Zipper Insecurities

Many of my bag designs allow me to avoid installing zippers-- snaps, buttons, hook & loop, toggles, drawstrings--while still including a fastener. Recently, however, I've been trying to confront this weakness of mine, and to practice.This is a pre-school messenger bag I made for my son. I started with the zipper panel, just to get past it.What helped me to gain knowledge, and therefore confidence, were YouTube tutorials by Expert Village professionals and by ThreadHeads guests, but I have a long way to go.