Granny's Notebook
Hobby Room
A stitch in time saves nine..... -old proverb
1) All zippers can be shortened; always shorten from the TOP. If you are replacing a zipper, use the old one as a guide to get the correct length. Nip both side of the zipper tape to evenly mark the needed length PLUS a fold allowance. Unzip and cut where you nipped. Remove the extra teeth using a utility scissors or a craft wire cutter often sold for making jewelry. A stopper must be placed on one side of the zipper to keep the slider from coming off; merely folding smaller zippers over will suffice. Metal zippers often have a metal stop that can be reused from the part you cut off...save any extra stops for use on a zipper with plastic teeth. Some notions departments sell the top & bottom stops for zippers.

2) Zippers that have NO broken or missing parts, but do not MESH when zipped, require only replacement of the slider...they wear out. Always replace with the same size slider and do so from the top of the zipper. These are often sold in notions departments of fabric stores...or use one from another garment, but they MUST be exactly the same size and style.

3) Only metal zippers require lubrication...rub some wax, soap or crayon on the teeth. Weather worn plastic zippers may dry out a bit too; use a few drops of 3-in-one oil or sewing machine oil on them.

Granny's friend Zada in Minnesota tells how to fix broken zippers.  You can find Zada on eBay at http://stores.ebay.com/Zadas-Attic.  she also sells her handmade craft items on Etsy:  http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5240042
Quick Fix for Zippers
You can make some of your own craft supplies at home, using ordinary household items presently sitting on your kitchen shelves! Let me share a few of these "recipes" with you:
Dryer Lint Modeling Material

You will need:
3 cups dryer lint
2 cups cold or warm water
2/3 cup non-self-rising wheat flour
3 drops oil of cloves
old newspapers

How to make it:
1. Put lint and water in a large saucepan. Stir to dampen all of the lint.
2. Add flour and stir thoroughly to prevent lumps.
3. Add oil of cloves.
4. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture holds together and forms peaks.
5. Pour out and cool on several thicknesses of newspaper.
Makes 4 cups

How to use it:
Shape over armatures (boxes, bottles, balloons and so forth), press into a mold, or use as you would paper mache pulp.

This material will dry in 3 to 5 days to a very hard, durable surface. When wet, it has a feltlike consistency. It dries smooth or rough, depending on how it is used. Press material into a mold to obtain a hard, smooth finish.

Stored in an airtight container, this material will keep for several days.
Keep long cords from tangling and getting underfoot by stringing them through an old paper towel (or longer gift wrap) tube!
Murphy's sewing laws
•Fusible interfacings always fuse to the iron.
•If you need 6 buttons, you will find 5 in your button box.
•The seam you meant to rip out is invariably the other one.
•When you are in a hurry, the needle eye is always too small.
•The fabric you forgot to pre-shrink will always shrink the most.
•The pattern you wanted to make again will have one key piece missing.
•If you drop something out of your sewing basket, it will be your box of pins, with the cover off.
•Whenever the construction process is going well, the bobbin thread runs out.
•The magnitude of the goof is in direct proportion to the cost of the fabric.
•Your lost needle will be found by your son, husband or brother-in-law, while walking around barefoot.
•Facings tend to be sewn to the wrong side (Opposite sides attract).
•Collar points don't match, and you've trimmed all the seams.
•The iron never scorches the garment until its final pressing.
•The steam iron only burps rusty water on light silk fabric.
•Pinking shears get dull just by looking at them.
•Gathering threads always break in the middle.
•The scissors cut easiest past the buttonhole.
•Matching edges don't.

(If you like Murphy, check out Granny's Murphy's Laws page!)