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My 1990s prom dress disaster still haunts me
I was in my grandma's basement in St. Louis digging out an old satin prom dress from 1994 to wear to a themed party, and the zipper split right down the back when I tried it on. I spent two hours hand-stitching a replacement zipper from a vintage sewing kit she left behind, and it actually held up for the whole night. Has anyone else had luck saving a vintage piece that seemed totally ruined?
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paige_ellis593mo ago
Oh man, I feel your pain on that zipper repair! I had a 90s velvet dress where the side seam totally gave out right before a wedding. I used some heavy duty thread and did a running stitch by hand, it wasn't pretty but it held for like six hours of dancing. The trick is to use a longer stitch and double up the thread, then pull it tight but not too tight or the fabric puckers. Also put a tiny dab of clear nail polish on the knots to keep them from slipping. Your hand-stitched zipper sounds like a solid save, sometimes the old sewing kits have better materials than the new stuff anyway.
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benreed3mo ago
Oh man, the safety pin move is a classic. I did that once with a pair of jeans that had the zipper pull snap off completely right before a party. I threaded a paperclip through the zipper tab hole and used that as a makeshift pull, it actually worked better than the original because it was easier to grip. The nail polish trick on the knots is legit though, I've been doing that for years on my hiking gear repairs and it holds up way better than you'd expect.
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