Um, so I haven't posted in a while (no shush, Sherlock, right?)
Sorry about that. I will now be posting regularly on Sunday with link posts during the week.
Yeah...
So, Zipper Headphones!
Picture this: You are iPoding it up around town, looking good enough to have paparazzi mistake you for someone they ought to be following. Suddenly, a wild friend appears! You pop out your earbuds, fold them to some extent, and shove them in your pocket. You and your wild friend have the most awesome coffesation (this is the glory of a conversation held over coffee, try to keep up) and then part ways. You are glowing with friendship and still looking good. You pull out your earbuds to give yourself a soundtrack as awesome as you when, suddenly, you are holding a huge knot of headphones and hate. You now look like a dork as you try to untangle them, the illusion is gone. You sob silently.
Imagine now, that you had a clever project to save you from this! Now you do.
Materials
- a pair of earbud headphones
- a zipper*
- needle and thread that matches the zipper
- good sewing scissors
* The kind of zipper is up to you. You can go anywhere from a svelte little
invisible zipper style up to the chunky
heavy duty one. The zipper needs to be as long as the ... ear wires? ... plus about 4 inches. Basically measure from one ear piece to the places where the wires meet then add 4. Don't worry if you can't find the exact length you need, a ballpark is good enough on this. You need to use a non-separating zipper.
Zippers come in tons of colors. The zipper display is a colorful zippery heaven and I love it. You should go there and love it, too. Or, if you're like me, you dig into the bottom of your sewing basket and pull one of the *literally* dozens that you have bought on a whim because it's on sale and also a zipper.
Instructions
1. Your zipper will have two flappy parts on each end. These are awesome for anchoring the zipper when making clothes but completely an issue when you are making zipper headphones. Snip them off leaving about 1/2 an inch. Fold down the now shorter flap, sew very securely. I like to glue these seams as well, zippers fray easily. I suggest Ailene's Tacky Glue but you can use any glue that is flexible and permanent.
2. Hold the top of the zipper (the part where the pull rests when the zipper is closed) against the wire below one earbud with about 1/4 inch of wire extra.
3. Holding the wire straight, smooth the zipper along it until you reach the plastic nub where the wires come together. From the front, pin through cloth of the zipper, OVER (not THROUGH!!) the wire, and back through to the front of the zipper.
4. Pin the two sides below the pins together.
5. Sew down this seam. Do this very carefully with tiny, even stitches. Anchor the end.
6. On each side of the plastic nub, very neatly stitch through both sides of the cloth and wrap around the zipper with the wire enclosed. Repeat this stitch in the same spot at least three times and tie off securely in between the two cloth parts.
7. Unzip the zipper down to the nub. You should not be able to zip any further than that. If you can, you've done something really wrong. You will not be able to pin this next part, so roll for dexterity and hope for the best! Wrap the half zipper around the single wire, stitch very carefully between the wire and the zip part.
8. Make tiny, even stitches all the way up to the earbud. Anchor and tie off. Repeat 7 - 8 on the other side.
You're done! Nip any hanging threads. The first time you zip the zipper back up will be very tough, do this carefully and slowly so you don't rip any stitches. After the first time, the zipper will be looser, so don't worry!
All together, the most expensive part of this project will be the headphones themselves. The zipper will cost between $3 - $8 depending on style and material.
This is a project with a purpose! Help out penguins by making Penguin Sweaters! They put these on the little guys to keep them from picking at their oily feathers after an oil spill. It also keeps them warm until their natural oils come back. 
