Hand sewing a zipper

[Butch]

I'm in the process of hand sewing a zipper into a Bible Cover that I made for my mom. I sewed in the first side of the zipper and it came out ok; however, when I sewed in the second half and got to the end the lengths weren't even and half that I sewed in second was all bunched up. Does anybody have any suggestions on keeping the zipper straight and even while sewing it on?

Thanks,

Butch

[bruce johnson]

Butch,

I make my zippers to length, and keep them closed while I am fitting them and glueing into place. I also hold them in place with office supply binder clips for fitting and sewing. Some guys use double sided tape instead of glue. I haven't and can only share how I glue them. I use a thin bead of Barge on the cloth part of the zipper tape. I smear it out to the edge, and then heat it with a paint stripping gun to set it. It mostly seems to melt into the cloth. I add another bead and hit it with the heat again. This tends to sit on the surface and gives me the bond I need. Set it on the gusset or piece and sew away. When I just used one glue application, sometimes it would work loose as I was sewing. Two is better.

Standard warning - respirate and ventilate, especially when you are throwing some heat to the glue. Keep a fire extinguisher nearby. I have never lit one up this way (kiss of death now saying that). Most all shoe guys heat it, and they don't seem to be burning up at alarming rates. Open flames will set it off though. I burned a thread tag end with a candle about an hour after sewing one in once. It popped and flamed the length of the gusset, zipper tape lit off, and make a spectacular little fire there. Right after that was when I replaced the crappy little shop kitchen-type extinguishers with a real one in the shop.

[Kevin]

Generally, if I'm not working on something that's flat, I like to staple the zipper in. That way I can even try the zipper before sewing. Then just pull the staples as you go, no muss, no fuss.

I've never used the double sided tape, but I have had to replace zippers on chaps where it was used. The adhesive doesn't seem to dry, but only gets gooey with age.

A guy in the shop stuck his arm and lighter in an English boot to burn a thread and shot the boot across the room.

My ex-wife built a potato gun out of PVC, somehow managed to look down the barrel and strike the sparker. The glue hadn't cured yet and burned her eyelashes off. I don't remember the story she told me, but it took a few days for the truth to come out.

Good luck, Kevin

[Butch]

Thanks guys. I now have the information that I need to get it done. I was definately poking in the dark before.

Thanks again,

Butch

[Timbo]

My ex-wife built a potato gun out of PVC, somehow managed to look down the barrel and strike the sparker. The glue hadn't cured yet and burned her eyelashes off. I don't remember the story she told me, but it took a few days for the truth to come out.

Good luck, Kevin

..........LMAO 'cause I had a similar experience with a potato gun........'cept it left me with half a moustache!!! (wife finally made me cut the other side off too...after a day)

Timbo