Saturday, February 25, 2012

Single welt pocket notes

I just finished a marathon coat sewing session.  I'm particularly happy with having figured out how to make a single welt pocket.  There are a million ways to do anything, and this is how I did mine.  I took photos of the first one I did so that I could remember for the second one.  This isn't a tutorial per se, if you know the basics of a double welt pocket, I think you can follow along... but the following may only be useful to me.  If you're here because you want to learn how to make a welt pocket, here is a great tutorial on making double welt pockets from Gorgeous Things.

I wasn't thinking and didn't use fusible weft on the pockets.  As it turned out, organza underlining works just fine.  The pocket placement is marked in chalk.
I basted a scrap of organza to the front.  
Stitch on the marking on the other side.  You can see I wasn't quite sure where the markings were, but that's OK so long as I cut to the right stitching line in the next step.  I used a short stitch in the corners.
Cut through all layers, making cuts to the corners.
Flip your piece over and pull the organza scrap through.  Press it.  You want to make as perfect a window as possible.
Believe it or not, I know it's hard to see, I am pinning the raw edge of the welt to the bottom raw edge of the opening.   Stitch as close to the corners as possible, because this will help you keep a nice rectangle shape.
Stitch the triangles on the end to the welt, trying to keep the rectangle shape as much as possible
If all goes well and you didn't stitch past the top edge of the welt when stitching the triangle, you should have a welt that fills your rectangle window.  I'm checking here to make sure I didn't overstitch.  This is a good time to press that puppy again to make sure everything is in place.
If you've been doing everything right, you've stitched the welt to the bottom and side of the rectangle.  Pin a pocket piece to the top part of the rectangle and stitch, making sure you stitch all the way to the clipped corners.

This is an action shot, of what, I'm not sure.
I hate hand stitching, but I ended up hand stitching the other pocket piece to the welt.
Stitch the pocket seam.

Press it.  You can see I stitched the pocket to the welt again at the top, that's where that mess of thread is because my tension was off.  Stitching the pocket to the welt will keep it from flopping around inside your coat.  Floppy pockets = sad pockets.
Ta dah!  Here's how it looks on the outside.












3 comments:

  1. Looks like beautiful fabric. Can't wait to see that welt on the completed garment.

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  2. Ooooh that turned out well! Thanks for all the process pics. I still haven't mastered welt pockets by a long shot.

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  3. Nice work and useful instructions. The fabric is amazing.

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