Cushion Cover with Zipper
So...
I have been meaning to create some zipped cushions for awhile, but having never done zips before (not even in school, despite taking Textiles) I have been a little reticent about attempting them. It can be quite daunting doing a sewing project for the first time.
But I bit the bullet and just got on with it, with help from the instruction manual that came with my sewing machine (featured in a previous post).
And I have to say, I am liking the end product:
CUSHION WITH ZIPPER:
For the fabric I used Versatile Check Stirling Red which I purchased as a 5m by 2m fabric role from Next for £80, and can be found here. It is quite thick to sew, but does so easily enough. The main difficulty I had with the thickness was when I used it it cover my dining chairs; but I will talk about that in another post.
The zip I used was 30cm long and purchased from Hobbycraft, and can be found here.
I also used both the normal foot and the zipper foot for the sewing machine, and I'm not ashamed to say it took me several minutes and a few thoughts of "oh, no, I've broken it forever, never to be used again" to get the zipper foot to attach to the sewing machine. Oh, the joys of a new sewing machine that you're not entirely familiar with yet.
Step 1: Measure out the amount of fabric you are going to use. I used a fabric pen to outline the seam along which I was going to sew, in two places on the fabric and then cut around it leaving a 1cm trim from the blue line to the edge.
Some people say you only need 0.5cm trim, but I always tend to use more on larger pieces and then cut it down at the end stages to reduce the amount of fabric at the seam.
If you want the pattern in a particular place, or to have the sides match, then you need to do it at this stage. I wasn't bothered with this cushion so simply used the least amount of fabric possible.
Step 2: Pin the two sides together along one edge, with the outside of the fabric facing each other. If you are matching patterns you want to be really careful about lining up the drawn on seam lines with each other, otherwise when you unpin it the patterns won't match.
Step 3: Since you can't sew over pins, you will want to put in a running stitch along the seam line. This can either be on the inside of the seam, or the outside, it doesn't matter because you're going to be removing it after the seam is properly sewn. Don't sew your running stitch along the seam line that you have drawn.
I did mine about 1cm inside the seam.
Step 4: Decide on the placement of the zip. Since my zip was 30cm long I made little marks 6cm in on each side. This is important because you need to use 2 different stitches for the zippered seam, and you need to know when to change.
You can see the marks I made on the picture above for Step 3.
Step 5: Sew the zippered seam. Start off with the usual stitch you want to use. I always tend to use a triple straight stitch, just because they are stronger than a single straight stitch. Make sure to reverse stitch over your starting point so it doesn't come undone at a later stage.
Sew up to the first mark (6cm from the start, in my case), and do a little reverse stitching (about 0.5cm) to make sure that the seam doesn't come undone later on, and then change to a long, single straight stitch.
Continue with the straight stitch until you come to the second mark (6cm from the end, in my case), and then change back to the triple straight stitch. Only go about half a centimetre before reverse stitching back to the mark and then carrying on, so that the seam doesn't open up later on. Triple straight stitch all the way to the end of the zippered seam.
Step 6: Remove the running stitch you used to hold the two pieces of material together while you machine sewed the seam.
I found that the small seam ripper which came with my sewing machine did the trick nicely for this process. Before I had used scissors, which was a bit tedious and hard to get the blade where I wanted it. If you don't have a seam ripper they're well worth their money.
Step 7: Iron out the seam flat, as shown below:
Step 8: Place the zip face down onto the seam, so that it lines up with the marks you have drawn already, and make sure that the middle of the zip is drectly over the seam all the way along.
Pin the zip in place where you want it.
Put a running stitch in and then remove the pins, as they will only get in the way when you start to machine sew. Make sure that the running stitch is at the outside edge of the zipper material as you will use this as a guide later.
Step 9: Replace the normal foot of your sewing machine with the zipper foot. If you're not sure how to do this (which I didn't) look at the manual that came with the machine. Mine had a small button just at the heel of the foot that was already attached. This released the foot and I was able to clip in the zipper foot.
Depending on which side you clip the zipper foot in, will depend on what side the zip will be when you are sewing.
If the zip is going to be on the right hand side of the foot, then clip the zipper foot in on the right.
If the zip is going to be on the left hand side of the foot when you are sewing, then clip the zipper foot in on the left.
