Skills books › Sewing and Clothing Repairs

How to fix or replace a broken zip

Many "broken" zips only have a loose slider or a missing stop. Check for a small repair first. If the zip does need replacing, look closely at how it was put in, take a photo, and put the new one in the same way.

Simple repairs to try first

• The zip opens behind the slider, or the slider comes off one side. The slider has worn loose. Squeeze the back of the slider gently with pliers, a little at a time on both sides, testing as you go.
• A missing top or bottom stop. Sew a few hand stitches across the teeth to make a new stop.
• A stiff zip. Rub a candle, beeswax or a soft pencil along the teeth.
• Missing teeth, or tape torn right through. Replace the zip.

Choosing a replacement

• Coil (nylon) zips are light and flexible: for skirts, dresses, cushions and many trousers.
• Metal zips are strong: for jeans, work trousers and bags.
• Invisible zips hide in the seam of dresses and skirts.
• Separating zips open at the bottom: for jackets and tracksuit tops.

Buy the same kind and the same length, in a matching colour. A zip that is too long can be shortened: sew a new stop across the teeth by hand, then cut off the excess.

Replacing a trouser zip

Methods vary between garments, so study the old zip first.

1. Look and photograph. Note where the topstitching runs, often in a J-shaped curve, and how the zip tapes are attached at the waistband.
2. Unpick the topstitching, the zip tapes, and just enough of the waistband to free the top of the zip.
3. Remove the old zip and keep it to compare lengths.
4. Sew the new zip to the underlap side first, where the old one was, using a zip foot and stitching close to the teeth.
5. Close the zip and lay the front flap over it in its original position. Pin through to the facing behind the flap, open the trousers, and sew the other tape to the facing only.
6. Re-topstitch the curve on the front, following the old stitching holes, in matching thread.
7. Finish with a short, dense zigzag at the bottom of the fly, re-sew the waistband and press.

Follow the old stitching holes, and the replacement disappears.

Skirt and dress zips

Unpick the old zip, keeping the seam allowances pressed in their folds. Pin the new zip behind the folds exactly as the old one sat. Sew with a zip foot from the bottom up on each side, copying the original stitching lines, and re-sew the waistband or facing at the top.

Invisible zips

1. Use an invisible-zip foot.
2. Unpick the old zip and press the seam allowances flat.
3. Open the new zip and press the coil flat with a cool iron.
4. Pin one tape face down on the right side of one seam allowance, with the coil on the seam line, and sew from the top down as far as the slider allows.
5. Repeat on the other side, checking that the waistline lines up across the zip.
6. Close the zip and, with an ordinary zip foot, sew the seam below it closed.

Jacket zips

Buy a separating zip of the same length and type. Sew the two halves in one at a time, then close the zip and check that the hem, pockets and seams match across it before you topstitch along the old holes. Waterproof, fleece and leather jackets are worth leaving to a specialist at first.

Buttonholes

Mark the length as the button's width plus its thickness, plus 2 to 3 mm. Sew a test buttonhole on a scrap of the same fabric first. To cut it open, put a pin across each end as a stop.

This guide is based on Chapter 9 of Sewing and Clothing Repairs, which also covers pockets, linings and drawstrings.