A New Sewing Skill

I have been sewing for a long time, and I hinted a couple of posts back about a new skill that I wanted to try. A reader guessed right... it's learning how to put in an invisible zipper (IZ). I don't know why I hadn't done it before, but I haven't made many adult garments since my daughter was born 22 years ago. Lots of kids clothes, quilts and curtains, but nothing for me.

So, I'm starting with Simplicity 2564, an easy skirt pattern that I chose because I love the straight line, the yoke and the back vent. Many people have zipper fear. Not me, but I just needed to learn a very easy technique. Of course, you can't follow the pattern instructions because with the IZ you don't sew the seam first. If you're a pattern follower and this makes you nervous, trust me, it will be ok.

I did have to remember to sew the back yoke pieces to the back skirt pieces. I didn't serge the yoke edges because they will be completely enclosed in the yoke facings.

Back skirt pieces ready for the zipper

Did you notice the zipper foot in the picture? I had purchased the IZ foot for my machine a while ago. So how did I learn the skill? First I watched the video on the Bernina USA website, and searched for tutorials, and there is no shortage. Honestly, the video was the most helpful. While many of the tutorials advise ironing the zipper teeth flat, with the Bernina foot, according the video you don't need to do that step, so I didn't.

 

 

Left side done, right side in action

 

Once you sew each side as far as you can, you're almost done. From there, you pin the back seam from the end of the zipper sewing to the bottom. In this case, there was the vent to consider. I basically followed the instructions for the vent and sewed the back seam together.

 

  Finished

 

I'm not thrilled about the way the yoke seams match up, but it's nothing I can't live with, and I do love the way the seam looks with an invisible zipper. And they are so easy to put in! Now I just need to finish the rest!