How to Sew a Zipper: 7 Steps (Two Methods)

Color matches if you want the zipper to disappear into the fabric. Contrast colors if you want it to be a feature. Metal teeth are sturdier and look better but you can't iron over them. Plastic teeth are softer and you can shorten them with scissors if the zipper is longer than your opening.

For a beginner project, get a zipper at least as long as the opening you're closing. Buy a few extras in different lengths so you don't end up making a special trip when you start your real project.

Most machines come with a zipper foot in the box - it's the narrow one that lets the needle sew right next to the teeth. The standard foot is too wide and would push the zipper away from the needle.

Pop your regular foot off and clip the zipper foot on. Some zipper feet have two positions (left and right of the needle) so you can sew down both sides of a zipper without flipping the work around.

Lay the zipper face-down on the right side of one fabric piece. Line up the long edge of the zipper tape with the cut edge of the fabric. For a pouch, your fabric width should match your zipper length.

Clip everything together with wonder clips or pin it. Sew along the edge with the zipper foot, staying just past the teeth. When you reach the zipper pull, lift the presser foot, slide the pull behind the needle to get it out of the way, lower the foot, and keep sewing.

Flip the zipper open and lay the second fabric piece right-sides-together with the zipper. Line up the edge the same way you did the first piece. Clip in place.

Sew with the same seam allowance you used on the first side, otherwise the zipper won't sit centered when the pouch opens. When you open it back up, you have a flat panel with the zipper sandwiched in the middle - ready to fold and sew into a pouch.

For garments, you sew the seam closed first, then add the zipper on top. Sew the seam where the zipper will go using a long stitch length (around 5) so you can rip it out later. Press the seam open with an iron.

Place the zipper face-down centered over the seam, with the teeth lined up exactly on top of the stitched line. Pin or clip in place all the way down. The more precise you are here, the more invisible the zipper will look.

Flip the fabric over so the right side is facing up (the zipper is hidden underneath, pinned in place). Sew with the zipper foot in a rectangle around the zipper - down one side past the pull, pivot at the bottom, sew across, pivot, sew up the other side.

Backstitch at the start and end. Use thread that matches the fabric so the rectangle disappears (Dana uses contrast white in the demo just to show the line).

Grab a seam ripper. Slide the point under a few stitches at a time on the original seam (the one you sewed in step 5 with the long stitch). Work down the seam between the two stitched lines, opening it up to expose the zipper teeth.

Pull out the loose threads. The zipper now opens and closes, but on the right side of the garment it looks like a clean stitched seam with a barely-visible rectangle.