UPDATED: Roscoe blouse + Pomona shorts utility pocket hack
Roscoe blouse + Pomona shorts utility pocket hack
Top: Roscoe blouse by True Bias
Bottom: Pomona shorts by Anna Allen patterns
Fabrics: black double gauze, stretch woven (gifted, unsure of fabric contents)
Gotta love big back pockets
Note: Updated to include more pictures and helpful process information.
I made the double gauze Roscoe Blouse last year sometime, with no adjustments. The fabric is wonderfully soft, but the cuffs get caught on my forearms when I move around which is bothersome… maybe I should fix that! I don’t wear this top a whole lot, which needs to change. It’s supremely comfortable and cute.
My second pair of pomona shorts are complete! These are such a quick, easy sew, it makes my heart sing. The instructions are just fabulous. I did french seams throughout, per usual. Even with this added step they come together in no time. Pardon the wrinkles, I can’t stop wearing them. 😏
A friend gifted me this stretch woven fabric (thanks again my dude) and after seeing sewists yokeandbore & meg_____makes pomona front pocket hacks, I was inspired to draft my own front utility pockets. I did two pockets on the back as well. Pockets rock.
Alterations:
Lowered rise 1” out of necessity so the pattern pieces would fit on the fabric remnant. I will continue to use this alteration going forward. Feels more comfortable on my bod.
Here’s how I drafted the front utility pockets:
Using the pocket pattern piece as a guide, I added 1” to the width
Eyeballed the opening angle using a pair of ready-to-wear pants that have this pocket shape
Tested to make sure the opening was going to be wide enough to fit my hand
Decided that I wanted the pocket to stop right at the waistband stitching, instead of going up and over the waistband
Determined what the angled opening seam allowance should be - I recall turning down 1/2”, pressing, then folding down another 1/2”, pressing & top stitching. You can use whatever seam allowance you like, but make sure you account for this when cutting out your fabric.
Below you can see how my self drafted utility pocket pattern piece looks compared to what is included in the pattern. Please note: I am nowhere near a professional pattern drafter, and there are probably better ways to go about this. I don’t know those ways yet, so I’m showing how I went about it! I didn’t want my lack of expertise to stop me from executing my vision.
Left: Pomona pocket pattern piece
Right: Self-drafted front utility pocket pattern piece
Pomona pocket on top of my self-drafted utility pocket
Pomona pocket pattern piece on top of utility pocket after the opening was topstitched
To figure out where to place the front utility pockets, I folded down the waistband according to the instructions, and marked on my fabric where the front pocket would normally go. Using these two visual guides, I made sure the utility pocket aligned with the marked pocket edge closest to the crotch, so the extra 1” width I added wrapped around the outside of my leg. I also made sure the pocket would hit ever so slightly above (scant 1/8”) the waistband stitching line. You can see below what it looked like after I stitched my pockets on.
Check out that cute contrast stitching!
I didn’t attach the top of the utility pocket at this step because I wanted to catch it in the waistband stitching. It was tricky to stitch the top of the pocket AND the waistband at the same time… maybe not my smartest idea but hey, it made sense at the time. ;)
How I would do it differently if I could start over:
Have the utility pocket end right under the waistband
Sew the top of the utility pocket on with thread that matches the fabric so it’s not visually obtrusive
I hope my notes were helpful. Let me know if you use this pocket hack!
Closer view of utility pocket hack
Photos taken by me & Tyler Campbell Videography, respectively