Sewing With Nancy

Replacing a broken zipper mending jeans, sewing on buttons. Those are tasks that get a two-thumbs-down rating in my book under sewing entertainment yet these projects are important. But they don't have to be difficult. In this series, I'm taking a lighter approach to fixing what's broken while breaking most of the rules. This zipper remedy is my prescription for replacing a broken zipper in a jacket or a coat. Unlike traditional solutions, this zipper cure doesn't involve opening seams. "Quick Stitch to Wear Again" that's what's next on Sewing with Nancy. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman is made possible by Baby Lock, a complete line of sewing quilting and embroidery machines and sergers. Baby Lock, for the love of sewing. Madeira, specializing in embroidery, quilting and special-effect threads because creativity is never black and white. Koala Studios fine sewing furniture custom built in America. Clover, making a difference in sewing, quilting, crafting, and needle arts for over 30 years. Amazing Designs and Klass needles. In its first life this sweatshirt had a cherry colored zipper. Here is an image of the zipper being broken. The tab was pulled off, or the end was pulled off. The zipper was not workable any longer. We fixed it by cutting away the cherry-colored zipper and placing in a black zipper that has ribbon along the inside to make it easier to insert. We put this zipper into the sweatshirt without opening the seam. I'll show you how the process works. This is not your conventional way of mending. I know I'm going to get letters and cards saying this is not exactly what I had intended to do. But this is a way that's easy, and it's doable for most of us. This vest has a very broken zipper and I started to take it out. I cut out the zipper. Just cut along the zipper tape as I'm starting to do on this side. Just cut along the tape. Cut a little bit away from the fabric so that you're not going to cut into the khaki-colored fabric. Just cut that zipper out. If there's a little extra zipper tape then do some fraying. There we go. Here's some extra zipper tape, and it'll just fray away. You fray it away to the seam. The zipper is out. The seam is still there. The topstitching is still there from the original sewing. But now we're going to put the zipper underneath. This is how it's going to work. We're not going to use pins. You can just about put the pin cushion way for this because you really need some sturdy tape. Double-sided basting tape is the ticket for making this zipper work. Often, you might find that the zipper is not the same length as the original zipper. On that cherry-colored sweatshirt, the zipper was 25". I couldn't find a 25" zipper, so I purchased a 24" zipper. Buy the closest that you can erring on the side of it being shorter. Then, with the zipper you're going to fold under the tape at the top. Fold it down. This is where the double-sided basting tape comes into play. If the tape is too wide for your zipper trim it in half, which I have done here. Then get some ribbon, grosgrain sturdy ribbon cut 2" longer than the opening of your vest, jacket, or sweatshirt. With that extra two inches fold under one inch and tape it down. Fold under another inch and tape it down. There you go. Then, use that double-sided basting tape on the wrong side. Put the tape all the way down. I have this done already. Place your ribbon on top of the underside of the zipper. Add a second strip of the basting tape this time, to the top of the zipper. You're going to be using four lengths of basting tape throughout this process. Sometimes I do this a little bit at a time. You release a section of the basting tape and then overlap the jacket so it's just meeting the zipper teeth. Take time to position this. Honestly, I'm hurrying along a little bit but you'll get it just the way you like. You don't have to use pins. It's stuck in there. Here's a close-up of now stitching re-stitching along the previously stitched lines so that the zipper is put into the jacket. You may want to stitch one more time to stitch the outer edge of the ribbon. On this smaller jacket, we're replacing the zipper. You can see that we stitched along the original stitching line, the inner stitching and then did a second row to attached the edge of the ribbon into place. It's like an appliqu. Once you've stitched one side, close up the zipper. We have the zipper tape alongside. Remove the paper covering. I'll just do a little bit at a time. Sometimes removing that paper covering is the trickiest part which it seems to be right now! Here we go. Then, after the zipper is closed you can apply the remaining side so that the seams meet exactly. Then you would do the same topstitching. Re-stitch and do a second line, and you're zipper will be in. You didn't have to take out any of the stitching. You just applied the ribbon to the underside. As a review, the zipper is cut away ribbon is applied to the new zipper and topstitched to the opening. Simple as that. A tear in pants or jeans can easily turn from an unwanted hole to art. This next "Quick Stitch to Wear Again" technique is one way of fixing a problem with unconventional, yet clever sewing steps. Little girls, little guys, may have holes in their knees and you can fix it as an art form. Perfect for little girls, we have some fabric that coordinates kind of with the topstitching thread color a little