Step 10: Start by sewing out from the seam, perpendicularly (90 degrees), until just before the running stitch you have put in (which marks the edge of the zipper material on the other side).
Step 11: Change direction, and sew down the zip, using the seam as your guide, until you are at the running stitch at the other end. Try not to sew over the running stitch, as this will make it hard to remove that thread later.
Step 12: Do the same on the other side. Work outwards perpendicular from the seam and then sew down the zip until you reach the running stitch again.
My main problem with this was not sewing far enough away from the seam to begin with, because when I reach the actual zip itself, it forced the foot to go wide, due to the extra size of it. For my next zippered cushion I would start with the zip end and work from there, knowing that I was leaving enough room. I'd probably also put my running stitch on the very edge of the fabric.
The way I did it here, I had to open the seam prematurely, which made my zip go a little wonky on the inside, but you can't see it from the outside.
Step 13: Open the seam using the seam ripper, making sure not to go beyond the zip itself, so that you are only breaking the single straight stitch and not the triple. The reverse stitching will mean that this seam won't open on its own if you don't catch it with the seam ripper. Just be careful.
Step 14: Open the zip at this point. It is really difficult to open a zip from the inside of a sewn shut cushion (as I found out today). If you are worried about the seams moving and causing the stitching to go wonky then put some pins in, or pop a running stitch in place to keep it where it should be.
Step 15: Pin the rest of the cushion together, or put in a running stitch.
I settled for pinning loosely, because I wasn't bothered about the patterns matching up and I knew that I could ignore the drawn on square on one side because my fabric definitely overlapped.
Step 16: Triple stitch around the edge of the cushion, following the lines on one side of the cushion. Make sure to do a reverse stitch at the beginning and the end of your stitches.
Step 17: Remove the pins/running stitch and pull the cushion out through the open zip.
Step 18: Insert the correct size cushion insert, and test your zip to make sure that it opens and closes well, without catching on any loose material.
Step 19: Add your new cushion to your decor and admire your handiwork!
This is one way of doing zips, there are several more, and I'm sure I'll do some experimenting over the coming weeks and months, and probably years! I can't believe it has taken me this long to even attempt doing a zip. I must have missed a lesson or two at school.
Let me know how you guys do zips... or simply leave a comment!
Frankie
I have been meaning to create some zipped cushions for awhile, but having never done zips before (not even in school, despite taking Textiles) I have been a little reticent about attempting them. It can be quite daunting doing a sewing project for the first time.
But I bit the bullet and just got on with it, with help from the instruction manual that came with my sewing machine (featured in a previous post).
And I have to say, I am liking the end product:
CUSHION WITH ZIPPER:
For the fabric I used Versatile Check Stirling Red which I purchased as a 5m by 2m fabric role from Next for £80, and can be found here. It is quite thick to sew, but does so easily enough. The main difficulty I had with the thickness was when I used it it cover my dining chairs; but I will talk about that in another post.
The zip I used was 30cm long and purchased from Hobbycraft, and can be found here.
I also used both the normal foot and the zipper foot for the sewing machine, and I'm not ashamed to say it took me several minutes and a few thoughts of "oh, no, I've broken it forever, never to be used again" to get the zipper foot to attach to the sewing machine. Oh, the joys of a new sewing machine that you're not entirely familiar with yet.
Step 1: Measure out the amount of fabric you are going to use. I used a fabric pen to outline the seam along which I was going to sew, in two places on the fabric and then cut around it leaving a 1cm trim from the blue line to the edge.
Some people say you only need 0.5cm trim, but I always tend to use more on larger pieces and then cut it down at the end stages to reduce the amount of fabric at the seam.
If you want the pattern in a particular place, or to have the sides match, then you need to do it at this stage. I wasn't bothered with this cushion so simply used the least amount of fabric possible.
Step 2: Pin the two sides together along one edge, with the outside of the fabric facing each other. If you are matching patterns you want to be really careful about lining up the drawn on seam lines with each other, otherwise when you unpin it the patterns won't match.
Step 3: Since you can't sew over pins, you will want to put in a running stitch along the seam line. This can either be on the inside of the seam, or the outside, it doesn't matter because you're going to be removing it after the seam is properly sewn. Don't sew your running stitch along the seam line that you have drawn.
I did mine about 1cm inside the seam.
