Farmwife Darlene Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 I just finished using my zippers for the first time and I love them! But I have a question - how do most of you (or all of you) use them? Do you stitch them by machine or do you pin them on? The reason I ask - it took forever to use my seam ripper and pick out the stitches from my first quilt. There should be an easier way to do this. Any advice before I put them on my next quilt? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeanette Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 I quit pinning after multilating my fingers so much. I use one of my older machines and set the tension very very loose, the length as long as possible and then stitch. With the tension so loose and the stitches very long I then can just grab a corner of the quilt and tug and pull the whole zipper off. I do this while the zipper is still attached to the leaders. Every so often I will stand and pull all of the loose thread out of the zipper cloth. Warning, do not zigzag, if you tighten your rollers too tightly you will have zigzag edges - been there done that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Darlene, what did you use to hold the leader onto the roller? I always machine baste the quilts on.. I use a real crappy thread that I know isn\'t strong and a real loose long stitch.. it comes right out. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmwife Darlene Posted January 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 I followed the instructions that came with the leaders. I sewed them onto the rollers. Then I zigzaged them onto my quilt top and bottom. Sounds like I shouldn\'t have done that. It was awful. I work full time and it took me several nights to get them off the final quilt. I loved the way it allowed me to put the top and bottom on so quickly but that joy quickly fizzled when I was done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonjaHammond Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 I have put quilts on my zippers by sewing and pinning. It just depends on my mood. I us my Pfaff on the longest straight stitch length. Before I take the quilt off the frame, use your seam ripper and cut the top thread every inch or so. Pull the bottom thread and the stitches should come right out. If I use pins there is always a little bandaid near by. Either way works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeanros Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Darlene, I sewed my zippers to the canvus while it was on my Mille. Then when ever I have a quilt to do, I pin the backing to the zippers, load my batting, then the top of th quilt, basting it at the top. Then I pen the bottom of the quilt to the front roller. Some times I set and pen the backing to the zippers and then just zip it on, load the batting and the top. I hope this helps. Jean Mille and pinning the bottom to the front roller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizziesgirl Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Darlene, Go to E-bay and look for a Singer Touch N Sew, circa 1970\'s. It has an attachment that fits over the bobbin area and a special throat plate and it will do a chain stitch. I go mine for around $70 and it was the worth every penny. I don\'t know why they can\'t make attachments like that now for our DM. Just chain stitch the zippers on and then when your done, pull the thread right out, no picking, it\'s fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grammie Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 I don\'t mind pinning at all. I use the heavy corsage pins. When loaded I lay blue painters tape onto the attached zippers just over the pins. Helps prevent rubbing the pins. Pinning is easier to me anyway. No time to do the machine work and then have to remove also. Yuck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Or better than E-bay, go to a garage sale or a second hand stor, you can get the Singer Touch and Sew at those places all the time and no shippin charge. If you buy on E-bay you will pay at least $30 shipping - that will make the machine $100 easy. I bought mine at an estate sale, they had $150 on it I waited until the last day of the sale, of course no one had bought it, they are not worth that much. It was in a cabinet and had all the attachments plus the instruction manual and I offered them $50. At first they looked shocked and I told them that we could go to Wal-Mart and buy a new one for $75. Didn\'t mention to them that this one does a chain stitch and that is what I needed. If you go that route, make sure it has all the parts. Good luck in your search. MB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsktsn3cats Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 I just got my new machine. When they set the machine up, they added zippers for me. The zipper is sewn to the leader and I pin the quilt to the second part of the zipper. Easy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 I hate pins. They tear my hands up. I sewed the zippers onto the leades with my longarm, then chain stitch the quilt onto the zippers. It\'s just whatever works for each individual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 One more thought...some sergers do a chain stitch, if you have one you might want to check into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmwife Darlene Posted January 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I pinned my practice quilts on and thought that took a long time. Can you tell I\'m an impatient person?! The sewing machine I have now doesn\'t do a chain stitch. I\'ll keep trying different things because sewing on my Liberty is too much fun to quit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Darlene, Of