Lessons

Lesson Info

Sewing the Pockets

we're gonna make the pockets for view. A which are these pockets that I have here on my dress. They're pretty big, oversized patch pockets. I like that sort of fifties sixties big pocket. There also course super functional. So in order to make those going to start with our pocket peas, the first step is that we're gonna actually fold down. The very top we're gonna use are seen gauge and full down. Wrong sides together 1/4 of an inch. And we're gonna pin that in place. It suggests using glass had pins for this moment because we're about to press on top of it. And glass had pins won't melt under the heat of your iron. So this is a really good moment to use a glass had pin. So I'm just folding down 1/4 of an inch and pinning it in place. We're just gonna press right on top of that fold and right on top of those pins. Just like to hold my iron on top for a few seconds, pick it up and move it because there's pins in there. You don't wanna iron necessarily go back and forth. We're just press...

ing so that weaken Seal that little fold gonna take those pins out, which you're probably a little warm. So be careful with that and we're gonna turn this around and we're gonna fold down. There's actual little fold line on the pattern piece itself. I like to make a teeny little snip so that I know where to actually make that fold. So I'm using that snip as my mark. And you can mark that with a water soluble pencil if you prefer. Or however you prefer to mark that where you can see it at this moment. So I just have a teeny little snip. I'm lining up the edges and I'm folding right sides together. Now, I don't actually want to press this because after I do my next step, I'm going to be reversing this, unfolding it this to the inside. So this is actually going to get creased the opposite way in the next step. So I don't want to press on top of this right now. I just want to fold it so that these edges air together so that I can stitch around the pocket in the next step. So let's go to our sewing machines. What we're gonna do now is so around the perimeter of the pocket at the 58 seam allowance. But we're not suing across the top and we're just going over this fold that's been folded right sides together so that that can get turned wrong sides together later. So we're selling with our regular five eats seam allowance and our regular stitch link. We're going over that little quarter inch gold way Gonna pivot at the bottom. I am doing this without marking it, but you might want to mark your pivots if you don't feel comfortable eyeballing it right at the way when you come up to the pocket top on your way back up, this obviously needs to be secured all the way down. So I like to stop just before I get to that point and make sure it's really held down and in place so that it doesn't get out of shape on back states at the top. One thing we need to do before we go back to the pressing is we need to actually clip off these little corners so that this bulk is not inside this corner when we go to flip this to the inside, so I'm just going to take my scissors and snip off that little bit of the corner there. So that is away. And now we're gonna take this back to the iron and press it in preparation to for sewing it to the skirt. So we've stitched around our perimeter of our pocket at 5/8 and that's gonna serve as our folding guide for when we fold the wrong sides together for the pocket. First we have this upper flap that we want to fold. So we're gonna actually talk that and that's the inner fold of our pocket going to use a point turner or something similar to poke out those pocket the little corner. So I'm just sticking this right in there. Sometimes I use a knitting needle for this. Anything that has a point that isn't sharp is perfect. Now I can actually press this top fold because it's going the direction I want it to be going in. So first I'm going to start there by pressing this upper fold straight across, and you can give that first fold a little bit of a press as well. And here you can see the stitch line that I made on the five eights that is now going to get just rolled to the inside of my pocket so you guys can see it there. It's a really great way to make sure that you're a pair of pockets are symmetrical to do the two sides first, and then we'll fold the bottom up into the pocket so you can see here the stitches just on the inside. Now I'm folding the bottom up in the same way. Just getting that line to the inside. You want to make sure that these little corners stay talked inside your pocket? I like to then flip it over and from the outside. Really? Give it a good press to make sure that they stay really crisp. Excellent. So now we're gonna go back to our sewing machine in stitch a line across the top of the pocket toe, hold this flap in place, and then we pennant and attach it to our skirt. So we're gonna stitch this little upper flap down. We're gonna do that by sewing on the inside so that we can follow right along that first fold. We're gonna do a back step at the beginning, and we're just using our regular stickling, and that's gonna hold that flap down. That's a moment if you are using a contrast ish. If you want to do something like more decorative, that is going to be a visible stitch right there across the top of your pockets. So if I wanted to, do you know a white line? Or if I'm using me on Yellow Threat or something that pops, it's a really good opportunity to have some visible pop stitching toe. Add a little personality to your garment, and now we're gonna pennant or skirt in order to Pinar pocket to our skirt for view. A. We need to actually mark where it's going to go right here on the pattern, it says, top inside corner of finished pocket and then it's broken down by size. That's actually exactly the distance that you would see here on the size differential, so you'd be going from 0 to 2. So they