DIY: Replacing a zipper

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Does your favorite pair of pants have a broken zipper? Don’t throw them out just yet, because a zipper can be easily fixed. Carolyn Hill, manager of Hobby Lobby’s fabric department, 1801 W. 23rd St., explains three easy steps for fixing a zipper.

An example of pinning and basting.

Take out the old zipper. Use a seam ripper and some scissors to cut the threads holding the old zipper in place. Be careful not to rip the fabric. Once the zipper is out, you can use it to determine what size zipper you will need to replace it with. Hobby Lobby sells many different sizes and colors of zippers, ranging in price from $1 to $5.

Pin and baste. Put the top side of the zipper against the back side (inside) of the fabric. Pin the zipper in place. With a needle and thread, baste the zipper to the fabric. Basting requires you to make several stitches (going down through the fabric and zipper and back up the other side) along the length of the zipper. This will hold the zipper in place while you are sewing. Remove the pins once you’ve finished basting.

Stitch. Put the zipper foot on your sewing machine and sew each side of the zipper to the fabric. If you don’t have a sewing machine, Hill says you can stitch the zipper by hand, but it will probably not last for a long time.

Thread and needles for basting and sewing can also be found at Hobby Lobby. Thread is usually a couple dollars for 250 yards and needles come in assorted packages for $2 or less.

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