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Easy Patch Pockets
Mo from lime gardenias is a fabric designer with her latest Party Dress fabric collection coming out soon! The patch pockets in Mo’s tutorial all feature fabric from the Party Dress collection… Mo has joined us before for this beautiful Hanging Vase Tutorial, and today she does it again with this easy Patch Pockets 101 Tutorial. Now you can add one of three different styles of cute patch pockets to any piece of clothing! Be sure to stop by lime gardenias for your chance to win some Party Dress fabric today.
Patch pockets are a great way to add a nice little touch to any sort of garment. They are great for aprons, skirts, shirts– You name it. They are easy to make, practical and a great way to use up scraps.
I have put together a pattern for a simple square and a rounded corner pocket in two sizes. You can download and print the Small Patch Pocket Pattern PDF and/or the Big Patch Pocket Pattern PDF. Personally, I really don’t much care for raw edges and I like things neat and tidy; the way I go about this sort of pocket is to cut two pieces, sew all the way around wrong sides facing (leaving an opening for turning), turning, pressing and top stitching. While in heavier fabrics this can make things a tiny bit bulky, most fabrics will look great. It keeps the inside tidy and it also helps keep a nice edge and shape especially on the curved corners. Another great thing about this is that you can embellish in a million different ways– Add a button or two, put a ruffle or rick rack on the top edge, etc. Once I got started making these I just kept thinking of different ways to personalize them. For now though, here are three examples:
Pocket #1 ~ Basic Square, with Ribbon
Right sides facing, use your pattern and cut out two squares. (Here is the Small Patch Pocket Pattern PDF & the Big Patch Pocket Pattern PDF.)
If you were going to do a plain pocket, here is where you would sew all the way around, turn and press. But to back up, I wanted to add a little velvet tie.
First, measure down to where you want your tie to be. Mark with a pen (you will cover this mark up so don’t worry). Measure down on both sides as you will be putting two separate pieces of ribbon on.
Pin your ribbon down and sew. For this thin velvet I used one stitch line down the middle. Wider ribbon I would stitch on top and bottom edges. Sew both pieces of ribbon on, back tack your ends and leave about a half inch between them to have room to tie the bow.
After the ribbon is tied on, put the ribbons nicely in the middle, place the back face down and pin for sewing. Keeping your ribbons nicely in the center keeps you from sewing them into the side seams.
You are going to sew all the way around leaving a one inch hole in the center top of the pocket. Don’t forget to clip your corners so you get a nice crisp edge.
Turn, using a chopstick for the corners to carefully push them out. Press carefully, making sure the space you left for turning at the top edge is turned in and pressed. When you are done pressing, topstitch just the top to close the hole. Important: Be mindful of the content of your ribbon when pressing. Don’t use your cotton setting on the ribbon unless you are sure it is cotton. There are lots of pretty synthetic ribbons out there so be careful not to melt!
Now, pin the pocket to your garment and stitch carefully around, close to the edge. Take your time and tie a nice bow. You can tack the center of the bow with a tiny stitch (by hand) if it is slippery ribbon. All done!
You could also use just really pretty ribbon and put one piece of it across the top without the bow if you like.
Pocket #2 ~ Patchwork Curved Corner Pocket
This is perfect for even tiny scraps. I grabbed a few scraps out of my large pile of scraps and sewed them together.
After I stitched them I carefully pressed them and then did a little topstitching to give it a nice detail
I then cut out the printed pattern and cut the center of the pattern out, leaving the seam allowance frame. Very handy for laying down to see how I liked the pocket best… This is a handy trick for when you might want to get just the right bit of a print as the focus for your pocket.
Flip and clip. Don’t forget to clip nice corners because it will be noticeable if they don’t lay nice and flat and curvy.
Backtack! Always make sure to backtack a couple of times past the top edge so that hands going in and out and the weight of whatever is in your pocket has a little insurance against pulling the pocket loose at the top.
Pocket #3 ~ Bias Cut Binding on a Curved Pocket
I love the idea of this though my execution could have been better! I am going to work on this but I thought it was a fun one to share quirks and all. Cut a 2 inch wide binding strip on the bias. Measure around your pocket to see how long to make your strip. (I made one about a foot long for the small pocket) You will need this bias cut and not straight cut because it will hug your curves better.
I use this great Clover binding maker all the time. It’s a fun tool and it allows you to make binding out of any fabric. It’s super easy too.
Note: I used the pattern without the seam allowance for this pocket. I wanted it smaller so I just cut the pattern out without the seam allowance and used that. When sewing this binding on, it seemed a lot easier to not pin. I put my machine speed down a notch so I couldn’t go crazy and just took it nice and slow. Try to get your stitching close to the edge but make sure you are getting the bottom edge of the binding as well.
Just slowly stretch the binding a tiny bit as you sew around the curves. Take your time.
After you have the binding on, press nice and flat. Then, take the top two corners and just press them over a hair like this:
Then fold over the top edge twice and top stitch. The tiny fold at the corners should keep the edge from showing.
Pin in place and stitch around. Remember to back tack!
I hope this inspires you to go and put some pockets on a few things!
We’re giving away fabulous prizes this month from SINGER, Ottobre Design and Sew,Mama,Sew!
TWO WAYS TO WIN PRIZES!
1–Comment Here
Comment in any post this month to be entered into a weekly drawing for great prizes from SINGER and Sew,Mama,Sew!
2–Enter the Make It, Wear It! Challenge
Submit a photo of clothing you make this June in our Make It, Wear It! Challenge photo pool or in this thread in the Forum. You might win a SINGER sewing machine or a subscription to Ottobre.
See this post for details about all the prizes this month!
93 Responses to “Easy Patch Pockets”
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Cute! I love the one with the ribbon!
Best post ever!
