Book Review – 14 Sewing Projects to teach you how to Sew Zippers Perfectly

And just like that, the school holidays have ended and now we’re back to the usual routine. I was dreading the early morning wake ups, but finally there is some peace and quiet in the mornings for me to work on the blog! As you can see the progress has been slow this June. These photos were taken a while ago before the school holiday started and are only now making their first appearance! Today’s book review is more of a technical one. I’ve always had a fear of sewing with zippers, even though I have used them many many times, I can never be sure of how my sewing will turn out. I have been sewing zippers for cushions, bags, pouches and I even dared to release a tutorial on a double zipper pouch here (see my sewing tutorial on how to sew a double zipper pouch here). Sometimes I even resort to sewing zippers by hand as sewing zippers with a sewing machine is kind of scary when the needle goes over the teeth, I’ve had a few sewing needles break from trying to sew through thick layers at once.

I’ve relied on sewing zippers tutorials on youtube, and some tutorials here and there as part of the basic techniques included in some Japanese sewing books, until I found this book, released early this year in January, which is devoted to the sewing of zippers.  In Japanese, the word for zip/zipper is actually Fastener, and the Japanese word is exactly the borrowed term from the English word Fastener ” ファ(fa)ス(su)ナー(na-)”. I always return from my trips with a load of fasteners, especially the decorative type, because they are so difficult to find here. I can find some imported YKK zips here but they are usually limited in length. In Japan you can find a wall full of YKK zippers, in so many varieties of lengths it is hard to decide especially when I don’t even have an idea of the project I am going to use it for!

But it won’t be an issue because with this book, you will learn how to properly cut a zipper to fit your project.

The full title of the book is ファスナーのつけ方がばっちりわかる! ファスナーの本 which roughly translates to “Perfectly understand the ways of attaching fasteners! Book about Fasteners.”
You will learn 10 different ways to sew your zippers for bags and pouches, and 4 different ways to use them on garments. That makes a total of 14 different ways to sew zippers.

An excerpt of the contents page.

The book begins with an introduction of zippers. Everything you need to know, for example,

the anatomy of a zipper. Got to know your subject matter well!

There are also other information like types of zippers and when to use them, different ways of sewing them, size of teeth, how to adjust the length of zippers to fit your project etc.

The next part moves on to sewing zippers for bags and pouches, and the good news is, with every project there is a detailed series of photographs devoted to teaching you how to sew the zipper for that particular project.  Note that the detailed photographs are only for the steps involving the zipper. The rest of the instructions are included at the back of the book in black and white diagrams like the standard sewing book.

Learn how to sew a zipper pouch
You can see a small excerpt of the step by step photographs in the picture below.

The projects in this book are quite simple in design, but are selected based on the different applications for zippers.

Sewing zippers on bags

Sewing zippers on mini pouches (with curve edge)

Sewing zippers around a bend.

Making a lined pencil case (learn how to attach the lining)

How to sew a wire frame bag with zipper enclosure. This is similar to the small cosmetic pouch I made for my mum for Mother’s day, but in a larger size with a hidden handbag frame.

How to sew a foldover flap over the zipper. This technique is useful for making cushions too, when you want to hide the zipper pull and teeth of the zipper for soft furnishings. I’ve used this technique on sewing the front pockets of backpacks too.

This lesson will teach you how to sew a zippered pocket, also known as a hidden zipper pocket?

A double zipper pouch, or what they call, a pocket pochette.

The next part of the book is devoted to sewing zippers to clothes. Namely, sewing side zipper for skirts, sewing a front fly zipper, sewing a concealed or invisible zipper, and lastly, how to sew a separating zipper / jacket type zipper.

Learning to sew a proper front fly zipper on pants is on my to-do list! I actually have quite a number of patterns with step by step instructions on how to do this but yet it still looks super complicated. When will I get over my fear! This particular pants pattern, by the way, is designed by May Me.

You can’t see the zipper in this case because it is at the back of the dress, but in this lesson you will learn how to sew an invisible zipper. I can’t tell you how horrible my first few attempts with invisible zippers were. Probably because I didn’t even have the right invisible zipper foot to begin with. I was using a regular zipper foot and could not understand why I could still see the zip.

Another project designed by May Me, a collarless jacket. This project will teach you how to sew on a separating zipper, which simply refers to the type of zippers on jackets that open up completely into two separate pieces.

The sewing patterns and instructions are included at the back of the book, pretty much the standard format.

Close up of the diagrams included with the sewing patterns.

Full size patterns attached.

Title :  ファスナーのつけ方がばっちりわかる! ファスナーの本
ISBN No : 978-4529055284
Publisher : Nihon-Vogue

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