I couldn’t believe the difficulty I had with these patch pockets. Patch pockets, right? Easiest pockets there are but not this time. Here are my four stumbling blocks;
First, I lost motivation. I had to stop sewing completely for a week as we went away for the holiday.
Second, placement of the pockets was difficult due to the fabric’s pile. Like the pattern pieces when I was cutting the fabric out, the pockets floated on the coat and every time I went to pin down a side or corner the other side shifted. Ugg.
Third, the pattern said to hand stitch the pockets onto the coat. I was a little surprised. These pockets are going to get a lot of use, including putting keys in them. I don’t fully believe hand stitching is going to be strong enough for coat pockets. However, I threaded my needle and began to stitch.
Oh, that pile again. The reason I fell in love with this fabric on the bolt is the same reason I’m cursing this fabric as I have to work with it. The pile makes it very difficult to see what you’re doing when hand stitching. But wait… the pile also hides any ugly stitches. So, they equal out. The difficulty seeing leads to ugly stitches which are covered by the same thing that makes it difficult to see. Okay, moving on.
Fourth reason for my troubles, and the biggest reason, pulling. I hate it when a fabric pulls. It screams something is wrong and on this high sheen fabric the pulls are lit up in neon. I thought it was caused by the pins holding the pocket in place so I tailor basted the pockets onto the coat. Then I thought the facing underneath was the instigator and had no idea what to do. Then I just figured I had procrastinated too long and let this little patch pocket get the best of me. So I toughened up, picked up the needle and just started sewing on the side that wasn’t pulling. I’ll figure it out when I get to that side, I thought. I’m not sure I recommend that because if your fabric is pulling, stitching it down isn’t going to release the pulls. Mentally though, I had to get started back on the project. Even if it meant ripping out the stitches later.
In the end, I got lucky and the pulling went away as I sewed the pocket down and took out the tailor basting (probably part of my problem).
What lesson can be learned here? Patience, perseverance and thinking before purchasing pile fabrics. Probably something else too but I’m just happy to have it behind me.
4 Comments on Hand Stitching the Pockets On
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Hand sewing is very strong when the correct stitch is used and when done neatly. All sewing used to be done by hand, including army kit bags and uniforms. We have largely forgotten the skills and people sew poorly these days. My mother used to make beautiful hand sewn clothes for us children. They looked good and wore well. Haute couture uses hand stitches too. It’s often easier for a hand sewer to get to places than the machine is. There is also a lot of bad machining which also looks a mess. Machine stitching is not that strong as it easily unravels. Hand sewing will not do that if you use the correct stitch which is fit for purpose.
You’re right about all of that. I usually put zips in by hand (prick stitch) because by the time I machine baste and sew and rip out a few inches here and there, and re-sew, I can have it in by hand and perfectly straight. Besides hand work has a soothing, rhythmic quality that machine stitching will never have. Not my machine anyway.
I know that this video is 7 years old, but I have been searching for a way to add patch pockets to my *store bought* short-sleeved hooded cardigan BY HAND.
I obviously don’t have the exact same fabric as the cardigan, plus I wanted it to be thicker (for durability = has to hold a almost 1 pound phone, without sliding/falling out).
I am hoping that this will be seen by someone who can provide me with some info?
My cardigan is medium weight fabric – 60% cotton, 40% polyester (tried to find a website that you can use to see the actual product, but cannot find it). Patch pockets that I already made and used on the cardigan (used fabric tape & glue first… as temporary place holders) are made of a very good quality fleece for outer part and a cotton “lining”.
I just need to know what hand stitch is best to keep the pocket from having little finger size holes from forming!
MANY THANKS!
ok, An easier question than I thought when I saw this on YouTube. If the edges of your pocket (not the edge you’re using as the opening) fold to the back of the pocket use a fell stitch. Make your stitches about 1/4″ to 3/8″ or 2mm to 4 mm apart (no bigger). Here’s a link to the fell stitch (scroll down the page) http://www.thedailysew.com/2017/05/guide-to-hand-stitches-the-slip-stitch-the-fell-stitch/
Another good tip is to baste your pockets in place first. You could do this with basting stitches or a lot of pins, if you do it with tape just be sure the tape isn’t where you’ll be sewing the pocket down. Having the pocket basted keeps it exactly where you want it and prevents you from sewing it on too tight. If the pocket is sewn down too tightly it will make puckers and won’t lay flat against your cardigan.
In fancy garments 😉 they sew the pocket onto the garment from the backside with little running stitches (the plain Jane stitch). You may want to try that but then you definitely need to baste the pocket on to give you a sewing guide you can see on the backside.
Because fleece doesn’t unravel you may not have folded the pocket edges to the back. In this situation, I would use a running stitch (small stitches and a single strand of thread) or a backstitch. The backstitch will show more, a running stitch will sink into the fleece. Here’s a link to them both: http://www.thedailysew.com/2018/03/sewing-by-hand-the-basics/
And to a variety of backstitches in case you like that option best: http://www.thedailysew.com/2018/04/sewing-by-hand-back-stitch-half-back-stitch-prick-stitch/
Let me know if you have any more questions on this and good luck. All garments should have a pocket!