· 1930s Pocket Tutorial ·

For those of you following me on Facebook and Instagram, this is old news- but I'm thrilled to announce that I'm part of the Penny Rose Project Design Team!

Penny Rose is a fabric company that has many different lines of 1930s, historical, and floral prints.  When they contacted me about sharing a project made from their fabric, I was excited about all the possibilities!  I've been on a big 1930s kick lately, so I naturally picked a 1930s print to make into a new dress. :-)

I'll be sharing details of my dress next week here on my blog (edit- here's the post!), but this week I have a special post over on the Penny Rose blog- a tutorial for making your very own 1930s pocket! :-)  I'm sharing it here on the blog, too and I'd LOVE to see your results!!

The finished pocket measures approx. 5" square, so it's a cute size for dresses and aprons and even tote bags or pillows. :-)

The pockets on the far right were my inspiration.

I decided not to do contrasting "petals" on my pocket for this tutorial but I made contrasting petals for my dress, as you can see. :-)

To start, cut 4 rectangles 2 3/4" by 7 1/4"

To make the rectangles into isosceles trapezoids, make marks 1 5/8" from one edge.

Cut on an angle from the mark to the opposite corner.

Make a mark 3 1/4" from the top.

Sew one group of 2 pieces together from the bottom until the mark, using a 1/4" seam allowance. 

Each piece should be sewn over half-way up, as you see.

Press open.

Next, join the pocket to the 2 remaining trapezoids, pinning around the outer edges and down the inside edges of the "petals".

Be sure to fold back the seam allowance on the bottom corner of the trapezoids.

Sewing with a 1/4" seam allowance, butt the stitching up to the previous seam, sew down one petal, around the outside, and down the other petal, ending the stitching to meet up with the previous seam and making sure to backstitch at the beginning and end. 

Completed stitching!

It's a bit hard to tell, but here you can see how the stitching lines up with the previous seam.

Trim those corners! (and yes, both pairs of my shears made it into this shot- haha!)

Since we didn't sew together those 2 trapezoids, you can turn it right-side out through that opening.

Iron everything flat.

Fold back the petals and iron in place.

Flip it over to the back side and press the seam allowance under on both edges.

Using a ladder-stitch, sew up the seam.

Now you can admire your work!

Sew the pocket to your project around the outer edges, leaving the petals free.

If your petals need it, tack them invisibly near each edge.

And there you go- your own vintage pocket!  This design lends itself perfectly to contrasting petals, so play around with options!  I'd love to see what you make! :-)