Sienna Maker Jacket lined pockets
I am progressing through the Sienna Maker Jacket by Closet Core Patterns under the excellent guidance of Lynda Maynard via an 8 week live online course, which includes lifetime access to instructional videos. The classes are at 10am PST and so I am still able to watch them in the UK at 6pm. We watch the short videos (usually 3) during the class and have plenty of opportunity to discuss and ask questions. One of them was on lined patch pockets, my first time sewing these.
I had some beautiful Liberty Tana Lawn in Felda left over from my first Sagebrush Top and thought it would be a lovely fabric to line these pockets.
This post describes how I lined the pockets, you can read the full review of the pattern itself here, which includes my fitting process and lots more photos of the finished jacket and the little details. You can read a review of Lynda's class here.
Breast pocket
Having never sewn lined pockets before, Lynda's instructions were clear and the technique made perfect sense. You essentially sew the lining to the pocket along the top edge, press the pocket and lining edges in and sew together, before topstitching in place.
Lynda's video was for a plain rectangular pocket but it was straightforward to apply the technique to the outer breast pocket with two angled corners. Clipping the corners also helped to reduce bulk.
I did this by pinching the excess and marked with a Prym Aqua Trick Marker where to clip from. I love these pens as you just dab the marks with water to remove them.
Lynda recommends hand-basting at each stage to help keep the seam allowances in place while working on it. This adds a little time but is worth the effort.
My pocket was ready to sew onto the front.
Front pockets
I continued with the front pockets which are angled and sit level with the hip, applying the same theory as best I could. I interfaced the breast pocket opening, but decided to interface the whole of the front pockets since they were larger and I imagined I'd use them a lot since they were so spacious.
My brain couldn't quite work out what the finished shape of the lining would be with the angle at the top, and so I cut the lining pieces too large and trimmed them down afterwards.
I sewed them to the top of the pocket and folded in the seam allowances.
I did a mitred corner on the right angle and clipped triangles on the other fold lines as above to reduce bulk when folding the seam allowance inside.
Lynda demonstrated the a point presser and clapper on turning the corners of the pockets, which I have seen but not particularly seen the advantage of until I saw her use it, and of course promptly ordered one for myself. The ability to turn and press corners in one go was too good to miss.
When folding over the top of the pocket to the inside, I found that it was too long and overlapping the side of the pocket, and so I cut this back. It's a little hard to demonstrate on the paper piece in the photo below since the paper doesn't curve like the fabric would, but it gives an idea of where I needed to trim it.
I'm not sure it's entirely due to the pattern drafting, it could well be my own pattern piece, since I made all the seam allowances larger to 5/8" / 16mm as recommended by Lynda so you have a bit more fabric to work with when folding and pressing seams. These two marks show the discrepancy I had on the lining which I then trimmed off.
Here is one of the finished pockets, ready to sew onto the jacket.
Sewing pockets to the jacket
In my head, the last stage of sewing patch pockets on was easy. You put 'em on and sew right? It then dawned on me that the slightest wonkiness would be very obvious, and indeed the breast pocket was wonky on my first attempt, even having hand-basted it in place.
I realised there was still some movement, particularly the rotating motion exaggerated when sewing them in place. Having had several attempts basting a zip before with similar frustrating results, I used the same solution and applied Wonder Tape.
It is double-sided tape sticky enough to hold things down, but easy enough to remove or re-stick if needed. It worked a treat. I know it adds some bulk here (although it is meant to wash out), but I preferred the bulkiness to the wonkiness. The difficulty getting it absolutely straight meant I decided not to add the inside pocket. The stitching for this is visible on the outside, plus it would be bulky over the breast and so I was unlikely to use it.
I topstitched the breast pocket in place as slowly and as neatly as I could, using the edge guide foot for my machine. It really helps when needing to stitch a line equidistant from an edge or seam.
The difficulty getting the breast pocket straight made me think that I needed to ensure the two larger front pockets were absolutely symmetrical, knowing this would also stand out if they weren't. The pattern instructs you to sew the pockets into the side seams but Lynda recommends moving them slightly away to avoid the bulk it creates there. Here they are pinned in place.
By the time I'd got to this stage, my pockets were a bit different in shape and size, so I sewed one on and then pinned the other to look as symmetrical as I could. I decided to match the sides closer to the centre front, thinking any discrepancy would be more obvious here than at the side seams.
I used Wonder Tape again to secure it and topstitched them in place.
It adds such a sense of quality and luxury when I look inside the lined pockets.
My full review of the pattern is here.
Find me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Bloglovin' or scroll to the bottom to subscribe to my monthly newsletter.
Links
I have no affiliations, I'm just a keen buyer and user. A UK supplier may be linked, please try to source items from your favourite independent stores.
