Today we’re going to add inside pockets onto a blazer. I love the blazer, but the pockets that came with it are essentially non-functional. The opening is a vertical slit and they are only a few inches deep. I’m pretty sure I would only trust them to hold my chapstick, if that. So, we will be adding a pair of patch pockets to the inside of the blazer to make it that much more useful.
The skinny:
This blazer has a lining on the inside, and I don’t really want to cut it apart, so I will be sewing my pockets onto fusible interfacing. In turn, this interfacing will be adhered to the blazer with an iron. I used this knit fusible interfacing by Pellon for this sewing project.
Materials:
- blazer or jacket
- pocket material
- fusible interfacing
- matching thread
Now onto adding our Inside Pockets to a Blazer
Instructions:
1. First we’re going to make our inside pockets. Cut out two rectangular pieces from your pocket material. I’m going to basically make both pockets large enough to hold a large cell phone. My dimensions are 6″ x 8″ which includes a ½” seam allowance on all sides and then some. Zigzag all the raw edges of the rectangle pieces for the patch pockets to help prevent the material from fraying.
Cut out two pieces of interfacing the same size as your pockets and, rough side down, iron them on to your pocket material. This will reinforce the fabric.
Fold in and hem all four sides of the pocket pieces.
2. Try on your blazer and mark where you want the top of your pockets to be. Lay your blazer out and cut out two pieces of interfacing fabric to fit right onto the inside of your blazer. I’m going to cut two 8″x12″ rectangles. The more surface area of interfacing, the more secure your pockets will be. Determine where your pockets will sit on the interfacing. Pin and Sew the pockets in place.
3. Iron the interfacing onto the inside of your blazer.
Done! Brand new inside pockets!
Hi! this is fantastic! thx! gonna put 7 of these in my jacket lolz
Hmmm did you just iron on the whole pocket? Sorry i’m a sewing noob and did not quite understand. But this is exactly what i need. My perfectly good coat has no inner pockets.
I did! I ironed it on the inner lining of my coat, as there was no way for me to easily sew it on. I love inside pockets! I think all coats should have at least one…
Hello! Thanks for this handy tutorial!
I’m thinking about doing this to one of my jacket, or possibly all of them if this works hehe.
I’m wondering if the result is sturdy? A regurlar-sized smartphne does weight a bit… Does the interfacing holds well?
Thanks in advance! I’m going to discover your blog 🙂
Hello! I wrote this post about about two and a half years ago and I wear this blazer to work all of the time. As it stands today, the edge of the interfacing at the very top and very bottom is starting to peel slightly away from the material inside of the coat. When I attached the pockets while writing up this post, I only used the adhesive on the interfacing to keep the pocket material in place. When I do it next time, I’m going to probably do a light stitch around the edges just as an added layer of reinforcement to keep everything in place. That or maybe a supporting strip of interfacing tape. But these pockets have held up well for the amount of abuse I put them through. I usually don’t put anything heavier than my phone in them.
I would like to do this but I just want to clarify: the two larger pieces of interfacing will be stacked on one another, both are glue side down, so one piece of interfacing gets attached to the other piece of interfacing which attaches to the fabric. The top edge of these two larger interfacing pieces lines up just below the top edge of the pocket so that the pocket can still open at the top. Am I thinking of this correctly?
Great question! It can get confusing when trying to write out the instructions so I’m happy to clarify.
The smaller bit of interfacing is glued onto the wrong side (inside) material of the pocket fabric itself, just as a means of reinforcing the pocket fabric. Then it is sewn to the larger piece of interfacing. So the right side of the fabric interfacing on the pocket will lay against the right side of the fabric interfacing of the larger piece that is attached to the blazer. I did this so that the pockets would not fuse close. Then I ironed on the larger piece of interfacing onto the interior fabric of the blazer. Does this make sense?
Just as a side note, after several years of intense use (this blazer fits me well so I wear it a lot and always carry my giant phone in the inside pockets), the interfacing edge is slightly peeling from the interior fabric. So I’ve been meaning to hand stitch around the edge of the larger interfacing onto the inside material of the blazer, just to reinforce it a bit more.
I’m confused.. If you have the 2 big pieces on either side of the pocket halves, don’t the cover the pocket, and thus seal the pocket shut? I’m confused on how the pocket attaches, and is still open
Hi! What I did was attach and then sew interfacing onto two fabric squares, sticky side to the two squares of fabric, to make the pockets stronger. Now your two squares will not have any outward adhesive on either side of it. Then I sewed the two squares onto the not sticky side of the bigger piece of interfacing that you will iron onto the inside of your blazer. So when you iron the bigger piece of interfacing, the squares will not stick shut because the outward side of each square is not adhesive. I hope this helps! It’s so hard to explain. Maybe I should add a diagram, or cross section to make it easier.
Ohhhhhh…. so you sewed the finished pockets onto the coat interfacing, then ironed that interfacing onto the jacket. Right? The pocket edges are sewed onto to the larger piece of interfacing?
I think that’s the piece missing from the instructions: how are the pockets themselves afixed to the interfacing. Surely not just ironed at the edges?
I love this tutorial but just not sure I understand it lol