Sewing Vloggers

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The Koos Zipper, I Love It!



I am doing View B of the Koos Bag, Vogue 1311. View A has your basic slot zipper installation that you see in most bags, but View B has a very intriguing zipper technique that I have not seen before. A large facing is stitched, right sides together, in much the same way a bound buttonhole "hole" is done. The facing is outlined with the whited dotted line. I stitched the facing using a 1.5 stitch length around the ends/corners. Once stitched the "buttonhole" is cut down the center within a half inch of the ends. From there it divides and is cut into the corners, like any welt pocket or bound buttonhole.  Now, the neat part, cut the long seam allowance back to about a healthy 1/4 of an inch on the long sides ONLY. This will leave you with a 1/4 inch space between the two seam allowances. Step 2, Cut the facing at an angle, the green arrows, from the outer edge to the corners of the "buttonhole".

Take that end piece, the parallelogram, and push it only to the wrong side of the hole. Pin in place

 Here you can see the facing turned in on the ends only and pinned in place. Now comes the fun part!

 The long facing piece is wrapped around the remaining long seam allowances. In other applications as well as View A the entire SA is turned in with the facing. Here the SA stays where it is and is wrapped with the facing. Pin in place. This is going to leave a nice edge to butt against your zipper.


This is what the wrapped SAs look like from the wrong side. You have two options now. One is to topstitch the facing in place and the other choice is to ditch stitch from the right side in the well of the seam between the wrapped SAs and the bag. This leaves you with a clean slot to just place your zipper behind and topstitch into place. I think it is pretty cool and hope you do too! I love it when I learn something new in sewing. Thanks, Koos! I think this one belongs in the tute column, don't you?.....Bunny

ETA, 02/12/13: I did another Koos bag and the post contains additional hints for  installing this zip. You might want to check it out. Here's a link: Koos Zipper 2.0





Fall sets in on the Deer River.......

12 comments:

  1. I will buy that pattern now, so I can have those zip instructions. Love your fall scenery. MI is getting color too, but it seems early this year doesn't it?

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  2. so clever! I purchased that pattern based on Sham's recommendation to get it for the zipper insertion. haven't done anything with it yet, but that zipper application is definitely worth having the pattern. thanks for showing how it's done in real life!

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    1. As soon as I read the zip installation for View B I also felt it was worth the price of the pattern!

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  3. What a clever way to do this. THanks for sharing.

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  4. Tutorial-worthy for sure! Thanks for sharing it with us. I'm going to try it as a sample today so I don't forget about it!

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  5. What an interesting way of doing a zip in a bag.

    I just love your photo of the autumn foliage. Beautiful. You are so blessed to live in a place with such gorgeous views.

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  6. I agree clever & thanks for sharing - l too love the photo

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  7. Very clever! Love when you find something "new" in sewing. :) Definitely needs to be a tutorial.

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  8. i love that zip application for any number of things - if you left one end open, you could even use it on garments for a different look. Really interesting - thank you!

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  9. That's a really nice way to finish that edge!! I've seen where some put a folded piece of cloth there, too (It's Sew Easy showed it on their TV online).

    KarenVA

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  10. Wow! This is so smart! Thanks for sharing all this information, I have to try this on one of my dresses ...

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