To make an easy and professional looking patch pocket, line it. It will look and feel good each time you put your hand into it.
Fold 1 in. or more of the top of the pocket to the wrong side to make a self-facing. To make the lining, cut a small piece of fabric, compatible with the garment fabric, to the shape of the folded pocket, leaving % in. at the top for the seam allowance.
With right sides together, stitch the self-facing to the lining with a %-in. seam allowance. Press the seam open.
Next, fold the pocket at the fold line of the self-facing. Pin or baste the lining and pocket together about 1 in. from the raw edges.
Stitch around the pocket, leaving a 2-in. opening at the bottom. Turn the pocket right side out. Baste the lining and pocket, including the 2-in. opening.
Press the pocket smooth, place it on the garment, and topstitch, securing the beginning and ending stitches.
The pocket and lining can sometimes be made of the same fabric, depending on the fabric weights. Cut the pocket and lining as one piece, fold it at the center, right sides together, and baste it. Close the pocket and attach it as described above. —Shirley Kates, Newtown, CT
Easy elastic
When inserting multiple rows of elastic, at a waistline for example, the trick is to work all the elastic strips through their respective casings at the same time. If you try to work one through at a time, the casing will be so scrunched up that you won't be able to get the second, third, and fourth pieces of elastic through it.
Cut the elastic strips to the required lengths to fit the waist, plus a 1/2-in. overlap. Attach a safety pin to one end of each elastic and a straight pin to the other, perpendicular to the length.
Insert the elastic pieces one at a time, safety pin first, into their casings. The straight pin will keep the elastic from slipping into the casing as you work it through. Work 12 in. of each elastic strip into its casing at a time, thereby keeping the pieces nearly even and scrunching up all the casings at the same time.
Here's another hint: If one of the safety pins slips backward as you work the other elastic pieces through, put a straight pin into the casing between the two prongs of the safety pin, then up under one of them at an angle. Keep adjusting the positions of the straight pins as you push the elastic along. Once all the elastic strips are through their casings, overlap and pin the ends of each one with a safety pin. Try on the garment for size. Safety pins hold better than straight pins, and they won't stick you when you slip into the garment. —Marsha Stein, Waterbury, CT
Sleeves that won’t twist
I bought a rather expensive coat recently but found that one sleeve was quite uncomfortable. When I turned it inside out, I discovered that the lining had been twisted before it was hemmed to the coat.
In jackets and coats, slipping and twisted sleeve linings can be avoided if they are joined to the sleeves before being stitched to the rest of the garment lining.
Stitch the underarm seam of the sleeve lining and press it open. Ease-stitch the sleeve cap, turn the seam allowance under, and baste. Then, wrong sides together, match the underarm seams of the sleeve lining and the sleeve. Pin one seam allowance of the lining to the corresponding seam allowance of the sleeve. Baste them together with thread that matches the lining, ending the stitching about 3 in. from the lower edge of the sleeve.
Now slip your hand into the sleeve lining from the armhole end of the sleeve, and grab the lower edge of both the garment sleeve and lining. Then pull the garment sleeve through the lining. Like magic, the sleeve lining will be right side out over the garment sleeve. The basting stitches on the seam allowances will prevent the lining from slipping. -Marsha Stein, Waterbury, CT