move over the same distance that the skirt width moves over. We're gonna market exactly the same way we marked the darts, so I'm gonna line up the top and right edge of my pattern. Make sure it's all in place and you can pin that down to secure it. Gonna put a pin in that corner because that's really my main spot. And I'm gonna peel that back when I put my finger on the pin to keep it from coming out and just like we did with our dart, I'm gonna just make a little mark in that spot because I know that's right. Where my top right corner for top inside corner, we get rid of my pattern. He and I know that that is where that spot is going to be in order to make sure that it's straight on the side. So I'm gonna use my little ruler here and just make sure that it's straight because that's where that corner goes. But I could be, you know, cock eyed from that spot. So because this is a dirndl, that means the edges of my skirt are just perfectly square so I can lie this down and check it with my ruler here to just make sure that I'm straight up and down with my edge and you can see it's actually quite close to the edge. There's only about an inch, and we have a 58 seem alone. So you want to make sure that your really on the money with that and otherwise it'll get caught in your C. Malone's. I like to secure it down with a few pins right down the center that have nothing to do with where I'm sewing it, just to hold it down so it doesn't gape and flap around. And then I'm gonna pin all the way around the perimeter for sewing. Like to pin perpendicular to my piece. And this is definitely a moment to use a lot of pins because we really don't want it to shift. You can completely just used one pocket. You actually don't even have to put any pockets on this at all. But if you do intend to use two pockets, it's obviously better if they're symmetrical and level with each other and shape the same size. So you do want to try to get them right in place so that they look like a pair. After we get this pinned, we need to mark the top corners for sewing. If you look in the instructions and we're at Step 28 for your reference, we're going to so a little bit of a security bit at the top. So the instructions that shows you that we're going to start at this line where the seam here intersects with the pockets edge we're going to go up to the top and we're gonna angle in and then go to the corner and so around and repeat that on the opposite side by coming over and down again. But we want that little distance across the top to be the same from side to side. So I'm gonna use my seem gange and you can do this any amount you like. I don't specify in the pattern what you should dio Andi. I like to do it about 1/4 of an inch. So I'm just lining up my scene gauge right there at the quarter of an inch right on the corner. And I'm just gonna make a little mark right where that quarter of an inch is. I also like to draw that line from that point to where it's going to intersect with the stitch so that I know I'm dry making a straight line obviously make sure your pencil or pen is water soluble because we're marking right on the front of our garment. I'm gonna repeat that on the other side by making my quarter inch mark and drawing that line. So again, I know they're gonna be symmetrical from side to side. It's a nice way to secure the top corner of your pocket and keep it from flapping a little bit right there. So, to so this because we're actually going to be sewing from the stitch up, we actually have to turn the entire skirt around and so up towards the pocket. So it's a little awkward and we're gonna so around the perimeter of the pocket as close to the edge as you can. We are going to back stitch at this point, and we're gonna follow that line. This is one of the only moments that I leave up Henan. I really don't want to take this pin out. I want to just very slowly approach it. And you may even want a hand crank as you go over it to make sure that your needle doesn't hit it. And then I'm gonna so right up to the top of my pocket. You can see I'm stopping and turning by hand to just make sure I don't overshoot. Sink my needle so I can pivot one time line back up. I can put my foot back down and I'm only gonna so a couple of stitches until I reached the top corner and I'm gonna pivot again again, my needles down in and I went very carefully. So all the way down that line down the side of the pocket for these pins, I'm going to stop and pull them out as I get to them. But that top corner really needs to be held in plays. I don't mark these bottom pivots because I'm selling so close to the edge that I know that I just need to get as close as I can by hand. If you were leaving a certain distance, then you would want to mark that you wanted to make the two corner bottom corners consistent, like at 1/4 or something like that. But I'm sewing as close as I can to that edge left those pins down the center because at this point, they're really doing a good job keeping the pocket from flapping? No, I'm suing up the other side of the pocket, and we're going to repeat that corner, and I again I'm gonna go over that pin very carefully until I get to the top corner, hand crank and sink your navel in and turn and again, we'll just do a few stitches until we reach that quarter inch mark that we marked. Turn the whole skirt around again. And now I'm gonna move that pin, and I'm gonna follow that line. I marked till I hit that corner where the stitches and backs it. I can now pull those pins out of the center so they don't hurt myself. Trim reds off. And I would suggest that this point before you move on to just give that stitching a really nice press does set the stitches and Flateman. And then, obviously, if you want to have a second pocket will repeat that on the other side of the skirt, doing the exact same procedure, marking it, pinning it and sewing all the way around. So you have a pair