I have an excellent surprise for you guys today – a tutorial on how to add pockets to the Minoru Jacket! Amy from Sew Well was kind enough to take photos and write up a guide to adding sideseam pockets. If you’ve been holding off sewing your sideseams because you wanted to add pockets, this tutorial is for you!
Not only did she document how to sew the pockets into your Minoru Jacket, she’s even provided a downloadable pattern piece if you’d like to add this pocket to your jacket. Amazing! (And don’t you just love the fabric she’s using, too? I love the colours!)
Click here if you’d like to check out the tutorial. Thanks, Amy!
This tutorial is great! And I love love love Amy’s fabric choice!
That fabric! I’m in love!
Very helpful!
Amy – that’s fabulous fabric! What a gorgeous colour range in the pattern.
Pockets I think are essential in a jacket. Yesterday I put welt pockets with flaps into my jacket front before I sewed the side and sleeve seams. I wanted to have pockets that would not interfere with the side seams and still be fairly water-resistant.
Writeup here – http://rocketsews.otheredge.com.au/?p=69
I also discovered that the fabric I made my muslin out of was probably not stiff enough to give me the information that the seam from collar to armpit was not really long enough. I sewed and topstitched my side/sleeve seams and popped it on and thought eeek! The sleeves were also a bit snug. So I have added a vertical rectangle from the collar edge to the cuff, and made it into a ‘feature’ by adding reflective piping. This has given me more movement in the arms. Damn those ‘strong’ biceps :-) Most of the time I wouldn’t be wearing a jumper under this jacket anyhow so it will still be wearable.
Thanks for posting my tutorial, Tasia! I hope it helps anyone unfamiliar with adding side-seam pockets. They can also be added to the side seams of pocket-less skirts that have enough ease.
For anyone interested in the fabric, I got it here. And, for anyone thinking about picking up the Renfrow, you must! I’ve made four, and I plan to make many, many more. My cowl was even featured on the Sew Weekly today. Hooray!
I like the idea of pockets on the Minoru jacket. Thanks for the tutorial. I am definitely adding these.
not to put a damper but i thought i’d share my experience of adding these pockets. Amy’s instructions were very easy to follow but once i finished and put my jacket on it made my hips look even larger than my already peary shape. I’m using a pretty thick fabric so maybe that was the cause of the extra baggage. Once I removed the pockets, the shape was much more flattering. I love pockets but this time it just didn’t work out for me. I just thought i’d post in case someone is on the fence about adding pockets and is also using thick fabric.
Thanks for the comment! I agree, I am hesitant to add sideseam pockets for the very same reason. Often I’ll sew the pockets shut on purchased skirts that have inseam pockets because they gape open and add extra width. They’ll work better on thin fabric, but again depending on your shape they might gape, regardless of fabric weight. And that’s why the pockets on the original design are flat, and hidden inside the jacket – it keeps the jacket sleek and smooth below the waistline. But so many people asked about adding more pockets, so I thought it would be good to have a tutorial showing how!
I love having pockets on jackets, I use them all the time, so I added some in the side seam on my Minoru. Amy’s tutorial was great, and all I’d add is that the bottom of the pocket should be no lower than the hem stitching line, at about 3 3/4 ” (9.5 cm). I’m not sure about catching the bottom of the pocket seam allowance in the hem as it might distort the hem when my hands are in the pockets, so I’m going to add a short piece of ribbon to the bottom of the pocket and then catch that in the hem. One of my fleece jackets has this.
So far the pockets are sewn in and I did topstitch the side seams above and below the opening, but on the front piece. It doesn’t look too bad! There are some pics about this in my latest post here:
http://escapadesinsewing.blogspot.com/2012/02/pockets-on-my-minoru-jacket.html