HOW TO DRAW A ZIPPER

Learning how to draw a zipper will help you improve the impact of your fashion sketches. The clothes that you’re drawing will look more realistic and you will have the confidence to place different closures on your designs. For the purposes of the tutorial here is shown how to draw half-opened zipper. Follow the steps and enjoy!

5/10

8 min

drawing paper

pencil
eraser

Step 1: Dimensions of the zipper

Firstly you need to decide how long you want the zipper to be. Draw a big “Y” in the center of your sheet of paper. The upper part is where the zipper is opened, and the Vertical line we’ll call Zipper Centerline.

Don’t push too hard with the pencil – you will have to erase these guidelines soon.

Step 2: Zipper outlines

Add two parallel lines to the sides of the Centerline and below the opened part of the zipper. This step is to indicate how wide the zipper will be.

Step 3:Mark zipper’s teeth

Now it’s time to turn the lines from Step 1 into dashed lines.

Make sure that the gaps are even to the dashes size– not larger, nor smaller.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO MAKE THE DASHES OF THE CENTERLINE ONE STEP TO THE LEFT, COMPARED TO THE GUIDELINE FROM STEP 1.

Step 4: Draw the zipper teeth

Draw the teeth of the zipper over the gaps of the dashed line. Notice that the height of each tooth is not greater than the length of the dashes. Also, try to keep the form of the teeth as shown in the illustration- smaller in the base and wider in the top part ( like a bell or a mushroom).

Leave enough space between the teeth and the zipper outline.

Step 5: Draw the zipper slider

Make sure that the slider base covers the whole width of the zipper and follow the steps illustrated in the side area. Feel free to create different variations of the part that you hold the zipper. Here is shown a very basic one, but this is the part where you can actually get creative with form, size, and decorations.

First, draw a circle with a pointy bottom part. Cover the bottom with a horizontal rectangle. Draw a long ellipse and let it go out of the circle a little bit. Add the holder – notice that it covers about 1/3 of the ellipse. Repeat the holder shape within.

Step 6: Add the zipper stops

Once you’re done it’s time to draw the stops of the zipper at the upper and lowermost part. They are represented as small rectangles. You can also draw some stitching right next to the outline of the zipper. The zipper needs to be sewn to the clothes and these stitches will make it look very realistic.

Have fun drawing zippers in different sizes and lengths! Create amazing fashion sketches and designs!

Happy drawing!