Zip pockets... they ain't perfect, but they are mine

This year it seems every Marfy pattern I pick up has a zipped pocket of some kind in it. The latest jacket is no exception as it has in seam zipped pockets.

I've never actually tackled a pocket of this type before and couldn't find much detail on how this should be tackled when I consulted my sewing books. Never one to be cast down by a challenge, I set off slowly in the hopes that my cunning plan wouldn't lead me into a corner from which I could not extricate myself. In order to ensure I could replicate the process again, I took photos for my own use, and where better to store them than on here and so without further fuss, here is my zip pocket in a seam method.

I am not convinced it was the right method, as I think maybe a lapped insertion might have been better because the zip pull does poke out of the seam a bit more than it perhaps ought to. However, that was a conclusion reached with the benefit of hindsight, which is, as we all know, a marvellous thing. Anyway, whilst I know a lapped insertion exists, I've never actually done one. A pocket in a seam right on the front of a jacket didn't seem the best candidate for my first attempt. So whilst this may well not be the right way to proceed (if indeed there is such a thing as a right way in sewing) I didn't end up in too many corners struggling to find my way back, so it can't be all bad.

Here is the lower section of the jacket front. The seam above the point where the zip pocket will begin is stitched permanently. I then changed to a basting stitch to sew down the rest of the seam, where the zipper will be inserted. The pocket bags are underneath the seam allowance with their edges butted up to the seam itself. To keep them in place whilst I fiddled around with the zipper insertion, I stuck them onto the seam allowance with Steam A Seam. I guess you could use glue too, or even, perish the thought, actually be less lazy and sew them onto the seam allowances properly.

Here you can see the pocket bags stuck down and the pocket pieces are being held the way they will be sewn, once the zip goes in.

And here we have the zipper, pinned into place and centred over the seam allowance. I roll the zipper downwards with it rolled over my finger, guiding the teeth to lie centered on the basted seam and pinning as I go down. The zipper is slightly too long so I was able to place the zip pull above the end of the seam so that it didn't make my sewing line go off. That was the theory, which as with many theories, didn't hold up all that well in fact.

Unlike with a normal zipper, this one is sewn only to the seam allowances at this stage. I was still able to get really close to the zipper, but you do have to be very sure you have flipped the whole of the jacket front out of the way as you stitch. Here I am sewing one side, the rest of the jacket is held to the right in the picture.

So I now had a zipper attached neatly to the seam allowances and the line of sewing is also holding my pocket bags on permanently.

At this point, I managed to sew myself into a corner by not paying attention. I had earlier in the day told myself NOT to sew up the pocket pieces until AFTER the top stitching was done... but in my excitement at making a working pocket... I kind of forgot my own advice.... and serged the pocket pieces together... and admired my work.... then went downstairs for lunch to celebrate completion of a really cool pocket. And of course came back to the charming task of unpicking the serged pockets so I could lay them back flat again to top stitch down the seam and along the side of the zipper. DOH!!!!

Next I undid the tacking at the top of the pocket area, but only for a couple of inches. This was so I could move my zip pull out of the way when top stitching. I top stitched from the top of the panel downward, at an eighth of an inch from the seam line. When I got to the slightly open zipper part, I sewed so far, then put the the needle down, lifted the foot, and carefully moved the zipper pull past the needle and out of the way before top stitching the rest of the seam.

THEN, and ONLY THEN, can the pocket bags be sewn up to make a lovely workable pocket. I also sewed down the pocket to the top of the zipper, just on the seam allowances and cut the excess zip tape away just underneath so no zip tape shows, and there is no hole at the top of the pocket. I am pretty happy with the look of the inside, which is a good job as its an unlined jacket. I love the way the pockets lie nicely against the seams and bottom edge. I am going to sew the bottom of the pocket into the seam when I put the bottom band on.

So, leaving aside the fact that to get my top stitching straight, reasonably even, and not all wonky next to the zipper took five unpicks on one side and three on the other (I was obviously getting the hang of it by the second side). And ignoring the four partial unpicks on the zipper because I had sewn too close to the teeth and the pull was sticking, And if we gloss over the need to patch my top stitching by hand where I managed to cut the top stitching whilst removing tacking. Well, if we ignore all that, and the sticky out zip pull, we have a pair of workable pockets.

I feel sure with more practice it will get easier, neater and more professional looking. Right now I'm just pleased the jacket has pockets, operational zippers, and no unplanned holes or other unattractive extra design features, as a result of my efforts.

And here is a finished pocket.