SewLibra:
Serge all 4 raw edges of the seam allowance (SA) if desired. I serged all the seams of this dress so I kept it consistent.
SewLibra:
Stabilize and sew the shoulder seam that will not have the zipper. In my case this is the right side. I am using Design Plus straight (not bias) fusible stay tape.
SewLibra:
Stabilize both sides of the SA in the zipper side. You will need a 5/8 in. SA to support the zipper.
SewLibra:
Prepare your neck binding by folding wrong sides together and pressing. Here I have added 2 extra inches in length and narrowed the band by 1/4 in. I sewed it in using a 3/8 in. SA. The pattern calls for 5/8 in. but I find a narrower SA makes it easier.
SewLibra:
Leave an inch or so of the binding past the neck edge, stretch and pin the binding to the neck edge, leaving the remaining extra at the other end. The ends will be cut off later.
SewLibra:
Stretch and baste the binding from pin to pin. I use a straight stitch because it will be serged off anyway. If you don't have a serger, use a stretch or zig zag stitch.
SewLibra:
If there are no puckers and your binding looks good, serge the SA with the binding facing down. This neck hole is very small and gathers easily, making it too easy to be clipped by the serger blade if it were hidden underneath!
SewLibra:
Cut off the excess binding on each end even with the SA. Machine overcast the raw edges of the binding.
SewLibra:
Fold the binding over 5/8 in., same as the shoulder SA, and press. Do the same on the other end of the binding.
SewLibra:
Hand baste the SA and position the zip right side up aligning the teeth to the seam line. Measure up from the bottom of the shoulder edge 3/4 in. and mark the zip. The sleeve will be sewn with a 5/8 in. SA.
SewLibra:
Make a zipper stop at your mark using a zig zag at zero length and 6.0 width. Sew enough stitches to make a lump. Lol.
SewLibra:
Using pinking shears if you have them and cut the zipper off below the new stop. Use Fray Check if you don't have pinking shears to keep it from raveling.
SewLibra:
Using a zipper foot, sew each side of the zipper separately from shoulder edge to binding edge. If the machine bogs down over the seam, stop, backstitch, and start a new line of stitching over the binding. This happened to me on one side.
SewLibra:
If your zipper looks satisfactory, take out your basting stitches and you are ready to sew on the sleeves.
SewLibra:
Sew in your sleeve with a 5/8 in. SA. This is why I marked the zipper a little more than 5/8" up from the bottom, so I wouldn't get any zipper into the SA.
SewLibra:
Here is my finished shoulder zipper. I left a small gap at the top edge so the zipper head wouldn't dig into my neck. Personal preference. Any little lumps I had pressed out and it looks pretty good!