Step 4: Decide on the placement of the zip. Since my zip was 30cm long I made little marks 6cm in on each side. This is important because you need to use 2 different stitches for the zippered seam, and you need to know when to change.
You can see the marks I made on the picture above for Step 3.
Step 5: Sew the zippered seam. Start off with the usual stitch you want to use. I always tend to use a triple straight stitch, just because they are stronger than a single straight stitch. Make sure to reverse stitch over your starting point so it doesn't come undone at a later stage.
Sew up to the first mark (6cm from the start, in my case), and do a little reverse stitching (about 0.5cm) to make sure that the seam doesn't come undone later on, and then change to a long, single straight stitch.
Continue with the straight stitch until you come to the second mark (6cm from the end, in my case), and then change back to the triple straight stitch. Only go about half a centimetre before reverse stitching back to the mark and then carrying on, so that the seam doesn't open up later on. Triple straight stitch all the way to the end of the zippered seam.
Step 6: Remove the running stitch you used to hold the two pieces of material together while you machine sewed the seam.
I found that the small seam ripper which came with my sewing machine did the trick nicely for this process. Before I had used scissors, which was a bit tedious and hard to get the blade where I wanted it. If you don't have a seam ripper they're well worth their money.
Step 7: Iron out the seam flat, as shown below:
Step 8: Place the zip face down onto the seam, so that it lines up with the marks you have drawn already, and make sure that the middle of the zip is drectly over the seam all the way along.
Pin the zip in place where you want it.
Put a running stitch in and then remove the pins, as they will only get in the way when you start to machine sew. Make sure that the running stitch is at the outside edge of the zipper material as you will use this as a guide later.
Step 9: Replace the normal foot of your sewing machine with the zipper foot. If you're not sure how to do this (which I didn't) look at the manual that came with the machine. Mine had a small button just at the heel of the foot that was already attached. This released the foot and I was able to clip in the zipper foot.
Depending on which side you clip the zipper foot in, will depend on what side the zip will be when you are sewing.
If the zip is going to be on the right hand side of the foot, then clip the zipper foot in on the right.
If the zip is going to be on the left hand side of the foot when you are sewing, then clip the zipper foot in on the left.
Step 10: Start by sewing out from the seam, perpendicularly (90 degrees), until just before the running stitch you have put in (which marks the edge of the zipper material on the other side).
Step 12: Do the same on the other side. Work outwards perpendicular from the seam and then sew down the zip until you reach the running stitch again.
My main problem with this was not sewing far enough away from the seam to begin with, because when I reach the actual zip itself, it forced the foot to go wide, due to the extra size of it. For my next zippered cushion I would start with the zip end and work from there, knowing that I was leaving enough room. I'd probably also put my running stitch on the very edge of the fabric.
The way I did it here, I had to open the seam prematurely, which made my zip go a little wonky on the inside, but you can't see it from the outside.
Step 13: Open the seam using the seam ripper, making sure not to go beyond the zip itself, so that you are only breaking the single straight stitch and not the triple. The reverse stitching will mean that this seam won't open on its own if you don't catch it with the seam ripper. Just be careful.
Step 14: Open the zip at this point. It is really difficult to open a zip from the inside of a sewn shut cushion (as I found out today). If you are worried about the seams moving and causing the stitching to go wonky then put some pins in, or pop a running stitch in place to keep it where it should be.
Step 15: Pin the rest of the cushion together, or put in a running stitch.
I settled for pinning loosely, because I wasn't bothered about the patterns matching up and I knew that I could ignore the drawn on square on one side because my fabric definitely overlapped.
Step 16: Triple stitch around the edge of the cushion, following the lines on one side of the cushion. Make sure to do a reverse stitch at the beginning and the end of your stitches.
Step 17: Remove the pins/running stitch and pull the cushion out through the open zip.
Step 18: Insert the correct size cushion insert, and test your zip to make sure that it opens and closes well, without catching on any loose material.
Step 19: Add your new cushion to your decor and admire your handiwork!
This is one way of doing zips, there are several more, and I'm sure I'll do some experimenting over the coming weeks and months, and probably years! I can't believe it has taken me this long to even attempt doing a zip. I must have missed a lesson or two at school.
Let me know how you guys do zips... or simply leave a comment!
Frankie
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