Hello my name is Heather from Mommy Made It Boutique and I am thrilled to be here at Twig + Tale as a guest blogger! Today I will show you how to sew classic welt pockets!
A couple of months ago my 2 ½ year old daughter and I came across the Twig + Tale Animal Coat and fell in love with the unicorn option. Then we found THE BLANKET! A vintage pastel plaid wool baby blanket. It was perfect, except it was small 36’’x50’’ including the fringe.
Could I make it work?
I meticulously laid out my pattern pieces and matched the plaid the best that I could. I had just enough fabric for all of the main pieces! All I had left were the ears and the pockets. Even though I had enough fabric to cut the pocket pattern pieces out, the plaid was not going to match up with the beautiful pink and periwinkle that ran down the coat’s front pieces.
At first I considered omitting the pockets all together. But then I thought how my daughter would have no where to put her collected treasures. We couldn’t have that! So what was my solution? Classic welt pockets... and this is how I did it!
What you will need:
- Twig + Tale coat or vest pattern (Exterior front pieces specifically)
- Welt pocket facing piece 5’’x3" (13x8 cm) in the same fabric as your coat (one per pocket)
- Pocket lining pieces 6’’x6’’ (15x15 cm) in the same fabric as the coat lining of your coat (two per pocket)
- Fusible interfacing
- Water soluble fabric pen
Start by interfacing the back of your front pieces roughly where the pocket will go. I don’t have specific measurements for this. You just want to give the fabric more structure and support where your pocket will be.
With a water soluble fabric pen, mark the right side of your front pieces where you would like the placement of your pockets to be. For a children’s coat this should be about 4 ½" (11.5 cm) long. I used the included pocket pattern piece as a guide to how high or low I wanted the completed pocket to be.
Interface the wrong side of each welt piece about half way. Then fold the welt piece in half, right sides together, pin and stitch the short ends closed using a ⅜’’ (1cm) seam allowance.
Turn your welt right side out and press.
Place your welt down along your pocket placement line marked on the front piece. Then place the first pocket lining piece, right side down, on top of your welt piece and pin in place.
Pin welt piece and first lining piece in place. Using a water soluble fabric pen, mark the pocket lining piece where the welt stops on each side as a guide to where you should start and stop your stitch. Using a ⅜’’ (1cm) seam allowance, stitch the first lining piece and welt in place. Be sure not to stitch any further than the width of your welt.
Place your second pocket lining piece, right side down, above the first lining piece and welt. Pin in place.
Again using a water soluble fabric pen, mark the second lining piece where the welt stops on each side. Stitch the second lining piece in place using a ⅜’’ (1cm) seam allowance, making sure not to stitch past your welt. This stitch will be parallel to the first stitch.
Turn your front piece over to wrong side and cut your pocket open, starting in the middle and working your way towards the ends stopping ½’’ before the stitch ends. As a guide I like to mark my stitch lines with a water soluble fabric pen to know exactly where I should cut.
On an angle, cut to the corners making a Y shape until you have reached the last stitch. Be sure not to cut any further than the last stitch. This will create a triangle on each end.
Push the pocket lining pieces through from the right side of the front piece to the wrong side. 
Only the welt piece should remain on the right side of the front piece to cover the pocket opening when finished.
Press welt piece and pocket linings in place.
With the front piece facing right side up, fold the fabric to the right side over the welt piece to expose the end of the welt underneath. See the triangle?
Create the pocket pouch by stitching along the pocket lining edges, making sure to stitch on top of the triangles. This will reinforce the corners.
Finish your welt pocket by top stitching the welt piece into place and pressing. I also trim up the pocket pouch for a neater look.
And there you have it...your fully lined classic welt pocket!
Follow the rest of your pattern as directed and you will have a beautiful coat with fully functional tailored pockets for your little one to place their collected treasures in too!
Click here to view the Animal Coat Pattern
Heather is a former veterinary technician turned stay-at-home mom. She lives in Cranston, RI with her husband, two children, chocolate lab and macaw parrot. From home she runs two small businesses Mommy Made It Boutique and Belle Petite Photography. Her passions include her children, photography, painting, animals, nature, all things old and sewing of course!
See more of Heather’s sewing here & her delightful photography here.
