To kick off our “Thanks, it has Pockets!” series we are sharing a ruffle pocket tutorial from Emily of Replicate then Deviate. More recently, Lindsay used this same method on a reversible quilted hack of the Morgana Zip Up jacket.
It’s a technique that never goes out of style, so we are happy to bring this tutorial along over to the new website!
Hello! I’m Emily from Replicate then Deviate and I’m super excited to be guest posting on Project Run and Play!
(The following measurements are approximate- I should’ve written down the actual measurements when I did it. Sorry. I measured the finished pieces and added in approximate seam allowances and rounded to the nearest quarter inch for this post).
When I told Ansley I was making her a jacket, she immediately requested pockets. I cut an about 6.5 inch by 6 inch rectangle out of the outer fabric (fleece) and the inner fabric (flannel) then curved the bottom by tracing the edge of a plate. I cut two rectangular strips of white fabric (leftover from this dress) about 3.5 inches by about 12 inches (about double the length of the top of the pocket).
(not pictured) Fold your ruffle rectangle in half hot dog style (long ways), right sides together. Sew along the short ends. Trim the seam and corner. Turn right side out. Press well. Baste two long gathering stitches across the open edge (not the folded edge of the ruffle), one stitch about 1/4 inch from the raw edges, the next stitch about 3/8 inch from the raw edge. Gather your ruffle and distribute gathers evenly.
Pin or wonder clip your ruffle to the right side of your outer pocket piece, leaving a small gap (the size of your seam allowance- I prefer 1/4 inch seam allowances) from the edges (both sides of the pocket). Baste the ruffle to the top of the pocket piece, all raw edges lined up (ruffle facing down towards the bottom of your pocket). I also pinned the top of the ruffle (the folded edge, the one that’s currently facing the bottom of the pocket) to the outer pocket piece so it wouldn’t get caught in the next steps.
Right sides together, pin or wonder clip your lining fabric to your outer fabric, sandwiching the ruffle in between. Leave a small gap along one of the side straight edges for turning. Stitch around the perimeter of the pocket (don’t forget your gap). Trim seam and clip corners and curves. Bonus tip- my favorite way to clip curves is to snip parallel angled lines all in one direction first (with the pink arrow, blue side facing up). Then turn your fabric the other way (lining facing up) and clip parallel angled lines (green arrow), meeting your snipped lines from the front and making a nice pile of triangles.
Turn the pocket right side out through the gap. Press really well. Topstitch along the top of the pocket. Your pocket is ready to sew onto your coat. I decided to tack the top corners of the ruffles to the coat so the ruffles wouldn’t droop. I did this before sewing the lining (so the stitching is only attaching the ruffle to the outer fabric and not through all layers of the coat).
So cute!
Stay tuned! We will be sharing more pocket tutorials all week long!
If you want to pin this for later…
