Sewing Tutorials
How to sew a fly front zipper for pants, trousers and jeans
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Are you sewing your first pair of pants and wondering how to sew a fly front zipper? Then you are at the right place! In this post, I’lll show you how to sew a fly front zipper which is perfect for soft linen pants or light denim pants. I’ll show you this using the example of my “High Waist Trousers” sewing pattern, which is a pair of loose-fitting trousers with a high waistband and deep side pockets.
This post is part of a blog serie on how to make your first pair of well-fitted pants:
Part 1: How to sew a fly front zipper for pants – sewing tutorial (this post)
Part 2: How to sew side pockets for pants – sewing tutorial (available in german, translation coming soon)
Part 3: DIY high waist trousers – full sewing tutorial (coming soon)
Let’s get started on your new favourite pair of pants. Happy Sewing!
Pants Fly Front Zipper: What you’ll need
Material
- Pants Sewing pattern of your choice
- Fabric* of your choice
-
min. 18 cm long zipper* of your choice (My recommendation: non-separating Nylon coil zipper*, 3-5mm, can be shorten later on)
- 50 cm fusible interlining* to strengthen stress points (zipper fly tabs)
- New universal sewing needles*
- Thread matching your fabric
- Fabric Scissors, fabric pins, iron
Sewing Pattern Suggestion
Make sure to support the fly tab parts with fusible lining to strengthen stress points. When you’re sewing my trousers sewing pattern, the following parts will be cut in your main fabric with the support of a fusible interlining:
Suggested Materials
Good to know
Do I need a zipper foot to sew a zipper?
A special zipper foot can be very useful when it comes to sewing trousers and pants with a zipper. This special foot allows you to stitch close to the edge of the zipper which helps you to work accurately.
While a special zipper foot is nice to have, you definitely don’t need it to sew a zipper into your pants! Instead you can use your standard foot. Some sewing machines have the option to move the position of the needle which can be very helpful when sewing a zipper with your regular sewing machine foot.
How to sew a fly front zipper YouTube Tutorial
in German with English subtitles, (illustrated tutorial below)
How to sew a fly front zipper for pants and trousers: Tutorial
Maybe you’re sewing a pair of pants and you’re wondering: how do you sew a zipper? Zippers are often a big challenge, especially for sewing beginners. Hopefully this step by step zipper tutorial will help you to sew your very own trousers.
Note: in this tutorial I’m using my sewing pattern “High Waist Trousers” as an example but I’m sure the instructions will also help you with any other sewing pattern.
- Step 1: Right sides together stitch front left pant to front right pant at rise, with 1 cm seam allowance (sa). Stop at notch.
-
Step 2:
Open zipper. Right sides together line up zipper tape with right front. Pin in place.
Stitch zipper tape to the right front with a narrow edge and a straight stitch. Stop exactly at notch.
Step 3 left to right:
- 3.1. (left illustration): Fold right front fly tab left sides together. Pin right front fly on top of the zipper tape. Stitch along the previous seam.
- 3.2. (right illustration): The easiest way to do that is to flip the pants. Again, stop exactly at the notch.
-
Step 4:
Clean finish raw edges with your serger or a zig-zag / overlock stitch of your sewing machine.
Details:
Line 1 (long side) is the seam allowance incl. front fly. Zipper tape disappears in the serger seam.
Line 2 (short side) is the raw edge of the front fly only.
- 4.1. Clean finish raw edges seam of step 1.
-
Step 5: Topstitch zipper from right front.
Step 6 (left to right):
- 6.1. Pin left front fly tab right sides together onto the left front pant. Recommendation: Pinning works best by placing the left front fly inside the two front pieces.
- Stitch onto left front with a straight stitch. Make sure the new seam (red line) is slightly narrower than the seam from step one (grey line).
- Schritt 7 (no illustration): Topstitch left fly front onto the seam allowance (only through the seam allowance, not the front!). Clean finish curved edge of the left fly front.
- Step 8:On right side: close zipper and pin into place. This will help us to determine the final position in the next step.
Step 9 (left to right):Turn pants to wrong side. Make sure the pin / zipper stays in your marked position.
On the wrong side, fold away the right fly shield, pin the zipper to the left front fly, making sure to not catch the front leg.
Recommendation: Hand baste the zip to the fly front before stitching with your machine. As an orientation for you: the left zipper tape should be in the center of the left front fly.
Open zipper before stitching.
Step 10 (left to right): Close the zip. Mark the fly topstitching line using the template on the pattern. Topstitch along the marking, starting at the top edge, down to the curve, then to the center seam. Backstitch at the beginning and end.
Step 11:Stitch again over the lower curve (red line) and attach the rightfly to the left.
Step 12: Optional, if necessary: shorten the zipper but make sure to lock the end with some stitches (before cutting it off!)
YAY, DONE!
I hope you successfully sewed your first fly front zipper into your new favourite pair of pants. Do you have open questions or feedback? I’m all ears!
I’d love to hear your feedback! Leave a comment below 🙂
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