Self lined patch pockets 

Sewing Friends: 

Sandie wanted some tips to sew better patch pockets on her garments. 

Although the Sew News article, “Perfect Pockets” is very good, I would add these few extra sewing tips to make it even better.  You are the designer!  You decide which technique gets you the results you want.  Of course, it may depend on the fabric and how you are going to use the pocket.   

This sewing technique is one I used on a lot of my kids and grandkids clothes.  It produces a nice self lined patch pocket.  Some of the pockets I made were not the traditional patch pocket shape.  You can make it whatever shape you want.  How about some animal or flower shaped pockets?

See this article on faced patch pockets at the Home Sewing Association site. You can have a lot of fun sewing these pockets.

The self lined patch pocket is an easy and neat pocket to sew.  Try it!  Here are the instructions.

Create a New Pocket Pattern 

The pattern piece for most patch pockets has a hem allowance at the top of the pocket and a 5/8 inch seam allowance.

We want to change that.  We want to eliminate the hem allowance and reduce the size of the seam allowance to 1/4 inch.

Reduce the Seam Allowance to 1/4 Inch 

Measure and cut off 3/8 inch of the seam allowance around the pocket leaving only 1/4 inch.

Remove the Hem Allowance 

Draw a line across the pattern where the hemline should be and cut off the hem allowance.  Mark that top line on the pocket, “Fold Line”.

Create A New Pocket Pattern 

Lay the trimmed pattern on a folded piece of paper with the fold line on the fold of the paper.  Cut out a new pocket pattern.  It will look like an oval because it makes a double pocket pattern with a fold in the middle.

Label one half, “Outer Pocket” and the other half, “Pocket Lining”.

Draw the grainline perpindicular to the fold line straight through the center of the pocket.

At the fold line, clip in 1/8 inch on both sides.

Now, on the pocket lining part of the pattern ONLY, trim off an additional 1/8 inch seam allowance around that section of the pocket.

This makes the lining smaller than the pocket so it will not show on the right side of the pocket.

The rule of sewing is:

Anytime you have an under layer of fabric like a lining, facing or an under cuff, under collar, under anything, the underneath layer should be cut slightly smaller. An 1/8 of an inch trimmed off the outside edges usually does it.  You’ll love the difference it makes in the appearance of the finished garment!

Interface or Not

Depending on your fabric, you may want to interface the entire pocket and pocket lining, or just half.  If you do interface just half, put the interfacing about 1/4 inch into the other half so that it goes just beyond the fold line. 

Have the lengthwise grain of the interfacing going across the pocket to help keep the pocket from stretching.

Make a Slash

Before you stitch the pocket together, make a 1-1/2 inch diagonal slash in the middle toward the lower part of the pocket lining section ONLY.

This diagonal slash is cut on the bias and will not fray.  You will use this slash to turn the pocket right side out after you stitch it.

Sew the Pocket

Fold the pocket in half with right sides together.  Slightly stretch the pocket lining to meet the pocket all around and place a few pins to hold in place.

Use short stitches (18 - 20 stitches per inch) to sew a 1/4 inch seam around the pocket. 

Press the seam allowance open.

Now, trim this seam allowance to 1/8 inch.  (That’s why you must use short stitches.  It won’t come undone.)

This narrow seam allowance and short stitches eliminates the need to cut notches and clip curves.  It makes a very neat curve with a seam on an edge.

Finish The Pocket 

Turn the pocket right side out through the slash.

Press well.

Slip a small piece of fusible web under the slash to close it permanently.

Now you have a self lined patch pocket ready to put anywhere you want it.

The next step is to attach the pocket to the garment using your favorite sewing technique.

I will make another post on how to attach pockets to garments.

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian

PS:  Let me know if you like this technique.  There are a lot of other places to use it in your sewing.  Think about it!  It just makes sense!

How To Sew Self Lined Patch Pockets

PPS:  Check out How To Change A Sewing Pattern To Create Flatter Pocket Flaps here.

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 26th, 2007 at 1:01 pm and is filed under Sewing Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.