How to Sew a Hidden Zipper

3.23 2011

Pillow Tutorial: Invisible Zipper

I’m not going to lie, hidden zippers can be a little tricky.  But not to worry my dears. I’m going to show you a trick or two. Because that is what I am here for, tricks.
Wait..that didn’t come out right…

This is part three in my three part series on making pillows, in case you missed it; envelope back pillow + exposed zipper pillow.

Materials needed:

Pillow form, (not pictured) for this tutorial I used a 12 x 12 inch form
One piece of front fabric, cut 12 x 12 inches
One piece of back fabric, cut 12 x 12 inches
Hidden zipper

Tools that are helpful for this project:
Sharp scissors
Pins
Sewing machine

Begin by piecing your two pieces of fabric, right sides together.

Sew three sides of your fabric, leaving one side open.

You should be here.

Then take your zipper, open it all the way.

Iron the fold open. 

The top zipper is pre-iron, the bottom zipper is post iron. You are ironing to get a closer stitch. You want to sew right where the fold is + by pressing the zipper open you are exposing the perfect place to stitch.

Pin your zipper to the fabric, right sides together, leaving a little zipper off each end.

Using a zipper foot on your machine, sew your zipper down. Start about an inch away from the end + finish the same. Sew both sides of the zipper.

Like so. You should have your zipper poking out each end. 

Beginning at the edge, sew just above the zipper stitch, closing your holes.

Like so.

Trim the ends of your zipper off.

Turn + poke out your corners.

Stuff + admire your handiwork.

Comments

1. angie :

   thanks for this tutorial!! it will be so helpful for my pillows and bags. :-)
2. Desiree Fawn :

   Great tutorial!!
3. Melanie :

   Wow, you make it look so easy!
   
   Melanie@Unravelled Threads
   Follow @UnraveldThreads on twitter!
4. Sascha :

   Oh wow! I lost my invisible zipper foot and now I can insert an invisible zipper without it. I may not even bother replacing the foot.
5. Nancy :

   Nice! You make me think I could actually do this!
   
   Side note, why do blogs have people click on something and say it is "after the jump"? What is a "jump"? Wouldn't it work to just say "click here for the full tutorial or post or whatever"? Just curious!
6. casserole :

   Great tutorial! And such an awesome pillow! I'm loving those black and white stripes!!
   
   I linked to your tutorial on Craft Gossip Sewing:
   http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-pillow-cover-with-an-invisible-zipper/2011/03/24/
   
   --Anne
7. Holly :

   Thank you! I will be making pillow covers soon, and this will be a big help.
   (to answer Nancy's question above. "the jump" is a newspaper term, meaning jumping from where a story starts on the front page, for example, to continuing on another page. So blogs that only put part of a post on the main page refer to the "jump" to the full tutorial.)
8. elisa :

   So...I just made mine! It wasn't too hard even though invisible zippers scared me before. But, now I'm excited to make some more! Thanks again for your tutorials!
9. Nueyer :

   Amazingly clear instructions on how to insert an invisible zipper! I may try this soon =)
10. the pleated poppy :

    oh my word! this is like 9000 times easier than the way i do it! thanks for sharing. and saving me 20 minutes in pillow making.
11. Nueyer :

    I finally tried out invisible zippers for cushion covers! Thanks for the great tutorial :)

12. Pingback: State Love Pillow « Stars & Sunshine

13. Pingback: Sewing: Chiffon Maxi Skirt » ISLY | I Still Love You