navy blue. Then, I've added to all sides of the patch paper-backed fusible web. Just pull off the web. Now, I must admit or mention, that on the back of this patch I have a layer of fusible interfacing to give it a little extra weight. You'll notice that during this series we are using tape and fusible web. That doesn't surprise you, I don't think when it comes to mending and fixing things and it makes life a lot easier because it's difficult to pin in these areas. Cover it with a press cloth and give it a shot of steam just to hold that patch into place. I've chosen 12-weight thread, a heavier thread. Use a double strand of thread in the needle. Then you can do some artsy stitching. Reach down, you don't have to open a seam. Just do the stitching. I've got to get my hand in here. There we go. Cross stitch, running stitch, whatever you'd like to do. Make it as fun and funky as you would like. Stitch around the edge until you have an interesting design. This may be a great way for someone to learn to sew for a little girl who has a hole in the knee of her pants maybe she can learn to do some stitching to do the fixing. As you can see on our finished leg we've turned that hole into art with time, and a little bit of creativity. If you're faced with a lumberjack-sized hole in jeans that need immediate attention I'd like to show you how to take the easy way out. But don't think that this quick fix is temporary. No siree! It's meant to withstand the rigors of a wannabe logger. Our lumberjack patch is none other than a patch pocket from another pair of jeans that's been fused and then stitched over the hole. When I purchased these pair of jeans at the secondhand store they were perfect, because they had big tears in the knees and I thought they were great for this technique. You'll need to open the side seam the side seam that is not topstitched or flat felled the seam that just looks like a traditional seam in this instance, on the outside. Use your seam ripper and get the serged and the straight stitched seam. You just keep working it out. You only need about eight inches, I'd say to open that seam. Then you can set these jeans aside until it's time to get the pocket ready. To find a lumberjack-sized patch designate a pair of jeans that are going to be your patch jeans that you can cut things from and apply to others. In this particular instance, I'm cutting out a pocket. It's kind of hard to make that first cut. But you'll be pleased with the results that it gives you. Leave yourself at least 1/4" to 1/8" around the edge. Then, using paper-backed fusible web. We use this a lot on Sewing with Nancy. Roughly cut the web just a little bit smaller, if you can, than the pocket and press. Press it on. Press it securely. That is hot! Then, trim very close to the stitching beveling the scissors, beveling it on its side so you can cut next to the stitching but not the fold of the pocket. On this next sample, I've cut around all sewn edges. Then at the top, I scooped it down a little bit as not to get the fabric from the jeans showing. Then I would place this patch over the jeans and press. Use a press cloth or not, these are just denim jeans. This does the "pinning." We're not using a lot of pins in this program. Next stop is the sewing machine. Here I have the free arm exposed and I'm stitching around all sides of this patch pocket. I like to use thread that matches the jeans fabric and let the topstitching from the pocket shine through. Don't try to compete with that. Let your thread blend right in with the fabric itself. A jeans needle is so important. It will go through the stitching much easier. The next step is to turn the jeans wrong side out so that you can re-stitch the seam. When you do so, you have the lumberjack patch ready to go for another day of play. Indulging in an extra cookie or a piece of chocolate cake may not seem like a poor choice but after time, those extra treats can well, you know, turn into a permanent fixture around our middles. Rather than discarding or never wearing your favorite pair of jeans I'd like to show you how to make them wearable again using my too much cake fix. On our sample, I've used contrasting denim to show what the cake fix looks like. It's almost like a slice of cake! It fits in each side seam to add just that little extra expansion that you may need after Thanksgiving or going on vacation. The trick of working with this is just have a dedicated pair of the patch jeans and start removing the seam allowance. You're going to have to remove the seam allowance on each side below the grommet and just start with the seam allowance not with the waistband. Because this does sometimes take a little bit of extra time I've done this off-camera with the seam ripper just removing the stitching and then, releasing the stitches in the waistline. Tuck the fabric from the underlay away and cut the waistband. Yes, you're going to cut it! Cut it even with the folded under-section. Clip, there we go so that the waistband is now open. On the underlay side, you'll see that the seam allowance is wider than the waistband. So what I'm going to suggest that you do is trim this. Just taper it down toward the grommet area. And there you go, it's cut. Now you're dedicated pair of jeans that's dedicated for patches you're going to go toward the hem. The hem is going to become the top of the waistline. It has stability. It doesn't have stretch so you can