Zippers....

So I've been plugging away on my sophomore head build. I have a punch list of improvements I want to make from my last head, and one of them is the zipper in the hood. The one in my first head came out pretty good, it is very functional and easy to use, but I wish it had less bulk/stiffness around the opening. (It's a zipper underneath a flap of Velcro'd fabric, similar to the one in the book "Critter Costuming".)

Right now I'm sewing a bunch of zippers into practice hoods to see which methods I like best. (Here's a pic of me sewing away, with help from my feline studio assistant.)

The method I originally used for my first head was a reconstruction of a DVC video tutorial which unfortunately vanished from the Interwebs right in the middle of my project, so I had to try to do it from memory the best I could. My sewing teacher (yay for sewing teachers!) says I could use the same method but use a softer kind of Velcro to reduce the bulk/stiffness this time around. (Haven't gone looking for softer Velcro yet.) I also tried Matrices' method, which came out beautifully, though I have concerns about the zipper getting stuck on the little concealing flap of fabric this method uses. Right now I'm sewing up a hood that uses the method my good ol' sewing encyclopedia recommends... sewing the zipper on a large, folded back seam allowance, so that the fur will curve in over the zipper when it's closed.

So I'm very interested to know... what is your favorite method for installing zippers? What are your favorite tutorials? TIA!!