Super fast way to shorten a zipper

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Ingrid Alteneder

Ingrid Alteneder

Hey there, I love fabric, sewing, quilting and most of all Foundation Paper Piecing. Welcome to my blog!

fabrics and notions needed for a pouch, and a zipper thats too long,

How to shorten a nylon zipper ?  A super short and quick way to solve this problem.

Dont we all know the situation where we want to quickly sew a gift or project, like a pouch or bag, and we do have all the fabrics and supplies but… Oh No… the zipper is too long.

Don’t despair, there’s an easy solution 🙂

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1. Start by measureing your zip and marking your needed length.
IMPORTANT: zippers are measured from the zipper top, not the zipper tape.
I can not tell you how often I fogot that!
The marked point is where you will be sewing your new bottom stopper.

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2. I usually machine stitch over the marked point a few times. But you can also hand stich over that point a few times , that does the trick just as well.
This new stopper needs to be tight and secure to prevent the zip from running off the end. Remember it’s calles a ‘stopper ‘ for a reason .

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– sewn by machine –                                                         – sewn by hand –

3. Once you have sewn your new bottom stopper you can cut the zipper.
I’ve cut this zipper fairly short, since I will be using it for a zipper pouch.
Depending on your sewing project, you cn cut it a little longer.The process is the exact the same for an invisable zipper of course.

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And here it is, a perfect 9″ zipper for a cute flat bottom pouch 🙂
If you want to sew this cute pouch, check out the blog post for the pouch here.

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