The New Dressmaker/Chapter 22

by Butterick Pattern Company

CHAPTER 22

POCKETS

Patch Pockets—Slash Pocket—Pocket with a Straight Opening—Pocket with an In-and-Out Lap—Pocket with a Welt—Bound Pocket Opening

Ill. 205. Facing of the Slash Pocket

Ill. 206. Pushing Facing Through to Wrong Side

THE various styles of pockets used on tailored garments and boys' suits which require some technical knowledge will be treated in this chapter.

A PATCH POCKET is simply a patch sewed on three of its sides to the outside of the garment. Patch pockets vary in size and shape according to the style of the garment and the position they occupy. The upper edge that is left open may lie simply hemmed or faced, or trimmed in any way that the character of the garment may suggest. All other edges of the pocket are turned under, basted and stitched to the garment. In all cases the essential feature of a patch pocket is neatness.

A SLASH POCKET (Ill. 210) is one that is made on the inside of the garment and has a slit opening through to the outside. Mark the line for the opening with tailors' tacks (page 85). Run a line of bastings in colored thread through the perforations to mark the line still more sharply, letting the bastings show on both sides of the material.

Cut a piece of the suit material for a facing. It should be about three inches wide and an inch longer than the pocket opening.

Ill. 207. Pocket Slipped Under the Facing

Ill. 208. Pocket Turned Up and Stitched

Baste it face down to the right side of the garment so that its center comes exactly over the pocket opening and the facing itself extends half an inch beyond each end of the opening. (Ill. 205.) From the wrong side of the garment run another row of colored bastings along the line for the pocket opening so that the second row will show through on the pocket facing.

From the right side place a row of machine stitching on each side of the

Ill. 209. Inside View of a Slash Pocket

Ill. 210. Outside View of a Slash Pocket

pocket line and about an eighth of an inch from it. (Ill. 205.) Tie the ends of the threads firmly so that the stitching can not pull out, and then cut through the pocket line with a sharp knife, cutting through both the facing and the garment material. Push the facing through the slit. (Ill. 206.)

Rebaste the facing from the outside, letting it form a head or cording an eighth of an inch deep at the edges of the pocket. It should be stitched on the upper edge of the pocket hole from the right side. Cross-stitch the pocket edges together to hold them in shape until the garment is finished. Turn down the upper edge of the pocket facing as close to the stitching as possible, and press flat to wrong side of garment. (Ill. 208.)

Cut from strong cotton or drill a pocket piece about twelve and a half inches long and two inches wider than the pocket opening. Shape one end of the pocket like the curved pocket opening and insert it between the lower pocket facing and the garment, close to the opening. (Ill. 207.) Baste it in place from the wrong side, turn the garment portion over to right side, and stitch through both facing and pocket close to opening. Turn under lower edge of pocket facing and stitch it to pocket (Ill. 207), but not to the garment.

Ill. 211. For a Straight Pocket Opening Now turn up the pocket about four and a half inches from the opening and baste it in place with its upper edge toward the top of the garment. From the right side, stitch through the garment and the pocket along the upper edge of the pocket opening. Turn under the edge of the upper part of the facing and hem it to the pocket (Ill. 208). Do it from the right side, pushing the pocket and facing through the slit. The sides of the pocket are closed with a row of machine stitching about three-eighths of an inch from the edges. (Ill. 209.) The ends (Ill. 210) are finished with an arrow-head (page 127).

A PERFECTLY STRAIGHT OPENING has a facing of material applied as directed above. (Ills. 205 and 206.) Two pocket pieces are Ill. 212. The In-and-Out Lap Pocket is Used a Great Deal for Taliored Garments cut of pocketing or drill, the lower four and half inches long, the upper piece five inches long. Both pieces should be an inch wider than the opening.

The pocket pieces are slipped under the facings, basted and stitched from the right side. (Ill. 211.) Strengthen the ends of the opening on the right side with a bar tack or arrow-head. (Chapter 25, page 127.)

The raw edges of the facings are turned under and stitched to the pocket pieces (Ill. 211). The upper pocket piece is then turned down over the lower and basted and stitched to it around its three open sides. The Raw edges may be bound or overcast.

Ill. 213. In Check, Stripe or Plaid Material the Lines in the Lap Should Match the Lines in the Garment

This pocket is illustrated on the preceding page.

IN A POCKET WITH AN IN-AND-OUT LAP the latter is finished completely before the pocket is begun. Cut the piece for the lap from the cloth, being careful to have the grain or stripe of the goods match when the lap is laid on the jacket in the position it will have when the pocket is completed. (Ill. 212.) Turn in and baste a seam on three sides. Run two rows of even stitching around the edge from the right side, the first row one-eighth of an inch from the edge. Then add a lining of silk, slip-stitching it on by hand.

