I told you about making zippers for the small wallet using the “make-a-zipper” tape. I described running out of zipper pulls and improvising with the pulls from the old, original wallet.

Well, I ordered some more make-a-zipper tape (5 1/2″ yds with 12 pulls – nowhere near enough pulls) and some extra pulls from Nancy’s Notions. The stuff arrived today, so I opened the bag of pulls and realized I had no idea how to get them on the tape!

I googled “attaching zipper pulls to a zipper tape” and found a wonderful source: “The Zipper Lady“. She sells zippers and has a collection of videos about all kinds of zipper related issues, among them replacing the pull. Her instructions are very clear, and they worked – I was able to add a bunch of pulls to my zipper tape (the navy ones) without a lot of fuss.

The secret is to put the zipper pull on from the front end, after opening the end of the zipper tape, cutting one side about 1/2″ shorter (the right side if you’re right handed, the left side if you’re left handed – who knew!), feeding the front of the zipper onto the longer tape until it’s about 1/2″ from the end, then feeding the shorter end into the pull until you hear a click (and meet resistance). Now the secret is to fold the two tapes back and hold in one hand then wiggle the pull until it closes the zipper – it really works easily.

Now I need to order a bunch of assorted pulls from her so I can use the leftover tape I have – it’s great on all size bags. Oh, and by the way I do believe this size zipper is a standard #3 coil! Her best video is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ8srHfJ-aM. Watch it!