There’s one terror we hear about over and over at Sew4Home: the zipper. This handy little closure has the power to strike fear into even seasoned sewers. But its reputation as the bad boy of sewing is undeserved. If you take the time to learn the proper steps and a few tips and tricks, you’ll be zippin’ up projects left and right in no time. We have comprehensive standard and invisible zipper tutorials. And, today, we also have information about the latest addition to the Coats zipper selection –  beautiful, bright new colors of their Brass Jeans Zippers. 

We use zippers a lot at Sew4Home. They are both functional and super cool looking. The trend of using exposed zippers is one we love. And, when you have a zipper as stunning as the Coats Jeans Zipper, it’s even more tempting to show it off. These zippers feature brass metal teeth on a 100% polyester tape. And because today’s “blue jeans” are no longer just blue, Coats recently added a number of splashy new colors from tango orange to red rose to mimosa yellow. 

The locking, low profile slider is specially designed for fly front applications, but these same features also make the style a great choice for any number of projects. A colorful Coats Jeans Zipper would make a gorgeous exposed zipper accent on our recent Tim Holtz Fabric Wallet and/or Device Sleeve. They would also look great on our Mesh Sport Pouches where the bright zipper colors would be a perfect blend with the vibrant Dritz® elastics. 

Coats Jeans Zippers are available in 6″, 7″ and 9″ lengths in 14 colors. Look for them at your favorite in-store or online retailer. 

Now that you know about these pretty, candy color zippers, make sure you know how to insert them. 

Conventional Zippers

In our tutorial on How To Install A Conventional Zipper, you’ll learn about all the different zipper types. Haven’t you always wanted to know the difference between “separating” and “reversible”? We also explain the anatomy of a zipper and the different available presser feet to use. And, of course, there are great step-by-step instructions for the basic center installation of a conventional zipper. 

Go to the conventional zipper tutorial.

Invisible Zippers

If you think zippers in general get a bad rap, you can’t even imagine the ill will heaped on the poor invisible zipper. News flash: they are actually easier to install than conventional zippers? This zipper style is a favorite of ours for fancier decorative pillows where we want the closure to be as discreet as possible. With the exception of its slender zipper pull, you’d never even know it was there. Our Invisible Zipper Tutorial goes through, in detail, the special presser foot needed, the preparation of the fabric, how to position and secure prior to stitching, and more. 

Go to the invisible zipper tutorial. 

Read up and then zip up. You can then move on to conquering more important phobias, like Metrophoia (fear of poetry) and Alliumphobia (fear of garlic).