Zippers can be tricky even for advanced sewers. Hook and eyes can be “easier” but do take longer when done by hand, as is appropriate and a good method. If you haven’t, be sure to look at my tutorial on sewing on hook & eye tape, which can be faster than sewing single hook/eye sets.

Sylvia (I realize this is two years later) do you have a photo of how your method turns out? That sounds like exactly what I need to do!

Well, one thing I learned from modern pattern books is actually not to start your fasteners at the top and then go down, but to figure the apex of the bust and distribute your fasteners from there. Ever since then, I’ve had a LOT less issues with gaposis. And trust me, at DDD, I’m DEFINITELY “fuller busted.” My research says that this tip would have been period as early as 1910, from a dressmaking manual I have from that time that talks about it, and as my mother phrases it, “if anybody wants to get that close to my chest in order to nitpick what I’m wearing, they deserve what they get from my right hand.”

You can still do this using hook-and-eye tape or snap tape, by the way, by just lining up a snap or a hook and eye on the tape where the apex of the bust is and then stitching on only one or two fasteners at the top or bottom if needed.

Finally, I also HIGHLY advise a magnifying lens with a light for doing up-close work. I do a couple types of counted-thread embroidery, and my eyesight is horrible to start with, and having one of those lamps you can swing over your work with the magnifier and the light is a godsend to that, though it takes some getting used to. Toss on a pair of fingerless compression gloves–they’re sold in the knitting section, usually–and that will help with pain in the hands, too. If I’m going to be sewing by hand for any length of time, I tend to swipe Mom’s pair if I can, because it helps SO MUCH.