Saturday, March 26, 2011

Sparkle Stitches~In Seam Pockets

Hello everybody! I have been quite busy these past few days and apologize for the lack of updates ^^; Apart from school and work, I have also been baking up a storm with my mom's friend twice a week :D Maybe I will share photos from those episodes sometime....

But for now, here is a very simple tutorial on in-seam pockets! I have been meaning to add pockets to my skirts for a long time, but always end up forgetting ^_^;; My Little Bear's Cafe skirt replica has an in-seam pocket, and that reminded me to put this together!

First, you will need to cut out a front and a back for each pocket. I made the fronts of my pockets with the print upside down so you can tell the difference :P In my friends AP Sugary Carnival JSK, the front piece of the pocket (front refers to the piece that is closer to the front of the dress, and the back is the piece the palm of your hand touches when you put your hand in the pocket) is made with plain white fabric and the back only has a strip of printed fabric right at the opening rather than being made entirely with printed fabric. This is done to save on fabric costs, but I find it quite unnecessary!
Photobucket
Click on the photo to make it larger
Make sure it is large enough to get your hand in and out of! And add seam allowance around the edges.

Next, pin and sew the sides of your skirt together, leaving the opening of the pocket unsewn.
Photobucket

Now pin the pocket pieces to the opening RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER. Stitch the seam allowances together
Photobucket

Pull the pocket pieces to the inside like so:
Photobucket

Stitch the two pocket pieces together. It really is not necessary to overlock the edges because the shape of the pocket means that most of the edge is cut on the bias and will not unravel. You can overlock it if you wish, but that may create unnecessary bulk and/or a line when pressing
Photobucket

This next part is optional (and a bit difficult to explain) but I decided to stitch the front of my pocket to the seam allowance to prevent it from flipping out or to the back. If you are using your fashion fabric for both the front and back of the pocket, it really won't be too noticeable if the pocket turns out a little. I you aren't, you may want to consider stitching the pocket front to the seam allowance.
Photobucket
This is what the inside of the pocket looks like with the stitching

Photobucket
This is the inside view of the pocket. The solid line is the side seam, and the dotted line is the extra stitching that will keep the pocket from flipping out.

If there are any other questions or comments, please leave a comment below and I will do my best to explain more!

I hope this was helpful to some of you and hope to see more pockets in Lolita!!