PSA: Stop putting zippers on the side seam of stretchy dresses

Was helping my friend alter a bridesmaid dress last weekend and the zipper was all wavy and bubbly on the side. It's cause the fabric stretches but the zipper doesn't. If you're making anything with spandex or jersey, put the zipper in the back seam with some interfacing. Learned this the hard way after ruining 3 dance costumes for my niece. Anyone else dealt with wavy zippers on knits?

3 comments

3 Comments

hill.hugo1mo ago

Wait, @fisher.mason you let it hang for a full day? I always just slap it in after I've stabilized the seam with some lightweight fusible tape and never get puckering, even on cheap stretch fabric.

fisher.mason1mo ago

...and that's exactly why I had to scrap a whole rack of costumes for my daughter's baton twirling team last spring. I thought I could fudge it with some extra stitches and it just puckered up something awful, looked like a wrinkled mess from five feet away. The worst part was the mom who told me I should've just used a longer zipper... like that would fix the stretching problem. I ended up handsewing the side seams shut and adding a back zipper with some iron-on stabilizer, which took forever but actually worked. The real trick nobody tells you is you gotta let the fabric hang for a day before you even measure for the zipper, otherwise the weight of the dress pulls it all crooked.

wesleyburns1mo ago

Nah @fisher.mason I'm going the other way on this. Zippers can handle a lot more than people give them credit for if you pick the right type and actually take the time to install it right. The hanging thing is fine for some fabrics but if you've got good quality stuff and you're not rushing, you can get a perfectly straight zipper in without waiting a full day.