cut a wedge or a strip a little bit longer and a little bit wider than you need. Let's say you're going to be adding oh, you know, an inch on each side of your pants. Well, this just shows that we have the area cut. Then, we're going to sew a strip to the this underlay side. I have pinned the waistband into place. I'll trim this one, as well. Pin the waistband so that it stays connected with the pants or you could stitch it, if you like. Then, meet right sides together. Here I have the top of the waistband which was the hem. You're going to meet it to the underlay fabric. Remember what underlay is? On a seam, on your jeans, one side is folded under and one side is overlayed. So, this is the underlay part where the topstitching comes into play. You just stitch from the waist downward. Here's a close-up of using a straight stitch and bartacking the beginning and tapering to the end of the seam, just with 1/4" seam allowance. That's it. There you go. Then, do some folding. During this program, we haven't done a lot of pinning. That's kind of on purpose, because with thick fabrics we're working with zippers, and coats, and jeans it's difficult to pin and have things lie flat. So, on the portion where the waistband has been cut-- This is the part that has the folded undersection-- I'm going to trim off the extra fabric. You'll see we zigzagged over that raw edge. On the underside of the fabric put some of that double-sided basting tape. I'm going to get this to lie pretty much flat. Here's my mark, so I know exactly where to overlay it. Work on a flat surface. I'm going to keep this up, so you can see just kind of press these together and there's your wedge. At the sewing machine I'm topstitching along that fold and along that edge of the waistband. Just stitch it once or twice you know, this is an area that might get a little extra stress so stitch securely through this area. We'll go back to our finished sample. Here's the wedge in contrast. On the underside, we've done some grading and trimming to trim off the excess fabric. All these fabrics have been washed so they're really not going to shrink. But you have a little extra room for your next piece of chocolate cake. The next time someone asks you to sew on a button for them teach them how to sew the button on. I'm a firm believer that everyone should know this basic sewing technique. The process is a new brainer when using no fuss steps. The first thing you might want to teach this person is how to thread a needle. That's pretty basic, but if they're having difficulties you can get a needle that is self-threading. It has an opening at the top. You hold the thread taut and then just push the needle up through the thread and it's threaded. Tie a double knot at the end. I don't like to have too long of a thread of double thread, because it's difficult to work with. Then, after you've tied the knot cut the extra thread tails, leaving about 1/4" from the end. I have one already cut and ready to go. When sewing on a button, positioning is important. Let some tape do the positioning for you. I've used office tape. I taped down the button so that I don't have to worry about holding it. One stitch from the back side. Let me get it going here. The only difficult thing about the tape is you can't necessarily see where the opening is. Here we go, there's the opening. Take one stitch. Then a toothpick or a coffee stir stick is what I like to use. I place it over the button. I'll just hold all these layers together. Bring the needle down through the second opening. In and out, in and out, in and out. You do this three to four times. I use in and out. The reason I am working over the stir stick or a toothpick is to allow a shank, a space between the needle-- not the needle-- but the button and the fabric. You do this, as I mentioned, about three or four times. You might want to look underneath, where the button is. You just keep stitching back and forth, back and forth. Now, I must tell you I have one that has been completely stitched with the right amount of stitches. You pull out the stir stick and remove the tape. Now there's a shank there's a distance between the fabric and the button. Insert the needle underneath, between the two layers the layer of the button and the fabric and then wrap the thread five or six times around the extra thread so that they're nice and taut. Then take a knot stitch a knot and pull it tightly. Don't cut the thread too closely. You want to leave a little space. Leave like 1/4", a little thread tail then use a seam sealant. A little drop of seam sealant between the layers so that it ties securely and knots those thread together. That button will stay on. So, knot the thread that is only 10" to 12" long sew over a swizzle stick or a toothpick seam seal it, and you're good to go with a no fuss button. Today's Nancy's Corner guest showcases the legacy and life of fashion designer in Prague who along with her husband tried to escape the onslaught of Nazi Germany in 1939. Their efforts failed. But their memory lives on in a letter fashion sketches and a museum exhibit that honors the stitching history from the Holocaust. Please welcome Ellie Gettinger from the Jewish Museum in Milwaukee. She joins us today via Skype. Good to see you, Ellie. Thanks for having me. To tell the story, we have to start at the beginning as we know it today. It started with a letter. We received, in 1997, a letter eight dress