Pocket Templates

Do you have trouble matching your pockets from right side to left side. Pocket templates are the solution. I'm Susie F. Let me show you how to make a pocket template and how to use one. When you're making a pocket template, you're going to need your paper pattern.

You want to cut out a template that is the finished size of your pocket. That means it doesn't have seam allowance on it. So here's my pattern piece for my pocket. I have seam allowance all the way around the edges, cut your pocket template, the finished size and cut it out of a hard card stock or a manila folder, that kind of material you want to then cut out your pocket with seam allowance. Ok.

So match that you want to cut it out with the seam allowance. Now, we're gonna take that pocket template. We're gonna put it on an ironing station. We'll put this down here. Now take your iron and we're going to press in the edges.

I like to start with the sides first and then I'm going to go to the base and then I'm going to go to the top. So let's do that. All right. So I'm positioning my template and that hard card ST it will, it will absorb the heat and the, and the moisture. So that's why you wanna use something.

Um, something like a card stock, a paper card stock. Um Also that, that card stock is hard on the edges. So it's, it's easy to pull those edges around and get them razor sharp. So we're pressing that in, we're gonna press this side here, OK? And make sure it's nice and tight on those edges.

There's no play at the bottom. Turn up the bottom. OK? Just like this. All right.

Pull it nice and tight on that template. Now, the other side here, we're gonna pull this nice and tight. Make sure those corners and edges are razor sharp. OK? So then we're gonna do the top right here.

Pull this in. Sometimes you have to finesse the edges of the top a little bit, especially if that pocket kind of fans out at the top, but you can do it. Let's do this edge first here. OK. Here and on this side finesse those edges.

OK? Get this nice and secure here. OK. Lots of steam on that. Let's flip this over, see what we have.

So here's our pocket, you can see how sharp every corner is. And since we're using this template on the right side and the left side they're gonna match perfectly. Let's bring this piece in to show you these, these shapes right here, they're matching perfectly. Now, we wanna go in with a pencil with the template still in there and a marking pencil and you are going to mark in the pattern, the top stitching lines. And if there's any pattern in the center of the pocket piece, now, if you are um using a, a marking pencil, you wanna go really lightly on it in case it doesn't come out, I'm gonna mark this a little bit darker just so you can see it.

But I'm marking all the way around here. So I have my pattern to follow when I'm stitching. All right. Now, I have my pocket marked, I'm gonna take out the template here. All right.

Now, I can go to the machine. I can sew my top portion here and I can sew the design in the middle. You want to do that first before you put it on your pant because otherwise the pocket won't function, right? So, we're gonna sew here here. We're gonna sew here.

Now, I'm gonna bring it to my pant, I'll do the other pocket, bring it to my pant and, um, and, and put that down another helpful tip when I'm working with patch pockets in order to get them not to shift. When I'm sewing, I always use a double sided tape. So bring that double sided tape in, turn it around, you're going to tape this edge, this edge, this edge in here, peel that tape off and then you are going to put that on your pant. You'll just stick that down onto your pant with the double sided tape. I also put a couple of pins in the middle and then I finish out my stitch pattern without any shifting.

So, double sided tape. That's your friend as well. All right. That's how you're going to match your pockets from right side to left side with a pocket template.