Welt Pocket Hack for the Brassie Shorts and Joggers

Hi there, it's Miranda here showing you how you can turn your Brassie's into a classic look with back welt pockets.

I loveeee the Brassie "collection", both the shorts and joggers,  but one thing I love even more is a good butt pocket on them! I find you can turn something casual into a little chic by simply adding a nice detail like a welt pocket.

Here is a look at the shorts I made!

You won't even need a lot of extra fabric to make these.

Additional Materials:

1) Two pieces of Welt Pocket fabric (5 3/4" Wide x 4 1/2" Tall*) - this will be visible all the time so use the same fabric or choose something coordinating.

2) Two pieces of Back of Pocket fabric (5 3/4" Wide X 2 3/4 Tall*) - this will be visible when the pocket opens, and you will always see at least a slit of the fabric behind the welt, so you can also use the same fabric, or a stretch woven in a matching/coordinating color for something lighter. 

3) Iron on Interfacing, same size as your "Back of Pocket"  5 3/4" Wide X 2 3/4 Tall.

*I will explain this in the steps to make it, but you can make this longer if you prefer an actual pocket, as opposed to a "fake" pocket which is what I am showing you how to make here. I like the look of the pockets, but I do not like all the extra fabric bulk/bunching up, so made the pockets "fake" and stitched them shut. 

You are going to put the welt pockets on before you follow any steps from the assembly of the Brassie Shorts/Joggers/Pants. 

How to add the pockets:

First you need to start by making 2 extra pattern pieces:

1) Welt Pocket  5 3/4" Wide x 4 1/2" Tall 

2) Back of Pocket 5 3/4" Wide X 2 3/4 Tall

The dotted line is where the front welt/back pocket will meet up to be sewn at a later step. This is where you can make the pocket longer, just add the actual length you want the pocket, but make sure the length under the dotted line is the same on both pattern pieces 

Trace out your welt. It will be 4 1/2" wide x 3/4" tall. Make the top line 1" from the top of the pattern piece.

When you fold up your welt pattern piece as shown below, the two pattern pieces should be the same size. 

Now you need to figure out on your pattern, where to put the welt. If you have another pair of Brassie Shorts/Joggers, cut out a strip of extra fabric the same size as your welt rectangle and pin it onto your shorts/pants to see where you like it. If not, you'll just have to make a mark on the pattern piece, and try to make a judgement where you like it - hold it up to your back side to visualize it. It should sit on the higher part of the "round" of your butt cheek. 

Draw the welt rectangle portion onto your pattern piece. To make things easier, just cut out the ends (see photo below), this way your pattern piece doesn't loose its shape.

Trace it out on the backside of your fabric. You really only need the edges to show so you know where to place pins (following steps).

On your Welt pocket fabric:

Iron on the interfacing from the dotted line up, then trace the corners of the welt onto your fabric BACK side. You can use a ruler to fill in the rest of the rectangle.

This video is really helpful for the following steps! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCwk_opv_R4

On the wrong side of the short/pant fabric, put pins into the outside edges of the welt lines you drew so you can see where the pocket goes when you turn the fabric to the right side.

With right sides together, pin your back welt fabric pieces onto the back of the short/pant (making sure to match up the pin line to the edge of the welt rectangle you drew). 

Pin your pocket pieces on and remove the pins you previously put as markers. 

At this point I'll lay right sides together of the two back pieces to make sure the welt pockets are in the same place, just to double check before moving on. 

Next, stitch along the line you drew.  Try to get this as straight/rectangular as possible since this makes your pocket. 

Draw a line through the middle, ending with two 45 degree angles, and cut through this as carefully as possible. Do NOT cut through the rectangle you just stitched.

Push the pocket through to the other side of the short/pant fabric. 

Iron this down to help it flatten.

Fold your pocket up to make the welt. Line up the "dotted line" (from your pattern piece) with the top of the opening of the welt.

Pin all the fabric together on the sides.

Stitch through these layers of fabric to hold the fabric in its fold. 

If you want this pocket functional (and cut the pocket longer than the size I suggested), do this next step now, if not skip ONLY this next step and we'll come back to it later.

Stitch along the sides and bottom of the welt, through all layers of fabric. Do not stitch the top yet.

Now, for all pocket versions, continue here. 

Take your back pocket fabric and lay it over your welt fabric. Pin it on. 

Stitch these two pieces of pocket fabric together around the edges, but make sure not to catch your actual back short/pant fabric in there. 

You can use a straight stitch or zigzag. I prefer zigzag for the extra stretch.

If you skipped this step earlier, and you are NOT using the pockets (you're making fake pockets), now you can stitch the sides and bottom of the pocket down. This will just make sure your pocket doesn't open.

For all pocket versions, you'll want to stitch across the TOP of the welt as well to keep the pocket from opening in that direction.

And now you have your pocket added to the back of the Brassie shorts/pants/joggers and can start following the directions on the pattern for your assembly! 

Finished piece!