Zipping Along...

 
This is how a zip [zipper] works. Such a simple idea, developed at the start of the 20th century by Gideon Sundbach, a Swedish-American engineer. We have been using them on our clothes, boots, furniture and purses ever since. In 1937, French fashion designers raved about the use of zips in men's trousers, and declared the zip had beaten the button in "The Battle of The Fly".

Zips are splendid, when they work properly. They save time, they help in the process of teaching small children to dress themselves, and they reduce time spent fumbling with buttons. But when they go wrong...Here is the one I removed from Rosie's jacket last Friday night. As she zipped it up, the coil of nylon teeth came completely adrift. "Can you fix it? Should we chuck it?" asked Liz.

I checked the Great Stash, and I did have a nylon open ended zipper of the correct length, but it was navy. I carefully unpicked the damaged zip, pinned the replacement in place, and then tacked it carefully. It is a Mountain Warehouse coat, with lots of inner layers and flaps etc. It took ages to get it all correctly aligned. I went to bed at 10.30, and got up early.

My sewing machine, with its walking foot made short work on stitching it down. One line of stitches close to the edge, another strengthening line 5mm in. It all went smoothly. I was a bit bothered about not having a matching colour zip, but the family liked the contrast and it was declared "a statement zip". Best of all, it was done without buying a new one and Rosie was only briefly without the jacket. They have all gone back to London now, term starts on Monday. 
This was my first sewing project of the year, definitely a Restoration, and in keeping with my #word365. Now back to that overdue-two-by-two!