Earlier I showed you how to make a snowkite jacket out of a pullover style shell.  But what if the only jackets you've got have a full zipper running from top to bottom?  You need a hole for that spreader bar hook and this article will show you how.

So, first grab your jacket and measure how long of a zipper it currently has on it.  Put on your harness and figure out where you'd like the opening to be on that jacket for your spreader bar to poke out of.  Measure the distance from the top of the hook up, and the bottom of the hook down.  These are the two sizes of zippers you need to look for at the store.  Be aware that the zipper companies of the world only make certain sizes, so you'll have to make do with the best you can.  Once you get those two zippers pin them down over on top of your existing zipper like so:

Then put the zipper foot on your sewing machine and get ready to sew.  A zipper foot will make the process alot easier but your machine doesn't have to have one to do this project.  You can even sew it on by hand if you've got the skills.  The idea is to put the new zippers over the old one so when you're snowkiting you can zip the two seperate ones around the hook.  When you're not wearing a spreader bar you can use the one full zip and cover up that messy two zipper situation with the wind baffle on the jacket.  Dual function!  When completed it should look like this:

I had to chose two zippers thatwere different colors because I couldn't find exactly what I needed.  Ohh well.. it's still functional and if I destroy the zippers from too much tention, pick them off with a seam ripper and shell out $5 more for two more zippers and do it all over again.  Have fun with your "new" old jacket!