I added a welt pocket with a flap to the front of my Minoru Jacket. I figured if I am making A-line skirts and dresses with added pockets, I definitely needed external pockets on my jacket. Pockets I think are essential in a jacket. Yesterday I put welt pockets with flaps into my jacket front before I sewed the side and sleeve seams. I wanted to have pockets that would not interfere with the side seams and still be fairly water-resistant.

Originally I had planned an angled pocket as that is more comfortable for putting my hands in and leaving them there. But it just looked funny with the patterned fabric. I made the flaps and stuck them on with sticky tape before making the final decision. Rocket the dressform has been really useful for these type of things.

Do I want Straight (R) or Angled (L) Pockets?

To decide on the size I looked at two things. The width of the front at the height I wanted the pocket and also some other jacket pockets.

I also found this fabulous tutorial on Pattern Scissors Cloth – so I won’t go into technical details as I followed Sherry’s instructions step by step.

Finished dimensions were

• Welt/ Pocket flap width – 14cm
• Welt height – 1cm
• Pocket flap height – 5.5cm with little curved corners, with 3.5cm exposed.
• total pocket depth from top of back piece to bottom including seam allowances 17cm

Pocket bag pulled to the outside

Pattern pieces therefore:

• Welt/ Pocket flap width – 16cm
• Welt height – 4cm
• Pocket flap height – 7.5cm with little curved corners.

If you want to copy: Pocket flap and bag: Minoru welt pocket pattern pieces (A4 size)

Note – I used Sherry’s recommendation to make the underside piece of the pocket flap slightly smaller in width. Although it turned out I should have interfaced both layers or paid more attention when sewing as both fabrics had some stretch so it all came out much of a muchness. A more stable fabric would not have had this problem.

If you want to copy: Pocket flap and bag: minoru pocket pattern pieces (A4 size). You can see the pocket flap pattern was originally too small. Luckily I had decided to make these as the first step before doing the rest of the pocket.

Once they were finished it was time for a nice glass of wine and a “Pocket Launch” and dinner.

I also discovered that the fabric I made my muslin out of was probably not stiff enough to give me the information that the seam from collar to armpit was not really long enough. I sewed and topstitched my side/sleeve seams and popped it on and thought eeek! The sleeves were also a bit snug. So I nervously cut a neat vertical line about 2 cm from the seam between back and sleeve and have added a vertical rectangle from the collar edge to the cuff, and made it into a ‘feature’ by adding reflective piping on the upper seam. This has given me more movement in the arms. Damn those ‘strong’ biceps Most of the time I wouldn’t be wearing a jumper under this jacket anyhow so it will still be very wearable.

I can’t remember the first thing I sewed (Mum? Any ideas?), but there have been so many garments over the years I guess it is blurring. I know I sewed a lot of tops, skirts, dresses when I was a teenager and even made some reasonable money making baby and kids hats and clothes when my son was much younger. I sewed on and off until about the mid 90′s. Then I got busy with other things, and it seemed easier to buy clothes.

Fast forward to the start of 2011. I took some long service leave with plans to spend a serious portion of that leave in the garden. My gardening pants were definitely past their best. So I cut them up to make a basic pattern and sewed them with a great sense of achievement and had tidy gardening pants once more. During my leave I passed through Sydney and ventured into Lincraft to buy a pattern and fabric to make a summery dress. I also tried on a few skirts while away and thought “I could make this” and made a deal with myself that I would get sewing again. I made the summery dress – and found my sewing skills were not forgotten but just waiting in my fingers and my pedal foot. When I went shopping for some new work clothes I was reminded how much more I enjoyed sewing clothes than shopping for them.

Through the rest of 2011 I made more garments. Nicole Mallilieu’s You Sew Girl book caught my eye in a book store with a ‘recipe’ for a self drafted wrap skirt. I had some fabric (also from Sydney) that would be perfect and so I made one, and quickly made another.

The Colette patterns caught my eye online, so I ordered the Clover trouser pattern. I made quite a few changes to the fit – morphing the pattern with some lines from a similar pair I’d recently bought and liked. I enjoyed being able to make trousers that fit (yeah, jump in the deep end, why not?) and fill out my work wardrobe.

I love the feel of fabric, and how it moves and behaves when sewn into a garment. Seeing a flat sheet of fabric morph and change into something you can wear is magic. I’ve got the giggles during some projects when tackling a particularly hard technique or having something turn out better than I hoped. The tailored work shirts with self-covered buttons, my self drafted shirtwaist dress, the red bag for Katie and the multiple clovers would have to be at the top of my favourite list – combining technical achievements and also great pleasure in the fabric and colours.

Made in 2011: 1 purple summery dress, 2 wrap skirts (orange/ blue), 2 knot tops (1 white linen with sleeves, 1 sleeveless green pattern), 3 handbags (2 for me, 1 a present for Mum), 1 shoulder bag, 1 dressy evening bag (a present for Katie), 3 pairs full length Clover trousers, 1 pair capri Clovers, 2 sorbettos basic tops (1 white linen, 1 black & cream silk), 1 mens shirt (for R), 2 pairs pjs (for R), 1 grey cowl neck top, changed orange wrap skirt to non-wrap (not enough overlap), 1 silk scarf (present for Cyn), 1 a-line black skirt, new invisible zip on an old skirt, 1 pleated japanese pattern book dress, 1 green Crepe wrap dress, 1 shirtwaist dress – self drafted, 2 felt monsters for J’s kids, 1 pirate hat for Z. Oh, and the 2 pairs of gardening pants too. Making a total of 30 items.

I think that’s it. I suppose I have been busy.

Made so far in 2012: Finishing touches on 2 work shirts for R, 1 pair pjs, started a shirt for Z – just the buttons to sew on tonight. Also I traced out the pattern for the Minoru jacket Sewalong to start in a few weeks.

My Birthday treats this year were nearly all sewing themed – I felt spoilt having my pleasure in sewing indulged and supported by family.

Future plans – well, that’s another post.