Summer may be in full swing, but I’m thinking about those late night parties and fireworks. You know, when the sun goes down and you’re thinking, “Why the heck did I wear shorts to this thing?” I wanted something fun, vibrant, and summery and when I saw Mood’s new batch of African prints, these soda cans caught my eye immediately. As for the sewing pattern, I altered the free bomber jacket pattern I put out a few months ago. Mainly, I elongated it, eliminated the waistband (opting instead for a drawstring), and added welt pockets. If you’ve never sewn welt pockets before, get ready for a tutorial!
Fabrics & materials used:
- 2 yards Hawaiian Blue and Mandarin Soda Can Waxed Cotton Print
- 2 yards Hammered Black Satin
- 2 Rag & Bone Black with White Stripe Rib Knit Trim
- 1/4 yard White Water Jet Loom Fusible Interfacing
- 1 Separating Zipper
- 2 Antique Metal Stoppers
- 2 yards Black Satin Spaghetti Cord
Not everything on my materials list is required for the pocket tutorial. The stoppers and cord, for example, were used in lieu of another rib knit trim along the bottom of my jacket.
For the welt pockets, you can put them in kind of whenever you’d like. If you know exactly where you’d like them to lay, you can insert them before you sew anything else. Personally, I chose to sew about 90% of my jacket before doing the pockets so I could choose exactly where to place them.
First, you’ll need a rectangle of your welt fabric, 4″x6″. I chose to interface mine, just to give it a little more stability. Pleace the rectangle on your jacket fabric, right sides together. About half an inch down, draw a .5″x5″ rectangle, like you see above. This is where your pocket opening will eventually be.
Next, sew along the top and bottom of the rectangle, but not the sides. Draw a 4.5″ line in the center of the rectangle, with small triangles reaching the very end of the lines you just stitched.
Cut along the line you drew, pull the rectangle through to the wrong side of your jacket fabric and press. The two fabrics should now be laying with wrong sides together.
Take the lower, larger section of the rectangle, fold it upwards, and press. The top of the fold should just hit the top of the opening, like you see below.
On the sides of the pocket opening, stitch the small triangle notches closed.
You now have the welt part of your pocket! All you need is the pocket part of your pocket.
The pocket can (for the most part) be whatever size and shape you’d like. Whatever you choose, you’ll need the lining, which will connect to the bottom of the welt, like you see below. You’ll also need a face, which should be the same size and shape as the lining, plus 2″ to cover the welt.
Once the lining is sewn to the welt, the last step is to attach the face by sewing entirely around the perimeter. Be sure not to catch the jacket fabric in any seams.
Ta-da! Complicated pockets, made easy! (I hope.)
To finish off my jacket, I also chose to throw a quick pocket onto one of the sleeves. (Can you ever have too many pockets?) I interfaced another rectangle of satin, added a zipper and top-stitched it right into place.
The last alteration to the pattern was a little sleeve detail I chose to add at the last minute. On the patterned side of my jacket, I cut the tops of the shoulder out and inserted a sort of trapezoid shape of the hammered satin. I’m definitely glad I chose to go with it! I think it breaks up the pattern nicely.
Also, did I mention the bomber jacket pattern is reversible?? In love.
What fabric combination are you going to use for your jacket?
1 comment
This is so so helpful, thank you!!