course you can continue to pin your quilts on, as some do. As you continue to pin quilts onto your leades, you will get faster. Hang in there and keep having fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtreusch Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 I bought zippers several months ago because I do a lot of custom work that sometimes takes 2-3 weeks to complete. Then I can take the quilt off if I need a break from it or if I have to get something else done really quick. I tried sewing the quilt top and backing to the zippers on my DSM and it just doesn\'t work for me. It ended up being more work that just pinning the quilt to the zippers. So what I do is leave the zippers on the leaders and pin the quilt to the zippers just like I would pin it to the leaders. Then the quilt is ready to zip off if I need to for any reason. This works great for me. Debbi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmwife Darlene Posted January 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 Has anyone tried using the safety pins to pin a quilt on? I thought I might try those next instead of stitching it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowena Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 I pin also. However if doing something longterm (usually mine) I would baste on with DSM. Safety pins hurt my fingers getting them opened and closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 I just tried using my DSM and a big zig-zag...what a mess, now I have these little pieces of thread to pick out of my zippers. My Touch and Sew quit working, can\'t get it to stitch at all. I know I did something, just can\'t figure out what. So now I am back to pinning the quit to the zippers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 Darlene, thanks for the reply. Because the lenni rollers come in two sections, they don\'t have anything attached, they come with self stick Velcro, which doesn\'t self stick, unless I keep a LONG leader on them, to wrap around. I don\'t want to use a LONG leader for small baby quilts, place mats, etc. Even the glue we bought isn\'t holding that velcro on. Wish I could find another solution. We are thinking of gluing the leader directly to the roller and forget the Velcro.. maybe that would stay on.. but if the glue won\'t stick? Loving every other feature of the machine.. especially the SR. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sams Mom Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 I have always used safety pins. No injuries, easy on, easy off. I\'m not sure how you would ease in fullness in borders using a sewing machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 I\'m loading a quilt today and will try the safety pins. I agree with the fullness issue and have noticed that my top looks too dog eared for me at the bottom of the quilt when I stitch it onto the zippers. I thought with zippers I could get away from pinning the quilt onto the leaders. Safety pins would be a better alternative than the flat head pins I currently use. It just doesn\'t make sense to me to have the zippers and then pin the quilt in with the same old pins. Someone else mentioned safety pins a while back and I spaced out....thanks for the reminder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadows4 Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 I added small leaders to my zippers and baste stitch my quilts onto my small leaders. When I\'m ready to take them off I use a one-sided razor blade to take them off. I don\'t cut the fabric or the leaders, just hold the quilt edge up high enough to cut the thread underneath. It takes me about 2 minutes to remove the quilt from the zippers. I used to upholster furniture and I used the blades alot then, so I\'m used to them. Though they scare some folks, I\'ve found them to be the best and fastest for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 I could just see me with a razor blade...I can\'t even handle pins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgene Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 I use the corsage pins (they are so elegant looking), BUT I DO NOT PIN AT THE MACHINE. When pinning at the machine you have nothing but your hands to use to guide the pins. I have a 6\' long cutting table and I pin there. Therefore, I do not (usually) prick myself with the pins, because the cutting surface serves as a guide for the pins. Just stick the pin in and bounce it off the table (sort of) and raise the zipper to get the point of the pin to the top of the zipper again. And it doesn\'t take long. I stretch the zippers and my top or backing across the table. I even have some weighted, sand-filled wrist weights (for walking) that I use to anchor the quilt to the table so the top (or backing) doesn\'t slide off. I can pin close to the front of the table (vs leaning over too much). The cutting table is a good height so it\'s comfortable for your back as well. Picture attached is using a piece of fabric in lieu of an actual quilt top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starbear Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 I use water soluble thread. Someone at Innovations mentioned this to me. So I went to the superior booth and picked up a cone. I have been working this way for a couple months. I think I am pretty happy with it. I was told to just use a spray bottle to wet the thread on the zipper and it become weak and then just separate the back from the zipper. I have also used a damp sponge waited a few for the water to soak in and they separate. I haven’t experience a down side yet, but someone might have a comment or two to the down side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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