About Zippers. Zippers?? And Pillows

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Ever  shop for zippers? I have, and I can tell you this: it is pretty much impossible to find the style, length and color you need, especially at the first place you go to find it. Enter Amazon.

I sew. I love exotic fabrics. Crazy, mod 60s florals, bold paisleys. Over time I have collected lots of them. What do I do with them? Well…

I could make clothing I’d never wear with them. I’ve done that. I can line the purses and bags I make. Done that too. But lately I’ve been intrigued by pillows. Bold, wild, crazy pillows of every shape and style. While low on utility, they are a great way to indulge a desire for change, and instant gratification.

So how did this turn into a discussion of pillows? It was supposed to be about zippers. Here’s the thing. To sew great pillows, zippers are required. No matter how perfectly a pillow is assembled, an area has to be left open to add the filling. Once filled, the challenge becomes how to close the opening.

I’m terrible at hand sewing, and I hate it. When I hand-sew the 4th side of a pillow after filling it, it always looks bad. All that work and the first thing anyone will see is how crappy the hand-sewn part is. Then there’s Machine top-stitching. Mind you, an adequately stuffed pillow does not easily pass through a sewing machine, so one edge will have a crooked top stitch and the other 3 will not. I’ve done it- don’t like it.

Which leads me to zippers. Obviously that’s the ideal way to fill and then close a pillow. But there’s a problem. You may never have realized it. The zipper must be installed first. Two squares of fabric. Sew the zipper along one end, face down. Align the second square of fabric, again face to face with the zipper. Sew. Sew the front and back square together at either end to meet the zipper ends. Fold back each edge, press if needed, then topstitch.

So none of this works unless I have the zipper first. Which, ordinarily, I never do. Not until now, anyway. It occurred to me that I can specify exactly what I want or need on Amazon, order it, and receive it at my front door in short order. Sorry, Joann Fabrics. Amazon never makes me search behind the display, request a price check, or come back next week.

So I ordered exactly the zippers I may need if the mood takes me to make a pillow. I’m not entirely sure, but I may have ordered 150 zippers. Fifty white, fifty black, and an assortment of colors. So, I’m pretty much set. At any moment, I can decide to make a pillow, start with the zipper, and end up with a quality product. No waiting. (Cuz you know the best time to create is long after the stores close.)

The multicolor pack arrived today. Black and white to follow. Time to get out the sewing machine, fabric remnants, and yardstick. And stuffing. Stuffing?uh oh…

Hey Amazon.com…

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