Jeans Zipper Replacement: How to Easily Replace a Broken Zipper

This tutorial demonstrates an easy to follow three step process to remove and replace broken jeans zippers.

Jeans Zipper Replacement: How to Easily and Confidently Replace a Broken Zipper

By: Carmen Barkley, Guest Contributor

Isn’t it frustrating when the zipper on your favorite jeans decides to just stop working? You may be worried you’ll have to throw out your beloved, well-worn jeans – but a broken zipper really isn’t as big of a deal as you may think!

With a sewing machine, new zipper, and a few other basic sewing supplies, you can quickly replace a jeans zipper. When completed, your jeans will be as good as new in less than 2 hours!

What you’ll need:

• the jeans you want to fix
• a new jeans zipper (NOTE: make sure it is specifically for jeans and has metal zipper teeth)
• matching all-purpose thread
• matching top-stitching thread
• jean sewing machine needle
• top-stitching sewing machine needle
• seam ripper (strong enough to tear out stitching on denim material)
• sewing pins
• sewing machine with straight and zig zag stitches

Steps

1. Gather your supplies.
2. Remove the old zipper with your seam ripper.
3. Pin and sew the new zipper in place.

Step One:  Gather Your Supplies

First, gather and organize all your supplies. The basic sewing supplies you’ll need include your sewing machine, seam ripper, and pins. For thread, you’ll want to get a spool of regular blue or black all-purpose thread that matches the color of your jeans as closely as possible. You’ll also need a spool of top-stitching thread that matches the top-stitching on your jeans – mine isn’t an exact match, but it’s close enough for me! Also, top-stitching thread is a bit more challenging to work with than regular thread; if you don’t want to deal with that, just use regular thread for everything. Your jeans just won’t have that nice top-stitching around the zipper anymore.

Since denim is quite a bit thicker than most other fabrics, getting a pack of denim-specific needles will really help – they’re usually labelled as “Jeans/Denim.” A pack of top-stitching needles will work great for the areas where you need to use top-stitching thread. They have a larger eye that will let you thread that thick top-stitching thread more easily!

And finally – your zipper! Make sure to choose a metal zipper because it will hold up a lot better long term. Also, try to choose one that’s the same length as the original zipper in your jeans. If you absolutely can’t find one the same length, you can shorten a longer zipper by hand sewing across the zipper teeth a few times to create a new zipper stop, then cutting off the excess zipper below the new stop. Just make sure you cut between the metal teeth, so you don’t ruin your scissors!

Step Two:  Remove the Old Zipper

Start by seam ripping the top-stitching in the waistband that is holding the top of the zipper tape in place. You’ll want to do this on both sides and try to remove just enough stitching to release the zipper tape. The less stitching you have to re-sew the better!

Next, seam rip the stitching holding the zipper tape to the fly guard (the innermost part of the zipper fly) and the right front of the jeans.

Now we’ve almost got that whole side of the zipper tape free. The last thing holding it in place is the bartack at the base of the fly.

Seam rip just enough of the bartack to get the bottom of the zipper tape free. This is definitely the most time-consuming area to seam rip, but just be patient and careful not to cut the fabric with your seam ripper. TIP:  Don’t start ripping the stitches from the front of the jeans. Instead, work from the side or underside. It is easier to see the stitching if you work from a side angle.

It’s OK if some of the bartack top-stitching is still in place when you’re done (see mine below). The goal is just to get the zipper tape free!

We just have one more side left to get the old zipper out! Seam rip the stitching holding the other side of the zipper in place. If the very bottom of your zipper tape is caught in the curved top-stitching at the base of the fly just go ahead and cut the zipper tape above that stitching. We don’t want to have to recreate all that curved top-stitching!

Step 3 Pin and Sew the New Zipper

Next, grab your new zipper and place the left side of the zipper tape right where you just removed the old zipper from, inserting the top of the tape into the waistband opening. You’ll want to make absolutely certain that the zipper pull is facing to the OUTSIDE of the jeans!

Pin the zipper tape in place, pinning from the outside of the jeans.

Then take this to your sewing machine and sew the left side of the zipper tape in place with all-purpose matching thread, sewing from the outside of the jeans. Using a jeans needle and a zipper foot will really help you to get nice stitching as close to the zipper teeth as possible. Just make sure not to sew over the zipper teeth! It’s also important that you use thread that matches the color of your jeans as closely as possible since this stitching is visible from the outside of the jeans. I find that using this method when replacing a jeans zipper is easier and faster than removing all of the top-stitching and basically re-creating the entire fly. Just keep in mind that the closer your thread matches your denim the better your result will be.

Here’s how it looks – you can see that my thread was an almost perfect color match, it just blends right in!

Next, pin the other side of the zipper tape in place, sandwiching it between the fly guard and the folded edge of the right front of the jeans. You’ll also want to insert the top of the zipper tape into the waistband and just make sure everything is laying nice and flat.

For this row of stitching, you’re going to want to use top-stitching thread! Insert a top-stitching needle on your machine and thread the top of your machine with the top-stitching thread. It’s best to use all-purpose thread in the bobbin because most home sewing machines can’t handle top-stitching thread in the bobbin. I also like to change my stitch length to 3 mm because a slightly longer stitch length works better with top-stitching thread.

Once your needle is threaded and stitch length is set, sew the other side of the zipper tape in place as close to the zipper teeth as possible. Make sure that you sew from the OUTSIDE of the jeans because the top-stitching thread will only be on top.

Next, we need to close the two openings in the waistband.

Top-stitch these openings closed with your top-stitching thread, making sure the top of the zipper tape is enclosed in the waistband on both sides. Be careful to NOT sew the metal zipper stops! Sew slowly as you work around them!

And your jeans are almost ready to wear! We just need to remake that bartack!

Sew a bartack right over the top of where the old one was. To sew the bartack, you can either use the “bartack” function on your machine (if it has one) or just sew a couple rows of a zigzag stitch with a length of 0.5 and a width of 3. Also, it can be difficult to use top-stitching thread in this very thick area and with such small stitches, so I just sewed it with the regular thread and thought it looked fine!

And that’s it! Your jeans are fixed and ready to be worn for many years to come.

I hope this tutorial helped you gain the confidence to rescue your jeans and replace the zipper!

Before leaving to rescue your jeans, remember the following:

1. Always use a metal teeth zipper. They are durable and will extend the life of your jeans.
2. Take your time when ripping stitching!
3. Match your threads as closely as possible. This way, the repair is less obvious.
4. If you feel overwhelmed and stressed while replacing your zipper, take a short break. It’s better to step away before making a rushed decision that could derail your repair.

If you have any questions or comments, be sure to leave them below – I would love to hear from you!

About Carmen Barkley:

Carmen is a self-taught sewist who has been sewing her own clothes for over 10 years. She enjoys using techniques that create beautiful and professional results. Carmen loves to help other garment sewists to level up their sewing through written and video tutorials!