Broken zippers can be a real pain but repairing them is quite easy. Image by Bekathwia
Zippers were first invented in the early 1900s to replace previous fasteners that didn’t work well to secure clothes. At one point in time, manufacturers tried to replace zippers with button flys but the trend didn’t take off quite as well as they hoped. Zippers are here to stay. And there is nothing more annoying than being out and your zipper failing. Whether it’s a jacket or your pants, broken zippers are annoying – don’t just chuck your clothes when the zipper breaks, fix them instead!
How to Replace a Broken Zipper
- You can fix a broken zipper! Image by Rabensteiner.
With three small boys, I have replaced several zippers in the past few years as we’ve passed clothes from one boy to the next. I used to think it was hard to do, but I quickly found out that replacing a broken zipper is quite easy, and it extends the life of the pants you’re repairing by a mile! (Which then saves you quite a lot of money!) I also found that this was a handy skill to have when making gift purses for my nieces last year! Here’s a tutorial on replacing a broken zipper if you need some visual guidance (like I did the first time!)
Shortening a Zipper
If you’re a sewer, you have probably faced having to re-size a zipper because it was too long. If this is your first time replacing a zipper, check out this tutorial on shortening a metal zipper so that you don’t spend hours agonizing over zipper lengths at the store. Here’s another tutorial on shortening a nylon zipper which is a bit easier – and probably more applicable, since you don’t see a lot of metal zippers in the stores anymore.
