How to Use Stay Tape for Zippers
DRCOS Patterns
& How To Make

How to use stay tape

Many beginners who are unaware of its existence attach the zipper directly to the fabric and...

If you keep opening and closing the zipper repeatedly, the fabric in that area can stretch and become badly distorted.

The zipper section puts a lot of stress on the fabric because the slider is raised and lowered.

Therefore, "stay tape" is applied to the fabric to prevent it from stretching too much.

If you don't have stay tape, cut a 1 cm width of non-woven fusible interlining as a substitute.

However, this method is only for "plain weave fabrics". For knit fabrics, use stay tape made specifically for knits.

Check the position for stay tape on the paper pattern.

The gray area indicates where the stay tape should be applied. I sometimes forget to mark it on my patterns, but basically it should be placed where the zipper will be attached.

In the image, it goes only up to the seam allowance at the waist, but you can extend it all the way to the edge.

In this case, we will use stay tape that matches the fabric color. The width is about 1 cm.

It is thin enough that it does not show through the outer fabric when applied.

Cut the stay tape according to the paper pattern mentioned earlier.

From the end of the crotch up to the zipper sewing position, attach the stay tape to the back side of the skirt fabric along the white dotted line where the zipper will be sewn.

The most important point is to place the stay tape at the center of the zipper sewing position.

An invisible zipper is sewn 1 cm from the side, so if you leave 5 mm from the side when applying the tape, it will be centered in the sewing position.

Attach stay tape to both sides where you plan to sew the zipper, and you are ready.

Since stay tape will basically be on the inside, there is no need to match the fabric color strictly.

If you have black and white stay tape, that will be sufficient!

Once the stay tape is attached, sew to the seam stop position and then attach the zipper.