designs two envelopes, and one photograph that were sent from Czechoslovakia in 1939. They were sent from a man named Paul Strnad. And in it, in very quiet terms he says, thank you so much for troubling to get an affidavit of necessity for my wife as a dress designer and that they've lost their jobs. But it doesn't really specify what's going on with them aside from the fact that they've lost their jobs. This letter is dated December 1939. But we know World War II has started and we can see from the outside of the envelope that this was sent it says approved by the Air Force. Through this letter, he's trying to get Visas. And by separate cover, they send eight of her dress designs. This became part of our permanent collection here and we open an exhibit this fall in which we look at, we had these dresses created and used that as a way of kind of exploring the loss of the Holocaust because despite Paul's best efforts and despite his cousin Alvin's best efforts so they both died in the Holocaust. This story gives chills to me. And especially seeing-- hearing the story is sad but seeing the legacy of Hedy Hedwig her fashion designs. Here's an illustration of a gown. Very luxurious. Doesn't it seem like you could see this in a Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movie? Yes! Or in the scene-scape at Casa Blanca at Rick's Caf Amricain? That's what I get from looking at these drawings. I feel like they're so of their time but at the same time a lot of them are timeless in this way that you know, that's the gown that I think we could see at the Oscars and no one would flinch and say, "Oh, how gauche." The Milwaukee Repertory Theater took it upon themselves to make patterns from these sketches and then make the garments. Explain a little bit about that. Well, their process was extensive. I don't think any of us here at the museum fully appreciated what we were asking them to do. Nothing on the garments had anything about what sorts of fabrics you would be utilizing. There was nothing that said, you know these are the seam allowances that you might need; this is how, you know-- And even harder, there was nothing that said what the backs of these dresses should look like. You know, that would be a challenge. There's an interpretation there. Exactly, so what they did is they pulled things from their archive. They went to Mount Mary, which is University in Milwaukee that has a fabulous costume archive and they pulled things that were related from their archive. They went to vintage patterns on the Internet and all sorts of different resources to try and develop a kind of look book of styles that were similar to the styles that were sent. So, for that gown, for example they had seven or eight different dresses that they could go off of and say, well, in this time period if you're doing that kind of-- if you want that kind of volume on the bottom these are some mechanisms by which people are doing that. You know, it's an amazing work of research. I don't think any of us fully appreciated like what we were saying that they needed to do. What an amazing thing to happen with the making. The project lead for us was Jessica Jaeger. Jessica is in the costume shop there and has all of that background but she also is a USO reenactor and creates all of her costumes for that. So she knows this period backward and forward. You know, she knows exactly what these details would be so she applied that very, very keen eye into creating these costumes, they're not costumes, they're clothing that I think is apparent. We'll just quickly look at some of the other designs. In closing, we have coats and hats it's just amazing, the detail. Yeah, each of them, there's six hats and the milliner that created each one of them the blue one that you see there is actually like a second work. She went back and reevaluated how that would've looked. The felt was dyed to match. The coats have all of these unbelievable vintage details. For instance, the fur cuffs on the blue coat is actually vintage fur from that time period, coyote because that was the sort of fur that would've been used in Czechoslovakia. It's just unbelievable. Well, what a great way to honor a legacy and to honor Hedy and tell a story. This exhibit will travel, and perhaps some of our viewers will see it in different cities. We would love that. Thanks for joining me, Ellie, I appreciate it. And thank you for watching Sewing with Nancy. You can watch this program again and other programs online at nancyzieman.com. Thanks for joining us. Bye for now. Nancy has written a fully-illustrated book of quick and easy sewing techniques used to repair clothing. Many of the techniques are featured in this two-part series. The book is $14.99 plus shipping and handling. To order the book, call 1-800-336-8373

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sewingwithnancy.com/2903. Order Item Number BK2903 "Quick Stitch to Wear Again" Credit card orders only. To pay by check or money order call the number on the screen for details. Visit Nancy's website at nancyzieman.com to see additional episodes, Nancy's blog, and more. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman has been brought to you by Baby Lock; Madeira Threads; Koala Studios; Clover; Amazing Designs and Klass Needles. Closed captioning funding provided by Pellon. Sewing with Nancy is a co-production of Nancy Zieman Productions and Wisconsin Public Television.