Should you be able to see a zip? In my opinion ithey should be hidden unless its a feature that adds to the design.
What style of zip foot you use will definitley have an impact on how pleased you are with the result. These are all feet I own and one really isn't worth being in my kit! There are others designed for different barnds of machines. Bernina have an excellent zip foot as does my old Pfaff.
This is a clip on foot that came with my old machine and similar to ones with quite a few common brands of sewing machine. I was so dissapointed with this foot, you cant't stitch past the zip pull without opening it! The back of the foot is wide and designed to ride over the teeth! Now, in my opinion, that just isn't right for so many reasons. You only have to look at Kenneth D King's posts on Instagram to know that he agrees.................
When I've complained on social media I've had comments like "you expect too much of your machine" and "a poor workman blames their tools".
So how come I could sew perfect zips using old machines with a narrow toed adjustable foot?
I've often said that sewing a zip is one of my super powers. I learnt at school when the only zip foot was an adjustable one like this. Its' narrow all the way to the back and is adjusted to left or right depending on which side of the zip you're sewing. No need to open the zip..................
If you have the clip on foot that's wide at the back I'd really encourage you to buy the adjustable one.. Its's for sale from my shop and fits low shank machines.......how to work out if it fits your machine is included in the info in my shop. It's perfect for piping as well as you can sew right up close to the cord.
Imagine my delight when I discovered Janome now make a narrow toed foot...............hooray! Manufactureres have been listening to us! This was one of the criteria when I was choosing my new machine, it might seem a small thing, but really has an impact on the qulaity of our garment making. This foot is designed for my MC 6700pro on loan from JanomeUK that has a 9mm stitch width, I'm noy sure they make a similar foot for machines with a narrower stitch width (the clip width is different so not interchangeable).
Another option is an adustable foot that doubles as an invisible zip foot. I have one of these as well, but think I must have taken it to France where I have a holiday sewing machine.................This is a great foot to buy if you have the wide foot and want an invisible zip foot. as well.
You can sew an invisble zip with the narrow toed foot, but an invisble zip foot definitely helps. The 'toe' at the front and the grooves underneath help to roll open the teeth so you can sew really close to them. In my opinion an invisble zip, really should be invisble.................
There are different styles of invisble zip foot, this one is from Prym, but not one i've tried.
I uaually have zip tutorials on my website, I imagine they'll be the next things I add.
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