Now lay the finished lap face down on the goods with its raw edge down, and even with the line of bastings that indicate the pocket opening. The rest of the work is the same as for the pocket described above. In this case, however, the section of the facing strip which is supplemented by the lap is cut away.

AN OPEN POCKET is made similar to the one having an in-and-out lap. The lap is made straight or on a slant (Ill. 213), not quite so wide as for a loose lap, and is joined to the garment at the lower edge of the slit in an upright position and is attached to it at each side.

A BOUND POCKET OPENING should be bound with a bias strip of self or contrasting material about 1½ inch wide and ½ inch longer than the pocket opening. Turn under each end of the strip ¼ of an inch. (Ill. 214.)

Ill. 214. Basting On the Binding

Ill. 215. The Bound Pocket Opening

Mark the line of the pocket through the pocket perforations with tailors' tacks. (Page 85.)

Place the strip on the outside of the Ill. 216. The Pocket for the Bound Pockethole garment with the center of the strip over the line of the pocket. (Ill. 214.) Baste the strip to the garment. (Ill. 214.) Run a basting line through the tailors' tacks, and through the center of the strip and stitch the strip to the garment ⅛ of an inch each side of this basting line.

Cut the pocket opening through the garment and strip in a clean, even line. Push the binding through the slash to the wrong side of the garment and baste it into position letting it form an ⅛-of-an-inch binding at the edge of the opening. (Ill. 215.) Slip-stitch the corners of the binding so they will not fray.

Cut the pocket sections of satin or lining material about seven inches long and let them extend about ½ an inch beyond each end of the opening (Ill. 216), shaping them as illustrated. Face the under section of the pocket three inches from the top with the material of the garment. (Ill. 216.) Baste the pocket sections to the binding on the inside of the garment as illustrated.

Ill. 217. The Welt and Inner Section of the Welt Pocket

Ill. 218. The Welt and Outer Section of the Welt Pocket

Sew the pocket sections to the binding by hand, using one of the hemming stitch

Baste and stitch the pocket sections together to form a pocket and overcast the raw edge.

Ill. 219. The two Pocket Sections Stitched and Overcast Together A POCKET WITH A WELT—Mark the line for the opening of the pocket with tailors' tacks. (Chapter 16, page 85.) Run a line of basting through the tailors' tacks to mark the opening even more clearly, letting the basting show through both sides of the material. If the pocket is to be cut through more than one thickness of material baste around the marking so that the materials can not slip when the opening is cut.

Cut an interlining for the welt ⅜ of an inch smaller at the top and ends than the welt pattern. Turn the edges of the welt over on the interlining at the top and ends, mitering it neatly at the corners. (Ill. 217.) Baste and stitch it to match the rest of the garment and press it carefully.

The pocket is cut in two sections from lining material. The shape of the inner section is shown in Illustration 217. The outer section is cut like the inner but deep enough to form a lining for the welt. (Ill. 218.) The Ill. 220. The Finished Welt Pocket pocket should be ½ of an inch wider on both sides than the opening. A breast pocket should be about 3½ inches deep, a lower pocket about 5 inches deep.

Lay the finished welt face down below the pocket line on the right side of the garment (Ill. 217) with the unfinished edge exactly even with the line marked for the opening. Baste it in place. Lay the inner section of the pocket face down above the pocket line, close up to the welt, and baste it in place. (Ill. 217.) Run a row of machine stitching ⅛ of an inch in from both sides, and tie the threads securely. Turn the seam edge of the welt back and press it back flat against the welt. (Ill. 217.)

Take the outer or larger section of the pocket and lay it right side up over the inner section and welt. (Ill. 218.) Turn the upper edge under ⅛ of an inch from the top of the welt and trim it out at the ends of the welt so that it is ⅛ of an inch smaller. (Ill. 218.) Fell these edges down. (Ill. 218.) Sew the satin along the seam edge of the welt and again ¼ of an inch inside it. (Ill. 218.)

Cut the opening with a sharp pen-knife or pointed embroidery scissors following the thread line to within ⅛ of an inch of the ends. Make a cut from that point to the stitching line on both sides forming a . Push both pocket sections through to the wrong side of the garment and turn the welt up in place. Blind sew the ends of the welt to the garment at the edge and again ¼ of an inch in.

Turn the garment to the wrong side and seam up the pocket edges and overcast them. (Ill. 219.) Press the seam downward and bar tack (Chapter 25, page 127) the ends of the opening to prevent their pulling out. Give the pocket a final pressing on the right side. The finished welt is shown in Illustration 220.