Whither alterations?
I have a short jacket of which I’m very fond. It’s not especially lovely, but it fits well and it nicely occupies a niche between heavy and light. It also packs very very well because it can be scrunched down to almost nothing. But recently its zipper gave up the ghost.
I haven’t been able to find a good replacement for the jacket, so I figured I’d just have a new zipper put in, because it’s so badly broken it can’t be fixed. I took it to the local place I’ve used for years for alterations, and they said it would cost eighty-two dollars to replace the zipper.
Eighty-two dollars.
That’s considerably more than the jacket originally cost. I could replace the entire jacket for much less than that, if I only could find one a lot like it. I’ve looked and looked but so far no dice.
So I set about to find someone else to do the alteration, and discovered that such people are hard to find. It’s like shoemakers. I guess repairing clothing is outdated, although it seems to me that there’s still a need. But the craftspeople just aren’t there any more. I called a host of them and for the most part their phone numbers no longer work.
I did manage to find one person who still does that sort of thing, but she’s off for the summer, and she added that she’s already booked up in September and much of October. She charges forty dollars for a zipper replacement. But again, the entire jacket originally cost something like that, and it’s not even that old.
For that matter, why do zippers break so often these days? Do they not make them like they used to?
And don’t tell me to do the zipper replacement myself. I haven’t a clue how, although I can sew. They taught us in grade school, and it was pretty intensive. I know how to do all sorts of fancy stitches, but not how to replace a large zipper in a jacket. I actually tried to do something similar with a sweatshirt, but gave up.
My guess is that schools don’t teach kids how to sew anymore, either.
I’m in a grousing mood.
Then there are the vaunted YYK zippers, the king of zippers your jacket is less than worthy of unless you have, that I’ve found are hit or miss far more often than any of the regular, run of the mill zippers on clothing I’ve owned throughout my life time…
I think I’ll keep my sewing machine.
Neo, try searching You Tube for “how to replace a jacket zipper.” Michael’s stores now have the basic notions that Joann Fabrics used to carry. It’s possible with You Tube coaching and a $7 zipper you could do this yourself, even by hand.
Just pay the $82 dollars, it is the easiest solution. If that is too expensive, run a “buy me a zipper” fundraiser. I’ll happily toss in 25 bucks.
My mother, before she was invalided, could do it. She loved making costumes for the community theater productions. She made two king sized comforter covers for us that have really long zippers. Expert cook and baker, expert seamstress.
My first wife worked for YKK. The corporate literature showed Japanese workers in color coded jumpsuits exercising in formation in front of the corporate HQ. This being 1978.
I have an old leather jacket with bad zipper. I been wondering about what it would cost to replace it. I may just use it unzipped.
There was a company — Frostline was the name I believe — that used to sell kits of outdoor wear and camping products. I made a couple of their sleeping bags and 50 or so years ago I made a down vest for my wife that she wears to this day. Good stuff, and using a kit allows a person to customize for little to no extra cost. I quite enjoyed doing that.
And before that my daughter waited until the day before her prom to start sewing a dress. Not a difficult project, but she was only around half way through by midnight, so I took over. I worked all night and finished it in time for her to take it to school. She still reminds me, which is good as I have pretty much forgotten stuff from those days.
Point is, you can probably do it. If you decide to try, get the best quality zipper money can buy — you don’t want to do it a second time.
I also taught all three daughters to change a car tire when they turned 15. It’s a good skill to have. So is sewing.
Neo, if you can show me a picture of the jacket, I can probably install a new zipper. I make handbags with zippers and have replaced jeans zippers too. It would just require a new zipper and shipping to/from TX. You should have my email addy if you’re interested.
gwynmir:
That’s so kind of you! But I don’t think it will be necessary, although I very much appreciate the thought. I have finally ordered a possible replacement jacket from Amazon and maybe that will work. I hope so, because this new one is waterproof, which the other one wasn’t .
I got some fine winter boots from Bass Pro Shop. Leather exterior, thinsulate, about 6” tall. Good rubber soles. $200 but a 50% discount. This was Michigan, where such boots are appreciated.
One year I go to the basement to retrieve them for winter. The rubber soles had disintegrated. I called a local shoe shop. They could repair. Red Wing in Maumee Ohio.
Owner/repairman told me manufacturers cheap out on needed “stuff.” He replaced the soles for “only” $100. So I paid full price and now have better winter boots.
See if she knows of anyone else.
And now I live in Newport News VA.
neo: glad you found a good replacement!
Zippers used to be all metal, now they are all plastic.
It’s a double whammy. Not many people do that work anymore, so the people who do are in high demand and can charge way more than if everyone still learned how to make clothes growing up.
Plus the original clothes were likely made in Indonesia by workers making $3 a day (and happy to have it) and cranking them out at a rapid pace, but the person in the US who repairs them needs to make at least $80 an hour just to keep the lights on in the shop and have a little profit to take home at the end of the day.
