Welt Pocket

It has been a week of notable markers for me here in blogland - This week I've had my 100th post here on SWD on Monday (including Mom's guest post), passed the 2500 pageviews mark midweek, and today is my one year Blogaversary!  It's hard to believe I've been blogging here for an entire year!

Dear Readers, you're the icing on my cake!

One of the reasons I started blogging here was to have a device to make myself *have to* build up to where I was sewing faster, more frequently.  I think I'd say that is finally happening, and that fact makes me happy :) I've loved sharing the good, bad, and ugly with you... and not just sewing; there have been other fun projects with miniatures and other such things. Thanks so much for joining me along the way!

Ok, on with the fun of the day!

I've known the basics of how to make a welt pocket for years, but surprisingly, I'd never actually attempted one myself.  I'd say it's high time I did.  I have several pairs of pants, many skirts, and an exciting upcoming project that will all need pockets and a welt pocket would be perfect for them all!

As is my normal modus operandi I had to make a practice one first.  I grabbed some leftover muslin scraps and threw one together:

I have one piece that is the fake 'garment' piece, one piece for the pocket facing and welt, and one piece for the pocket.  I think I could probably combine the pocket and facing fabrics together, but not today.

 With the top and bottom of the pocket opening stitched, I've slashed out the center of the pocket opening and turned it.

After that I folded up part of the pocket facing to form a welt. Then I folded the 'garment' piece back and attached the facing to the welt/ facing.

This is where I should have been more careful.  As you can see, on one side I wasn't paying proper attention and the welt unfolded while I was stitching up the side bit. Thus one side is wonky.  Lesson learned.

The mistake is even more obvious from the front side:

Moving on...

Next I attached the pocket along the bottom stitching line holding the facing to the 'garment' piece.

This was folded up and stitched to the top of the facing similarly.  Then I stitched up the sides of the pocket and that was that!

This is really fuzzy I think I'd better clean my lens...

With that I grabbed my slacks and some additional muslin for a new pocket and jumped right in:

The pants came with this fake welt pocket, which just looks from the outside like a pocket that has been stitched shut (some pants pockets do come like this to preserve the shape.)

You can see, though, that the back of it has a flat piece covering it and no pocket.
 

Of course, the hard bits were done for me here, so I just cut a length of muslin & attached it, top & bottom.

And then I stitched up the pocket sides and gave the whole thing a good pressing.

Yay pocket!!

 
Thanks for a great Year One!