The choice: Attempt to fix a broken zipper and maybe ruin beloved pants forever. Or let them rot in a sad corner of my wardrobe, unwearable.

I bought the replacement zipper. A couple of months passed. Then, I dared to repair and entered the stage.

Act 1: Operation Zipper Replacement

Youtube, as always, has videos and answers. They weren’t particularly long, so I thought it might be achievable. An evening passed, the zipper was replaced.

Act 2: The Ruin

The zipper sides did not match up.

No video mentioned that this was actually the Most Difficult Thing in Operation Zipper. When you regularly install a zipper, there’s plenty of tricks for the sides to match up perfectly, and well-aligned zipper sides are not even worth mentioning. But in Operation Zipper Replacement, it is. I double-, triple-checked before finishing, but the sewing fairies were not in my favor.

Act 3: The End

After my trusty seamripper took out one side, the fabric was fraying in an attempt at complete freedom. I knew one other zipper installation would destroy the fabric forever. I thought of the fairies, reinserted the zipper and… Fixed!

Epilogue: Invest in Quality Zippers

The whole operation taught me another life lesson: Never save on zippers. Never. Spend those additional 10, 15, 20 bucks and you will keep your favourite pants forever without breaking a sweat and invoking fairies.

This has been added to another life lesson: Never save on thread (cheap one rips, blocks the machine, I know.)

Videos consulted:

• Replacing Zipper in Pants by QueenBee1755

• How to Replace the Zipper on Jeans - Secrets from a profesional tailor

QueenBee1755 also has a life-saving video series about a 52 sewing machine presser foot kit. Yes, I own a similar kit. Yes, I’ve only used about 5 of them, but the kit was the price of one regular zipper foot. This time, going for the cheap version was worth it.

Pattern: Sascha Trousers by Closet Core.

Last modified on 2023-10-26