I don’t have the artistry to make (or repair) clothes, but I do know how to sew, both by hand and with a machine. I’ve made things before, but mostly practical stuff…seat cushion covers, storage bags for toolsets; simple halloween costumes, things like that. The most complex thing I ever made…back when I played Table Tennis semi-competitively, I wanted a cover/case for my fancy racket (the official term for a ping-pong paddle). I made it of light canvas, contoured to the paddle, with a zipper on the blade end and a pocket on the front for three balls. It didn’t exactly come out “pretty” but very functional and practical and I still have it though I haven’t played ping-pong regularly in decades…by the way, the zipper’s metal and still works as well as the day I sewed it in. I mainly learned from my mom, but I took a semester of “home ec.” in high school and learned some valuable skills. I also took wood shop in Junior High, and Auto Shop and Electronics in High School.
It’s a shame those practical things aren’t even options any more but it’s understandable…I mean, how’s a kid supposed to learn the proper use of pronouns and how privileged he is by being white if he’s busy learning how to repair an engine, make a piece of furniture or cook and sew?
Hi. You could remove the zipper, add buttons,snaps or velcro. Use one of the fancy stiches to decorate to seams where the zipper got removed. Viola a new/old jacket.
Ask around for quilting groups. It’s likely you’ll find someone with zipper experience. Churches are a good place to enquire.
My wife belongs to one. They make little quilted blankets for the regional NICUs, small handbags for carrying medicines issued by the hospital, etc. Some of the projects involve zippers.
It’s not that hard. Youtube is your friend.
I mentioned this topic to my wife when she got home yesterday. She reminded me that her mother made her make almost all her own school clothes from 6th grade on. She had to make 8-9 outfits each year. Back to school shopping meant a trip to the fabric store. She said she can do zippers.
My mother was a Home Ec teacher. I still have a few things she made (she’s been gone 44 years now), and I have a thick hardwood cutting board made for me as a wedding gift by her friend the Shop teacher. Children should be taught these practical skills at school, since in so many homes now they are not taught.
Interesting idea
At church I should go to.more often than a few holiday services, has Repair Cafe, people bring in things and those who know how try and fix their objects. My aunt and mom do sewing at these. Would have been done for nothing to maybe a small donation, no one is earning a fee. It was held yesterday
I feel kind of guilty not going and seeing if anyone needs furniture repairs
I’ve read, somewhere, that a lot of the standard men’s clothing and shoe sizes, and their ranges, are based on the millions of measurements which were taken of soldiers who joined the military in WWII; apparently the largest sample of its kind.
Maybe I’m wrong, but my understanding was that, up until relatively recently, every little town and village had it’s shoemaker, who made you your shoes and, then, came mechanization and standardization.
Fast forward to today, and its really really hard for me to find stock shoes which actually feel good.
Of course, go somewhere like Saville Row, and there are the high end shoe makers who, for a very hefty price, will custom make you a pair of “bespoke” shoes, which, one assumes, would fit you like a dream.*
Then, there are “orthopedic” shoemakers, who create custom shoes for people who have foot malformations and other medical issues, and they’re apparently pretty thin on the ground.
However, try to find a local shoemaker, someone who can somehow modify standard shoes to make them really fit you, and you have to look long and hard and, if you find such a guy, you can bet its gonna’ cost you.
Lamp repair, too.
There’s a guy in Honolulu (in an old quonset hut – can you believe it?) that can fix whatever is wrong with your lamp and if you take him a beautiful vase, ginger jar or block of wood, he can make a lamp out of it. A friend and I went in to him last year for repairs and I said to her we should get all our repairs done now because when he’s gone there won’t be anyone else to do it.
Mattsky;
Try a shoe repair that caters to bikers – the motorcycle kind – I got the zipper on my computer bag replaced at one in Salt lake City.
Now if only I can find someone to resurface my ice skates…
Ask around for quilting groups. It’s likely you’ll find someone with zipper experience. Churches are a good place to enquire.
Better find quilting groups when they are still around. My 83 year old cousin in Montana has hosted a quilting group at her home for decades. She informs me that each year the quilting group gets smaller and smaller. Few young replacements are learning quilting. (I should ask my cousin if any of her granddaughters have picked up quilting. One of her granddaughters shares her grandmother’s love of horses.)
From Alberta, not that far from Montana: Corb Lund – “Never Not Had Horses”
(As an indication of relative distances in Montana: the high school teams in my cousin’s town compete with the high school teams of a town 150 miles away.)
There was a neighborhood cobbler in our old city who worked out of a tiny shop wedged between a couple of other businesses. I had him re-sole a pair of Redwing boots when I wore out the original soles. He did an excellent job for a reasonable price (compared to a new pair of boots) and put on the “hard” Vibram sole for me; much better than the originals or new ones.
A year or so later I went back to see if he could re-sole a different pair of boots, and the shop had been closed. I went to the shop next door and they told me that he had died and that nobody wanted the business. His widow notified all of the customers that were waiting for their repairs (he had a two-month backlog) to come pick them up. Incredibly the next-door lady told me that some of the customers had the unmitigated gall to complain that the work hadn’t been done on their footwear! There was literally NO ONE else in town who did that kind of work.