full bust adjustment. You will be adding this amount to the pattern.

- For a small bust adjustment the tissue fitting principle is the same except the CF of the pattern will over lap your natural center front. Measure the distance between the pattern CF and your CF and record it as your Small bust adjustment. You will be subtracting this amount from the pattern.

Now that you know how much you need to add or subtract to the pattern, let's get out our tools and start cutting.

-Items needed: A traced copy of the front bodice, extra paper, scissors, tape, ruler, flexible tape measure, pen/pencil. I strongly suggest using traced copies of the pattern because we will be cutting the pattern apart.

Full Bust Adjustment

1. When doing bust adjustments on dresses with one piece fronts, it's a lot easier to remove the skirt portion before starting.  Draw a horizontal line about an 1" below the bottom of the tuck dart.  Cut the pattern along this line and place the skirt portion over to the side.

2. We will also need to remove the kimono sleeve before the bust adjustment.  Draw a line by squaring straight up from the side seam.  Cut off the sleeve portion and place it to the side.

3. Mark your bust apex on the pattern.  I did this by laying the pattern piece up against my body. The apex point should be in line with the tip of the tuck dart.

4. Draw in your lines for the bust adjustment. Line A - Draw from the bust apex to the middle part of the sleeve area.  Line B - Draw from bust apex to right under where the kimono sleeve extends out. You can place your cut off sleeve next to the bodice to double check this.  Line C- Draw from bust apex, through the tip of the tuck dart, down to the bottom of the bodice.

5. Cut pattern from the bottom of Line C, up through Line A. Leave a paper "hinge" at the edge of Line A.

6. Cut line B from the outside edge almost to the bust apex. Stop cutting right before getting to the bust apex so there is also a paper "hinge" there.

7. Put some scrap paper behind the cut areas and tape one edge of Line C to the paper.  Measure out the extra bust width needed and draw a parallel line on the paper.  (In this example I will be doing a 1/2" bust adjustment.) Slowly pull the pattern out and down to the right so that the other cut edge of Line C touches the parallel line.  Make sure the rest of the pattern is as flat as possible and tape down all the cut edges.

8. Tape some scrap paper in the gap at the bottom edge.  Use the left side as a guide for the new bodice length and cut off any excess paper.

9. Pick up the kimono sleeve that was put aside and place it back on your pattern.  Line the piece up so that the shoulder edges and side seam edges match.  There will be a gap in the middle, fill that with some scrap paper.

10. Draw in your new side seam dart.

Fold it closed like you are sewing it and pin it in place.

Cut off the excess paper on the side seam to get the correct dart intake.

*If you have a very small side seam dart you "remove it" by taping it closed. This will not affect your fit if the dart is between 1/4" -1/3" wide. Larger darts must be sewn to keep the bodice fitting correctly.*

11. Next step is to redraw the tuck dart. Mark the center of the increase using the left side of the tuck dart as a guide for the height.

Mark the bottom of the dart leg on the right side using the left side as a placement guide.

Redraw the dart legs and check that they are the same length. Adjust the legs so they are the same length if necessary.

12. Time to reattach the skirt.  Align your skirt piece with the CF and tape to bodice.  You will have an overhang on the side seam edge due to the bust adjustment.

13. Add scrap paper to the entire side seam edge of the skirt.  Draw a new side seam using the edge of the bodice and the existing hem edge.  This will blend the additional width added down into the skirt.

Double check that the front side seam and back side seams match and adjust the length of one if they don't.  You're FBA adjustment is now done.

Small Bust Adjustment
1. When doing bust adjustments on dresses with one piece fronts, it's a lot easier to remove the skirt portion before starting.  Draw a horizontal line about an 1" below the bottom of the tuck dart.  Cut the pattern along this line and place the skirt portion over to the side.

2. We will also need to remove the kimono sleeve before the bust adjustment.  Draw a line by squaring straight up from the side seam.  Cut off the sleeve portion and also place it to the side.

3. Mark your bust apex on the pattern.  I did this by laying the pattern piece up against my body. The apex point should be in line with the tip of the tuck dart.

4. Draw in your lines for the bust adjustment. Line A - Draw from the bust apex to the middle part of the sleeve area.  Line B - Draw from bust apex to right under where the kimono sleeve extends out. You can place your cut off sleeve next to the bodice to double check this.  Line C- Draw from bust apex, through the tip of the tuck dart, down to the bottom of the bodice.

5. Cut pattern from the bottom of Line C, up through Line A. Leave a paper "hinge" at the edge of Line A.

6. Cut line B from the outside edge almost to the bust apex. Stop cutting right before getting to the bust apex so there is also a paper "hinge" there.

7. Before moving anything, mark your SBA adjustment on the right hand side of line C.  I'll be doing a 1/2" SBA adjustment for this example.

8. Move the left side of line C up and to the right.  You will be overlapping the pattern so that line C touches your SBA adjustment line. Make sure the pattern is as flat as possible and tape all the cut edges down.

9. The SBA has made the bodice area shorter so we must cut off the right side of the pattern that overhangs. Use the left hand side as a guide line and cut the excess off so that the bottom of the bodice is flat.

10. Pick up the kimono sleeve that was put aside and place it back on your pattern.  Line the piece up so that the shoulder edges and side seam edges match. The middle area will overlap the pattern and that's fine.  Tape the sleeve into place.

11. Next step is to redraw the tuck dart. Mark the center of the decrease using the left side of the tuck dart as a guide for the height.

Mark the bottom of the dart leg on the right side similarly.

Redraw the dart legs and check that they are the same length. Adjust the legs so they match if necessary.

12. Time to reattach the skirt.  Align your skirt piece with the CF and tape to bodice.  The width of the bodice will be smaller than the skirt due to the bust adjustment.

13. Draw a new side seam using the corner of the bodice and the existing hem edge.  This will blend the width decreased down into the skirt.

Double check that the front side seam and back side seams match and adjust the length of one if they don't.  You're SBA adjustment is now done.

If the bodice only needs the length, not width, adjusted then use these alterations instead of a FBA/SBA.

Lengthen the Bodice
1. On the front bodice draw in a horizontal line, perpendicular to the grain line, above the tuck dart. My line is drawn in about 1" above the dart.

2. Cut the pattern apart on this line.

3. Tape in paper to the pattern and measure out the additional length needed. I've added 1/2".  Trim off the excess paper at the sides.

4. Place the front bodice on top of the back bodice, matching the waist area notches.  Mark the location of the cut line on front in the same location on the back.

5. Repeat the same steps of cutting the pattern apart and adding more length to the back.

Shorten the Bodice
1. On the front bodice draw in a horizontal line, perpendicular to the grain line, above the tuck dart. My line is drawn in about 1" above the dart.

2. Measure out the amount of length that needs to be removed from the bodice and draw in a parallel line above the first.

3. Fold the pattern into a pleat so that the two lines meet each other.  Tape down.

4. Place the front bodice on top of the back bodice, matching the waist area notches.  Mark the location of the cut line on front in the same location on the back.

5. Repeat the same steps of folding the pattern and taping to adjust the back.

I hope this post  helps those of you who are completing any pattern adjustments on Winifred, but if you find you need a little more help you can check out on the Facebook sew-along group:

www.facebook.com/groups/bluegingerdollsewalongs

As well keep up with all the happenings of the sew-along.

Heather.