Invisible Zipper

 

Remember this linen dice weave fabric? The brown checks are sets of weft floats over the deep blue warp. I created two throw pillows with this striking linen fabric, and filled them with down and feather inserts. An invisible zipper makes a classy closure for a pillow like this. If you do it just right the little zipper pull is the only clue that there is a zipper in the seam. Fabric this special deserves a classy closure.

All linen dice weave pillows being made. Handwoven cloth.
Three different weft colors–deep blue (same as warp), royal blue, and teal blue– produce three similar, yet slightly different colors of cloth. The brown linen floats create an interesting checked texture.

If you know the zipper is there, it is not hard to find. But if you are not looking for it, you could miss the invisible zipper, especially if it is inserted by an expert seamstress. Have you thought about noticing other things that are not immediately visible?

Handwoven linen dice weave pillows.
Invisible zipper placed in bottom seam of linen pillow cover.
Handwoven linen dice weave down-filled pillows. Karen Isenhower
Linen dice weave pillows take their place on the sofa.

Faith is seeing the invisible. Faith is assurance that our hope is sound, and conviction that the unseen is true reality. As with the zipper, when you know the invisible is there, it is not hard to find.

May you notice details that are easily overlooked.

Hopeful,
Karen

8 thoughts on “Invisible Zipper

  1. Karen, would you be willimg to share the draft? We are in Santa Fe at the moment and those are exactly the colors I saw when I walked out the door. Lovely!

    1. Hi Joanna, how fun that you saw the same colors! You must have a way of noticing your surroundings. Nice!

      I’m away from home right now, so I can’t tell you page number, but this draft is from my favorite weaving resource, “The Big Book of Weaving,” by Laila Lundel.

      All the best,
      Karen

  2. I just discovered this post and see that you did make pillows of this beautiful linen fabric. So you didn’t have a problem with the floats on the back, but could you tell me what the back looks like?

    1. Hi Pat, I did not have any trouble with the floats on the back. The floats on the back are not really much longer than the floats on the front. I will post a picture of the back later, so you can see it.

      Karen

    2. Hi Pat, Here’s a picture of the back side of the dice weave fabric. You can see it is not much different from the front side. The pattern floats are only slightly longer on the back. You can see where the thread is carried up the side on the back, too.
      Back of dice weave fabric

      I hope this helps,
      Karen

  3. thanks so much. This relieves my concerns about the floats on the back. I don’t think I can carry the thread up the back as you did because I am planning to do it as a table runner. I also thought I would vary the color of the floats, so I guess I should just end the lpattern thread at the end of each pattern block.
    Pat

    1. I think it will be stunning if you vary the color of the floats. You will need to be inventive, perhaps, in securing the ends as you change colors. That may be a little tricky, but I’m sure you can do it!

      Karen

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