How to Sew a Zipper Into Your Favorite Hoodie
Hooded pullovers are fine, but sometimes you really want to have them zipped, especially if you’re going to wear them on cold winter days. Step into this simple sewing project with just two seams and one cut. Best of all, the image or lettering on the front side remains fully visible.
What do you need
Prepare to spend about $ 5 at a fabric store on two main ingredients: the zip and the adapter. If you also need pins, thread, or an entire sewing machine, allocate a little more. (Actually, you can do a great job with this project with a hand needle, but in the video we’re using a sewing machine. If you need to refresh your memory of sewing the old fashioned way, check out our sewing guide .)
- Hoodie. If you’re nervous about cutting into something you love, practice looking at a thrift store first.
- Partition zip is the same length or longer than the front of the hoodie. My Lifehacker hoodie was 25.5 inches from neck to hem, so I bought a 26-inch zipper like this for about $ 4. Look for the same color as your sweatshirt or darker.
- A quarter yard of lightweight fusible link. This is a thin fabric that you will iron to stabilize the center of the hoodie where you will cut it. I bought a lightweight, dark-colored interface like this one and it cost me about a dollar a yard. The color doesn’t really have to be the same, so I usually choose black for dark fabrics and white for everything else. You will cut this into strips so you don’t need a lot. A quarter of the yard will give you a lot to spare.
- Iron and ironing board for attaching the fusible link. If you don’t have one, you can skip the interface. Without mating, however, cut edges can curl, hiding the cool design that makes you fall in love with this hooded sweatshirt.
- Miscellaneous sewing utensils: safety pins, scissors, thread in a color to match your hoodie, and a needle or an entire sewing machine. Make sure your machine has a zipper foot; If not, grab one ( for about $ 4 ) while you’re at the store.
Craft stores tend to love coupons, so your prices may be even lower than that.
Find the center line and iron at the junction.
Before you start, you need to find an imaginary line in the middle of the sweatshirt where the zipper will go. The top is simple: the two sides of the hood meet here. But the bottom part is a little trickier, so find it as shown in the video. Lay out the hoodie with the side seams together and the halfway point between them is the center bottom. Mark it with a safety pin or chalk a line if you have one. Turn the hoodie inside out.
Cut the interface strips so they are wider than the zipper, maybe three inches or so. Iron the stripes to the centerline on the inside of the sweatshirt. Don’t worry if the stripes are too short; just glue the pieces next to each other. You can see how I do this in the video. You can also see if look closely, my interface was originally curved, so instead of trying to fix it, I just stuck a few more pieces next to the original. Nobody will notice.
Pin and sew on the zipper
While the sweatshirt is inside out, pin the zip up. Make sure it is perfectly straight and the fabric is not curled or stretched . The zipper should be facing down so that the traction is in a place you can grab and use when the sweatshirt is ready. Then use the pins to pin the zipper. I like to put the pins along and take them off while I sew.
Before you start sewing, make sure you replace the usual foot on your sewing machine on foot for zipper . The zipper foot only touches the fabric on one side of the needle, so you can bring the other side as close to the zipper teeth as possible. Adjust the zipper foot so that it is on the right when looking at the needle. Check again if the machine is set to straight stitch, otherwise the needle will break. (Ask me how I know.)
Turn the sweatshirt right side out. I find it helps to keep track of the layer of fabric I’m working on and make sure it doesn’t stick together or get pinched by, say, a random piece of sleeve.
Now all you have to do is sew on the zipper tape. I like to leave about a quarter of an inch between the sewing and the zipper teeth. This way, when you close the zipper, it has enough room to move without touching the fabric. See how I position the foot in the video: the edge of the zipper foot lines up with the edge of the zipper tape. This may not work for every brand of zipper, but if it does, it will surely come in handy.
Make sure everything is lined up and cut
Now we come to the genius of this method: cutting the front of the sweatshirt is the last thing you do, so you can take your time and make sure everything is perfect for you. Try on the sweatshirt – the last time you pull it over your head – and make sure everything goes wrong. Are the sewing lines straight? Does the lightning make strange lumps on your belly? Was the sleeve sewn to the chest? Feel free to poke out the seam (with a seam ripper or sharp scissors) and try again. I promise that when you do it right, it will be worth it.
If it looks good, you can get to work. Take your sharpest scissors and carefully cut halfway between the two seams.
Now it’s time to take a look at the extra zipper tape at the top (if your zipper was longer than the sweatshirt). Don’t just cut it off, or the zip will slide off the top when you zip up the hoodie for the first time. The easiest way to finish off the top is to fold the tape at right angles and secure in place with one or two stitches. Cut off the excess.
That’s it – you have now turned your favorite hooded pullover into a zip. Enjoy!