During our interior update, Ted and I replaced our old futon and wanted a new mattress cover for it too. We found one in an acceptable color for only $20 at a going-out-of-business futon store. Oops! When we unpacked it to put in on the mattress, I discovered that the zipper was hopelessly broken. There were no other identical covers at the store, and I didn’t see any other colors or patterns I wanted online, so I decided to replace the zipper.

Nylon zippers can be “repaired” by simply sliding the zipper pull downward on the zipper. Problem #1: In this case, the zipper teeth were so far out of alignment that the zipper pull wouldn’t move. Problem #2: All along the length of the zipper, the nylon coils were so badly bent that the zipper could not possibly move smoothly in either direction. Problem #3: The bottom end of the zipper was completely separated, making it impossible to ever match the teeth again.

This is what might have happened to cause such extreme zipper damage. (1) In the factory folding/packaging process, the zipper was sharply folded in a variety of places. (2) Someone bought the mattress cover and unzipped it to put in on their futon mattress. Because of all the sharp bends in the zipper teeth, the movement of the zipper head caused the teeth to separate. (3) The buyer returned the mattress cover to the store without mentioning the damage. (4) The store re-sold the mattress cover–to us. Luckily, and thanks to my mother, I’m an expert seamstress.

I bought some black zipper-by-the-yard (color choices were white, brown, and black), ripped out the damaged zipper, and replaced it with my new zipper yardage. I don’t think I’ve used the zipper foot on my sewing machine since I bought it. All zipper feet are based on the same design principle, but this one is awesome. It’s the best zipper foot I’ve ever used! It sits very comfortably on the fabric and effortlessly guides itself along the zipper teeth. I wish I had another zipper-style project to sew because it would be fun to use the zipper foot again.

It didn’t take long to finish putting in the zipper. Then it was time to put the mattress cover on the mattress. Voilà! We now have a new futon with a new mattress cover.