Fabulous!
wonderful tute. thanks so much. I love the details. The rounded bias pocket is definitely my favorite. thanks so much for sharing.
great ideas.
This is a great page to bookmark. Thanks for such handy tips.
Great ideas for changing up pockets – love the details and the tips!
these are amazing. thanks for the tute and i love the fabric!
yay pockets! I put pockets on everything
These are so adorable! I love the ribbon & great idea for seeing how the patchwork will look with the cutout window!
i love pockets!
The ribbon is such a cute touch, thanks for the lovely tutorial!
Thanks for the great ideas, so simple!
That’s stinkin’ cute. My son is currently obsessed with a book about a little mouse named Chrysanthemum, and she wears a jumper with 7 pockets and I can see how much he’d love a set of overalls with multiple pockets, now I think I’m up to the task.
Very cute (and useful)! I’ll have to give these a try.
cute pockets! (and those candy pops look amazing!)
Those are so cute!!
Great post. I really need to put this inspiration to use!
great idea for reusable bags! (which is all I have time to sew these days . . . )
You made pocket applications look so easy!
Great post…who doesn’t love a pocket!?
Great ideas! Great to add to bags.
What cute pockets!
i love pockets on everything. thanks for this.
Those are cute!
Very informative!
Great pocket patterns- I love pockets, they are especially great for kids clothes- thanks for the ideas!
Thanks for all the great info and fun variations!
A clover binder… who knew binding could be that easy! I’ve been looking for different ways to spice up the pockets on the aprons I’ve been making.
Brilliant!!!
Thanks
Gill
Cute pockets – love the fabrics. My favorite pocket is the one with the bow. I will definitley be using that one on something soon!
What great pocket ideas! I have a little girl who would love any of these on a skirt or dress.
Love it! Too cute
Great fabrics & I love the one used for the bias binding…Thanks for the great pocket tutorial!
These are all great ideas! I definitely want to try the one with the bias tape and I love the idea of making them out of scraps too. Thanks for the inspiration!
the pockets are so cute
i love how the bias binding looks.
Lovely!
i never would have thought to piece together a pocket. I just LOVE that idea. Thanks.
Cute pockets! I will definitely try one!
Love the clover binder! I think I need to get one…love the fun ideas!
So cute. I love the bias tape idea around the pocket.
Great pocket ideas. Will use one on a tote bag.
The multifabric pocket will look nice on a bag.
ooooh, I just wanna put pockets on EVERYTHING right now!
I love the idea of doing a double layer pocket so there are no raw edges. Brillaint!
Thanks for sharing all these ideas!
You read my mind! I have been wanting to try pockets!
Great post Mo thanks for the inspiration!
Very cute!
I think all clothes should have pockets. Good tutorial.
Darling! Gave me some ideas for my daughter’s skirts. Thanks!
I love the pocket with the three fabrics together. Thanks!
Ohhh I so have to try these out! Thank you!
Love that last pocket! Thanks for sharing
What great ideas. These pockets are really cute!
Cute ideas to jazz up a garment.
I love that ribbon pocket idea!
what a nice tutorial!
It changes the look of any garment, and you can be so creative with different types. Great tutorials. Great ideas!
Cute pocket ideas
I’ve been trying all week to get bias tape around a corner. You make it look so easy!
great tips and ideas – thanks!
I’ll be going through the closet looking for things to add pockets to.
I love those variations.
I love the pocket with the ribbon! I have never put a pocket on anything. Something to try!
Thanks for this post–it’s a great reminder that pockets can add a nice embellishment to just about anything!
I like the ribbon trim!
This is a wonderful idea- I like the left over scrap idea. Thankyou!
Thank you for such a great tutorial. I am putting on pockets this weekend.
Thank you! I’ll use this one soon!
Very nice. I make my pockets the sameway to stay neat. I really like the good idea for patchwork pockes and embellishing. Very nice.
Thanks for the creative pocket ideas! I can especially use your idea of cutting the middle part of the pattern out to make a window. Very helpful!
That’s the way I make them! Now I want to try with the bias tape
I can not say enough nice things about that ribbon pocket!
I love pockets! These look like really easy pockets and fun pockets to make. Thanks for the inpiration!
Wow, every one you made is so cute!
Thanks, pockets are so cute. My kids love them too.
Adorable!!! So simple, but really adds a nice touch!
love the bias tape pocket! will try that soon.
So cute. My favorite is the bias binding on a curved pocket.
Those are great pocket ideas. I’m going to be dressing up my pockets now. Thanks!
Great tutorial! Thanks!
My daughter loves pocket on everything! I might have to add some to the clothing that doesn’t have any.
I love this! Thanks for the tutorial.
What a great way to use up scraps!
Super cute pockets!!
I enjoyed looking at your pocket tutes. I am attempting to sew for my Grandaughter and your tutes will come in handy…thanks.
I love this! I have a love hate relationship with making pockets but have vowed to make more things with techniques I am not as comfortable with. I also think I need that tool for binding as I don’t do much with it either!
Thank you so much for this tute, I am a pocket person, and when I upcycle clothing I always want to add a pocket or two, and my scrap pile thanks you too!
Now I have the know-how to add some pockets to something. I have put pockets on before and I know it isn’t hard, but I always get nervous about adding something that the pattern doesn’t explain. I know, silly. But now I’ll have written directions in front of me to boost my confidence into doing it! THANKS!!
How cute are those patchwork ones!
Thanks for the pocket instructions. Never like to put on pockets, but I’ll try again.
very cute!
Loved your cute pocket ideas, especially the ribbon.
Here’s a tip for working with the bias binding. Before doing any sewing, shape the bias at your ironing board, using steam, to the approximate shape of your piece. This helps it to lay flat, voiding the puckers.