Tutorial, part 6 - Right Thigh Pocket

Being an expanding pocket, the right thigh pocket's construction and attachment are similar to that of the chest pockets'. 

Install the right thigh pocket zipper as per our zipper installation tutorial. 

TIP: On our ENT jumpsuit pattern, the zipper is 8" tall and positioned such that is ½" from the upper and side edges (a total of 1 ⅛" from the raw edges of the pocket pattern piece).

Press the pocket's hem allowances under.

TIP: We recommend pressing the upper and lower hem allowances under first, then the centermost and sides.

Next, press the centermost "expanding pocket" pleat by folding along the lines indicated on the printed pattern.

Keeping the centermost edge of the pocket folded, unfold the pleat underneath so there are only two layers of fabric (rather than four) at the center and edge stitch them together.

(Left thigh pocket pictured above - we forgot to grab a photo of this step on the right thigh pocket!)

As you may recall from our ENT jumpsuit analysis, the specific vertical placement of the thigh pockets varied considerably, ranging from almost directly beneath the (lower) waist strap to 3" beneath it. 

I (Alex) prefer to position mine 2" beneath the lower waist strap, but the thigh pocket positioning is largely a matter of personal preference. If you lengthened or shortened the pattern along one of the sets of adjustment lines, that will probably be a consideration as well. 

That said, position the right thigh pocket onto the front body (piece B) so that its centermost edge is flush with the front alignment guide provided and its side edge is 1 ⅛" from and parallel to the raw side edge of the jumpsuit body.

Keeping the pleated fabric edge flush with the front alignment guide, carefully unfold the pocket by pulling it away from center. 

Pin the pleated fabric into place (again, keeping the lower fold flush with the front alignment guide).

Edge stitch the lower folded edge of the pocket to the front body.

Fold the pocket back over to its proper position and pin into place around its perimeter.

TIP: Tailor-baste the pocket to the body to help secure the layers and prevent them from shifting and/or pulling while stitching. 

TIP: Whip-stitch the centermost upper and lower corners of the pocket to the front body, with the upper fold slightly covering the lower (pleated) fold. This will help prevent any "peek-a-boo" from the lower (pleated) fold once finished.

As with the chest pockets, the height of the "expanding pocket edge stitching" is largely a matter of personal preference. 

And as mentioned previously in our chest pocket sections, we like to edge stitch the uppermost and lowermost 2" of our expanding pockets. 

Regardless of your decision, we recommend consistently employing it on all the expanding pockets! 

Beginning 2" above the centermost lower corner (or however high you prefer to secure your pocket) and ending the same distance above the centermost upper corner, edge stitch the perimeter of the right thigh pocket to the body, reinforcing the stitching along the center edges and corners.

Lastly, horizontally topstitch through all layers ¼" from the upper and lower edges of the pocket.

You may now pull out the basting stitches if you'd like, but we prefer to leave ours in to keep the pocket flat during construction (only pulling out the whip-stitches at the corners).

Your right thigh pocket is now finished!

PREVIOUS: Tutorial, part 5 - Waist Straps

NEXT: Tutorial, part 7 - Left Thigh Pocket