Thayer Sew-Along: Sewing the Pockets

Today we'll be working on both sets of pockets – the inseam yoke pockets and the patch pockets. The post is divided up into two parts to make it more digestible, starting with the yoke pockets. There is a lot of topstitching in this post so if you're not feeling confident about that, check out yesterday's blog post, Our Top Tips for Professional Topstitching! With that, let's dive in.

Inseam Yoke Pockets

To begin, fold the top pocket flap up and out of the way. Pin to the yoke so that it doesn't get in the way of your stitching in the next step.

Align the two layers of buttonhole openings to form one buttonhole, then stitch around it in a square approximately 1/8" out from the buttonhole. We stitch around our buttonhole 2 – 3 x for strength, but you can also use a triple stitch to get the same effect.

Here you can see the back of the buttonhole stitched up. We went around this buttonhole 2x and tied off the threads at the back.

 

With the top pocket still pinned up, stitch across the pocket opening as shown. You can use regular thread for this if you don't want it to show. Typically that's what we do but we wanted to make sure you could see it in this tutorial. If you're using topstitching thread, make sure you stitch across the pocket with the right side of the jacket facing up!

Now it's time to stitch the pocket bag into place. Since you're using topstitching thread you'll want to do this from the front. We mark in our stitching lines with a chalk pencil to make sure we hit exactly where we need to and have an evenly sewn pocket.

Your stitching will look like this from the front.

And from the back you'll be looking at this. It might look like the pocket bag is crooked but because of the shape of the princess seam it will appear straight on the body.

The last step is to place your bartacks in. These add strength to the pocket by reinforcing the corners. Make sure you practice your bartacks before inserting them into your jacket. If something is going to go wrong it's usually the bartacks and that's not something you want to seam rip!

Repeat these steps for the other side of the jacket and your yoke pockets are complete!

Patch Pockets

After the yoke pockets it's time to make and attach the patch pockets. We've made these pockets super roomy and angled for comfort – they're some of my favorite pockets we've done!

To start fold the top edge over to the wrong side of the pocket along the first line of notches and press. Then flip your pocket over so that the right side is facing up. Now fold the top edge over to the front along the second line of notches. Press.

Stitch the folded edge in place along the sides. Clip the corners

Turn the pockets right side out and press along the top and corners. Then fold the seam allowance of the rest of the pocket under to the wrong side and press.

Now you'll want to topstitch the free folded edge in place. Once again we do this with the top of the pocket facing up because our topstitching thread runs through the needle but not the bobbin. Sewing 1" in from the edge will catch the back of the pocket, but if you're nervous you can easily chalk in a line to follow.

Now align the four corners of your pockets with the markings you made on the front and pin the pocket in place. You'll notice that our pocket markings fall slightly outside of our pockets, we marked those so that you could see them in this image. The actual markings sit just under the four points.

Topstitch around the pocket starting with the outer line of stitching. Ours falls about 1/16" from the edge. We recommend getting as close as you feel comfortable but not so close that you miss the pocket!

After the first line of stitching is in, place a second line 1/4" in from the existing stitching line.

Next place four bartacks running the length of the folded pocket edge over the stitching lines. This will help to anchor the pocket in place against the stress of your hands.

That's it for the pockets, your front jacket pieces are now complete! If you have any questions let us know in the comments below.