Shortening a Zipper Tip for You!
If you’re sewing at midnight and need a 7” zipper but all you have is a 20 inch zipper here’s a quick and easy way to make it shorter. The presser foot I use is an open embroidery foot. It has a large indentation on the sole and this gives room for the foot to sit on the coils more firmly than an all-purpose foot. It also has a wide opening in the front of the foot so that you can see exactly where your stitching. The stitch I use is the Universal Stitch, it has 3 little vertical straight stitches and then a horizontal stitch to the other side. Position the zipper under the foot with the coils in the center of the foot. Select the universal Stitch. You want the width of the Stitch to go just over the coils of the zipper because the feed dog of the machine is lowered the Stitch forms of bar tack and each time the needle sews the straight Stitch is it locks the bar tack so this will be a very secure stitch. Stitch across the coils about 6-8 times then clip the threads and then trim the zipper about 3/4 inches below the bar tack. It’s now the length you need and you can use it in your next project.
