A long time ago, I worked in a fabric store that offered zipper shortening services. It was such a cool service. We didn’t have to carry every color and size because we could offer almost infinite customization. Nearly every salesperson in the store learned to do this, myself included. This month, I reached back a few decades to fix a broken zipper.

Materials: For this project, I needed a new zipper slider for a #5 plastic separating zipper, zipper stops, and small nipper pliers, also known as “ZIPPER NIPPERS!* I also bought a zipper, just in case there was a bigger problem that wasn’t immediately apparent. I have some elastic zipper pull tabs similar to these and found one that coordinated with the jacket.

The first step was to remove the top stop on one side. This let me slide off the damaged zipper slider and put on the new one. I confirmed that the new slider unzipped and zipped the zipper. It did! And there was great rejoicing! And then I crimped the new zipper stop into place. I added the elastic pull tab and voilà! Back in business!

This was an easy project once I assembled the tools and materials. WAWAK is a great source for zippers and zipper parts.

Have a zipper that needs fixing? Y0u can do it!

*I accidentally bought a pair of nipper pliers that were WAY TOO BIG. After watching some videos, I found a more appropriate pair in this Harbor Freight set. Side note, this is a good set for jewelry making and repair without the pink tax on similar items at craft stores. 

Photo by Ekaterina Grosheva on Unsplash