Tutorial: Adding a Pocket to Your Loulouxe!

Remember how I said I’d write a tutorial? Well, here it is!!

Find Pattern Piece C (Skirt Back) and make it a full-sized pattern piece. As it is, it’s an “on the fold” piece. Make sure and mark your center line because that will be important later.

Find a piece of fabric that is larger than the pattern piece.

I used a 12-14” invisible zipper. You could also use a regular ol’ zipper too. Figure out where you want the zipper. You probably want it somewhere toward the top but do not go so high that you get right next to the seam allowances.
 

Eyeball where you want the opening to be and make a nice, straight cut across the entire length of the fabric piece.

This is where a ruler and rotary cutter are nice. Right now you are just eyeballing it. We’ll get precise later once the zipper is in.

Install your zipper. Since I used an invisible zipper, I used my invisible zipper foot to install it.  I did not use any interfacing but this knit is pretty stretchy but also stable.

Same thing but from the back.

Here’s where we start getting precise. On your pattern piece, draw a perpendicular line where you want your zipper. Take your full pattern piece and put it on top of your pieced fabric.

Now line up both edges of this horizontal line with your zipper. This ensures that your zipper opening will be straight across horizontally.

Once you think everything is lined up, cut out your piece. Make you DO NOT CUT OFF YOUR ZIPPER TOP! You will probably need to unzip your fabric piece BEFORE you cut to avoid doing that.

Cut out a second piece of fabric that will go behind your zippered piece. You can see here I basted my zipper opening closed. Otherwise, there is a the very real possibility that you will forget there is no zipper stop and pull your zipper head right off. Don’t do that, it’s annoying.

Baste the two layers together and treat them as one piece for the remainder of the construction process. My serger dislikes going over plastic zipper tape, so I always also go over this seam with my sewing machine to make sure those stitches won’t come out. Also, if you are using a metal zipper you SHOULD NOT sew over it. You need to remove the zipper teeth.

Here’s my skirt partially constructed. The only double layer is the one piece. Assemble the rest as stated in the directions! See? It’s EASY!!