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Summary: Tips for sewing on zippers. Learn how to make the seam allowance for sewing an invisible zipper with expert sewing tips in this free craft video clip.
Views: 1,811 | Tags: crafts, sew, clothing, thread, sewing, machine, needle, skills, zippers
About the Expert
Karen Weisman Karen Weisman graduated from Boston University with a degree in Hotel and Food Management. Since then, she has helped a national grocery store chain develop a... read more
Hi! I'm Karen for Expert Village. Now I'm going to show you how to mark your fabric seam allowance. There are 3 ways that you can mark the seam allowance on the fabric. This is going to be the line that you will line the zipper up on. You want to do it on the outside of the fabric, the right side of the fabric. You can measure. A 5/8 seam allowance is the normal seam allowance. You can measure and mark it with a little chalk like this. You want to mark it with something that's not permanent that will rub off when you're finished because it is on the right side of the fabric. Another way to mark your seam allowance is to machine based a 5/8 inch seam allowance like this. The footplate of your machine is usually marked with seam allowances. Just sew holding the edge along that 5/8 inch marker and based without knotting, and remove it. These threads will be taken out after the invisible zipper is sewn in. I've used red threads so that you can see it very clearly. The third way to mark your seam allowance is to take it back to the ironing board, measure your seam allowance, and press a crease where the seam allowance would be. Then you'll have a nice marking for your zipper.