Tag: zipper

Fixing a coiled zipper that won’t close

I have a favorite soft pencil case made from faux leather that I’ve been using for more than 20 years, but the zipper had gotten finicky and started to not close.  It started having a problem zipping closed on just one side, but today it wouldn’t close at all and the slide was just moving back and forth without closing anything at all.

After a quick search, I found a video by UCAN Zipper USA with a solution that fixed it immediately.  The narrator said the problem was the zipper started to “open a little bit” with repeated use.  I suspect the slider on my pencil case opened a little by vigorous use or sometimes by accidentally zipping it over something that had been caught in the zipper teeth.

The solution was quite simple:

  • Inspect the closing side of the zipper to see whether one side is more “open” or riding higher than the other.
  • Using pliers, gently clamp that side down just a little, then try to open/close the zipper.  If it doesn’t quite engage yet, clamp down a little more.
Gently clamp the rear / closing side of the zipper where it appears to be loose / open / ride higher

That’s it!  It worked like a charm for me.  While this worked for a coiled zipper, I suspect it would also work for a molded tooth zipper as well.

Sewing Practice

About two years ago I purchased a few kits from RipstopByTheRoll.com – their Zipper Pouch Kit and their $10 kit.  They were partially for sewing practice and brush off long dormant sewing skills, but mostly for learning some new skills.  (You see, I have zipper cowardice.)

I did do a little bit of sewing at the beginning of the pandemic. 1

In learning how to get started sewing (again) I had to make sense of my sewing machine, settings, and sewing basics:

  • Brother XM3700 overview, settings
    • I had no idea what I was doing or what the dials were supposed to do.  Clockwise from left to right, they are the string tension (should stay between 3-5), left-right movement (irrelevant to straight stitches and seemingly best between 2-3 for zig zags), stitch length (between 1-3), and then the stitch selection dial (sticking with 2 for straight stitch and 3 for zig zags)
    • Using the automatic needle threader which way more helpful than I expected it to be
    • I created a “stitch sampler” where I noted the settings used for each stitch

      Annotated stitch sampler, with a stripe in one corner to orient the stitch setting guide
      Annotated stitch sampler, with a stripe in one corner to orient the stitch setting guide
    • I quickly discovered that the large Gutermann’s thread spool I’d purchased had way too large a core to work with the spool holder on my sewing machine.  Thus, I created a plastic insert that helped keep it from wobbling, which meant it would sometimes bounce right off the spool holder.  It was a little wobbly, so I printed a second one which worked beautifully.

      RBTR zippered pouch, and spool adapters pictured
      RBTR zippered pouch, and spool adapters pictured
  • Zipper sewing foot
  • RBTR $10 “Stuff Sack” Kit

    RBTR Stuff Sack
    RBTR Stuff Sack
  • RBTR Zipper Pouch Kit

    RBTR Zipper Pouch kit, all zipped up
    RBTR Zipper Pouch kit, all zipped up
  • When it comes to the guides by RBTR, I really have no notes.  Their video guides are helpful, detailed, and very accessible.  I got over my zipper cowardice very quickly by just watching the video a few times, letting it play while I went slowly, and pausing to go over each step.  I’m hopeful I’ll be able to use the skills I’ve developed here to build a new EDC bag.
Custom Every Day Carry Bag
  1. My Ultimate Bag
  2. Custom Every Day Carry (EDC) Bag
  3. Sewing Practice
  4. EDC Bag Materials, Designs, Etc
  5. Off the rack options for EDC bags
  1. I sewed a mask for a friend of mine before realizing (re-realizing?) I’m not great at sewing and I could do more good helping people who were good at sewing make masks.  After learning about bias tape makers from @Raster and Hackaday, I printed and gave away perhaps 200 or so in the CA area [↩]