Question About Sewing Zippers

[barbiesdude]

Just sewed my first set of zippers in for a buddie's old chaps. Turned out ok but at the ends where there is 1/2" of hard coating, it didn't seem to pull my thread loop up into the hole on the bottom side. Using a 23 needle w/138 thread on a cowboy 4500. Once past the hard spot on the zipper it was fine. Any ideas or suggestions?

[Ferg]

I don't understand what you mean by the "Hard Spot".

Are you referring to the actual teeth of the zipper?

If you are using a nylon zipper the machine will normally sew through it with little difficulty but the knots may not look exactly the same on the bottom as you sew through the nylon. If you are using a brass or aluminum zipper I would suggest you remove the teeth from the ends for about 1/2". There are several methods for sewing the ends of zippers.

ferg

[barbiesdude]

I don't understand what you mean by the "Hard Spot".

Are you referring to the actual teeth of the zipper?

If you are using a nylon zipper the machine will normally sew through it with little difficulty but the knots may not look exactly the same on the bottom as you sew through the nylon. If you are using a brass or aluminum zipper I would suggest you remove the teeth from the ends for about 1/2". There are several methods for sewing the ends of zippers.

ferg

Not the teeth, but the nylon at the ends, the first 1/2" has a shiny coating which makes it harder than the rest. Where can I find these methods for sewing zippers. Thanks

[Ferg]

Google "Sewing zippers in Leather"

Also: "Sewing with Zippers"

BTW: I am sitting here looking at a commercially available zipper and the only thing I see as hard may be the 1/2" ends with no zipper teeth. That should be no trouble at all.

If you want a nice clean end on the zipper ends, I hate the metal stops and ends, Cut a piece of very thin leather twice the length of the end of the zipper beyond the last teeth and exactly as wide as the zipper cloth. Lightly glue the thin leather onto the fabric at the end, turn it under gluing that side also. Now sew through the thin leather as close to the last tooth as possible crossways. The zipper slide will not go beyond that point. Do this on both ends of the zipper.

You can use most any kind of lining leather that is only about 1oz - 2oz in thickness.

ferg

[barbiesdude]

"BTW: I am sitting here looking at a commercially available zipper and the only thing I see as hard may be the 1/2" ends with no zipper teeth. That should be no trouble at all."

Yep, thats the spot. I was thinking maybe my top tension wasn't high enough to pull the loop up into the fabric/leather, or my bottom tension was to tight?

[Wizcrafts]

You are referring to a separating zipper. They have hardened nylon or plastic tabs at the bottom of each side. This plastic tab gets sewn into the layers of the jacket. If the knots aren't penetrating, try moving up one needle size. Or, reduce the bobbin tension, or increase the top tension. People with modern patchers can simply rotate the thickness assist nut inward to get the thread to pull up higher (Dick-Dorf on Adlers)

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

Just a little tip. On chaps, because of the stress in the beginning and end of a zipper run, I always put a #10 rivet through that hard piece of the zipper. Just a little something that gives good service. I started doing it on excersize riders chaps at the track because of the extreme wear they get out there. A lot of those riders ride with their stirrup leathers drawn up so tight they look like they are racing! Here are pics of one, he doesn't ride as high as most.

Bob

[oltoot]

Sorta likewise, as a protector against stress, I sew a leather strip over the zipper so it's between 2 pieces of leather and have no problems. Singer 211G machine, 23 needle, 138 thread. I trim the strip right next to the seam with a french edger after sewing. Thus the plastic end is between 2 pieces of leather and I never have any issues.