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.