project winter coat: in-seam welt pocket

once everything is fused and cut it's...

wait for it... 

SEWING TIME!!!

so now you'll do your major construction of the shell. after all the laborious (and boring) prep work this will feel like a fast forward moment. sew, press, repeat! just remember all those things about not pressing directly on the wool (use a press cloth) and other words of wisdom. later i'll have some tips to post for the collar and sleeves, those can be the tricky bits.

since there isn't much to write regarding the main body construction, i'll show you how i made my in-seam welt pockets. the pattern has the pockets in the side seam, but i prefer they be in the front princess seam. less bulk on my hips this way! in case any technique with the word "welt" in it makes you run in fear, this is about as easy as it gets. in fact, an in-seam welt pocket is virtually the same as a regular in-seam pocket. just with the addition of a welt.

shall we?

i drafted my welt so that once sewn it would be as wide as the distance between the two dots on the pocket piece, which is just the width of the pocket opening. begin by making your welt. you need to sew around the three sides of the welt, turn right side out and press. top stitch the edges if desired. i hope you can use your imagination on that one as i don't have a picture. 

the fact that my nail polish matches
my coat lining is pure coincidence!

baste the welt to the seam (right side of the welt to the right side of the coat), then sew the pocket bag directly on top of your welt basting (just over the pocket opening) then press the pocket bag back. baste the other pocket bag to the adjoining seam, again stitching only along the pocket opening. press the pocket bag out and under stitch if desired.

now lay both pieces on top of each other with the pocket bags sticking out. at this point you want to make sure your seam lines up accurately. i place a couple pins over the pocket opening to hold it in place, then turn back the shell and stitch around the pocket bag then finish the seam.

now you can pin the rest of the coat seam together and sew above and below the pocket opening; stopping at the pocket opening, then picking back up again on the other side. when you get close to the pocket opening, make sure you grab that corner of the pocket bag so it doesn't end up caught in the seam. then press the princess seam toward the center

i am top stitching along the princess seam and had to do a little manipulating so i didn't sew the pocket shut. on the inside, i pinned the pocket bag out of the way, then on the front top stitched the part of the seam that crosses the welt.

then i unpinned the pocket bag and pressed the seam toward the middle and top stitched from the top down, pivoting inline with the top stitching on the welt, then stitching over the welt securing it to the coat, back stitching at the end to reinforce it.

i feel like this is a lot easer with pictures than with words, sorry if all i've done is confuse you more! really, it's far easier than it might sound.

future posts will include some tips about setting in the sleeve, how to make a custom shoulder pad and how i plan to add an interlining for warmth. exciting stuff people! my coat is finally coming together (i'm a bit farther ahead than these posts) and it's looking awesome. can't wait to show it off!

—lisa g.