Adding a Treasure Pocket to your Fat Red Bird Hoodie Vest

It's only taken a million years but I have finally got cracking on this little tutorial I promised you. ...adding a couple of little pockets to your Fat Red Bird Hoodie Vest. The pockets are hidden in the side seam of the exterior lining, perfect for little hands to hide away little treasures.

Start off by tracing around the recipients little hand onto a piece of paper adding about 1 inch the whole way around for the seam allowance & a bit of extra room so it's not too snug. You basically want it to be a half oval sort of shape with the width being approximately 2 inches wider than the widest part of their hand (the bit at the bottom of their thumb), the extra width will allow for the seam & give the hand a smidge of room. The length of your pattern piece will be the length of the hand plus 1-1.5 inches.

Cut out your new little pattern piece you have created, trace onto another piece of paper & cut a 2nd pocket pattern piece.

Grab your Fat Red Bird Hoodie Vest pattern. 

We are going to attach your pocket pattern piece to the side edge of both the front & back vest bodice pattern pieces. 

Sticky tape it about 1 -1.5 inches from the bottom edge of each pattern piece (this will ensure you still have enough room to sew your bottom edge seam). Make sure you position the pocket at the same height from the bottom edge on both the front and back pieces as they need to align.

Attach your pocket pattern piece to vest bodice back & front pattern pieces

When you cut out your vest bodice pieces using your chosen exterior fabric, cut around your new little side seam pocket addition.

When you cut your vest bodice pieces using your chosen lining fabric, fold in or remove your pocket pattern piece and cut out as per the pattern instructions.

So now you have your lining bodice pieces cut out as per normal & as per the pattern instructions, but your exterior bodice pieces have little pocket bumps in the side edges as pictured.

The exterior bodice pieces cut with the pockets

Follow your Fat Red Bird Hoodie Vest instructions all the way up to step 12 of Assembling the Vest Instructions.

Your instructions are still the same but your side edge for the exterior pieces are no longer straight and they now have a little pocket bump. Pin & stitch these seams, pivoting your needle at the point where your pocket starts & stitch around the edge of pocket (see red stitch line on picture).

Side seams stitched along side edge & around pocket edge

At step 14, your vest will now look like this.

Back bodice & front bodice are now joined at side seam & have 2 pockets either side

Follow the remaining steps in the pattern. Just make sure when you are stitching your bottom edge that your little pockets are out of the way & that you don't stitch through them.

Once you have finished your vest, you can push your little pockets into the bodice...voila hidden treasure pockets.