Focal Zipper

My Mimi and Harry came to visit us on their way to Florida for the winter and she brought me a bag of treats.  The bag consisted of lace, zippers, rick rack, and ribbon that she had left over from past sewing projects.  It is quite the modge podge of goodies, but the thing that caught my eye first was this amazing Aztec inspired zipper.  I thought about making a bag with it, but really wanted it to be the focal point.

I saw this refashion from Cotton & Curls and decided to do something similar with this zipper and a thrifted sweatshirt I got for $2.50.  (I would highly recommend doing this with a dress form.  I'm not sure I could have done it without one.)

It was actually pretty simple to do.  I put the sweatshirt on the adjusted dress form (excuse the mess - in order for me to have a sewing space I must share it with my dogs and our office) and started pinning from there.  I made sure not to let the front pull or bunch in dis-forming ways.  After pinning the zipper, I tried the sweatshirt on before sewing it down.

The zipper was quite a bit longer than I needed so, after sewing it in and cutting off the excess, I took the teeth apart leaving me with two strips of fabric.  I decided to further embellish the sweatshirt by adding either side of the zipper to the shoulder seams of the shirt.

I love it.  It's different.  It's unique.  It's quirky.  And it's from my Mimi.  I had to answer a few questions the first time I wore it school.  Some kids thought I had my shirt on backwards.  I don't care, I'll answer them all day long!  Love my new $2.50 comfy shirt!