THE Q & A SERIES - ADDING IN-SEAM POCKETS TO THE PEPPERMINT JUMPSUIT PATTERN
Hi Emily
It's me again...sewing another one of your fabulous patterns. I wanted to know for the Jumpsuit where would the best place to put pockets? Is there a standard measurement or is it just up to the person? I love pockets and I thought this would be a great addition to the jumpsuit to add slit pockets.
Any tips would be great. Thank you once again for you wonderful patterns.
Regards,
-Stacy
Hi Stacy,
Thanks for getting in touch. I am pleased to hear you are giving the Peppermint jumpsuit a go!
There probably is a standard measurement for pocket placement, but I also don't know what it is! I don’t think knowing the standard measurement is the most important thing, it’s more about knowing what this measurement is for you and adjusting patterns / adding pockets that are comfortable and practical for you to use.
The best way to decide on pocket placement is by holding the pattern piece up to your body (if you don’t have a toile / muslin to use as a reference) and then putting your hands where you would comfortably have a pocket. Take a pencil and mark this position on the pattern (I mark where I would like the top of the pocket to be).
To get you started - I have a dress that was drafted from the Peppermint Jumpsuit pattern and the pockets are positioned 31cm (12in) down from the top of the side seam. I'm roughly 170cm (5'7") tall - this might help you as a guide.
The other thing you can do is look at your ready to wear clothes and take the measurement off one of those (if you like the pocket position on the garment) and then transfer that to the pattern.
Once you have your measurement, mark it on the front pattern piece by measuring down from the top of the side seam (you will be marking where the top of the finished pocket will sit on the side seam).
Take an in-seam pocket piece from a pattern you already have and trace a copy on a piece of pattern paper.
If you don't have an in-seam pocket pattern that you can use, you can download one here. If you would like to learn how to draft one from scratch, you can find a tutorial about that here.
Do not cut out the pocket piece just yet.
Place your pocket piece onto the front of the jumpsuit (this is when semi-transparent pattern paper can come in handy), and line up the top notch on the pocket pattern with the point you marked on the front of the jumpsuit in the previous step.
Line up the side seam line as closely as you can. If the pocket and the garment had a different amount of seam allowance included at the side seam, be sure to line up the stitch lines. As the jumpsuit and the pocket have the same seam allowance, you can simply line up the outside (cut line) edge. Use a weight to hold the pocket in place.
You will notice in the illustration above that the pocket does not follow the same line as the jumpsuit towards the bottom of the pocket - this is because the pocket piece is from a different pattern.
Make any changes to the pocket shaping that are required by redrawing the lines. For example, in the case of the example - I just needed to smooth out the bottom of the pocket by tracing the side seam of the jumpsuit.
Before removing the pocket, transfer the notches onto the side seam of the jumpsuit underneath using a tracing wheel.
Remove the pocket piece and cut out, following the new line/s - rather than the original traced version.
Mark the notches on the side seam of the front jumpsuit piece (using the points transferred from the pocket in the previous step).
On the side seam of the Peppermint jumpsuit there are a number of balance notches (these help you line up long seams and ensure you are not stretching the fabric), I'd suggest removing* the two that are closest to the new pocket notches to save confusion. If you want to keep them, just make sure to mark the pocket placement between the notches so you can refer to it later when you are positioning your pockets.
*TIP: To remove notches I normally just cover them up with a small piece of masking tape.
Transfer the pocket notches to the back pattern piece by lining up the side seams and transferring with a pattern notcher or tracing wheel.
Now you are ready to go!
If you need directions about how to sew the pockets in, you can use this tutorial here from the Acton dress sew-along.
I hope this was helpful!
Happy sewing,
Emily
resources mentioned in this issue
P.S. Would you like to know what the Q & A series is all about? This page tells you a little bit more about the motive behind the series. Past issues from the Q & A series can be found here.
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