Pocket Week - Hanging Pockets - Always Expect Moore

Wednesday… middle of the week… known by many as “hump day,” because once you get over the hump, you’re on the downward slope towards the weekend!

To celebrate Hump Day here at Pocket Week, we’ve got TWO wonderful sponsors giving away prizes to two different followers! Make sure you’re a follower so that you have a chance to win a Tissue Pocket from Purses Totes and Things, or a Pocket Tin from Miss Fi’s Kingdom!

And add your pocket-related project to the Pocket Linky for another chance to win these and other awesome prizes at the end of the week!

As Little Moore gets older, his naptimes are sometimes less nap and more play. Mommy’s sanity requires that LM have at least two hours of “quiet time” each day. Most of his toys are kept in the “loft” which is right outside his room. There isn’t much toy storage in his room, so I wanted to make something that wouldn’t take up a lot of room, and keep a few small toys and books on hand.

His room is all set up in a theme of cars and trucks, and I thought about using car fabric, but I didn’t have any on hand (and I’m trying to cut down my stash a bit), and I wanted something that can be used and then passed down to cousins, if we want (okay… and maybe a younger sibling someday). This combination of orange with white dots and froggies works well for both boys and girls, and I had plenty of both fabrics handy!

You’ll need:
– About a yard of backing fabric
– About a yard and a half of pocket fabric
– A small amount of clear vinyl (if this tutorial doesn’t scare you off).
– If you want your backing stiffer, you can use some heavy-weight interfacing, but I didn’t.

Start by cutting your fabrics. You’ll need:

Backing: 62″x41″ (cut 1)
Straps: 5″x12″ (cut 4)
Pockets: 10″, 12″ and 16″ wide strips (one of each)
5″ wide strip of clear vinyl (cut 1)
4″ strip for topping vinyl

First, make your straps. fold the 5″ strips in half so they become 2.5″ wide. Sew down the length, then sew one end shut. Clip, Turn, Press.

Fold your backing fabric in half, right sides together. The fold becomes the bottom. Tuck your straps into the top seam, facing in. Sew all the way around your backing fabric (which will stitch the straps in place), leaving a hole for turning. I like to leave the hole in the middle of a seam, rather than an edge, because it helps me keep my seam allowance even.

Make some “un-biased” tape. You can use bias tape, but I didn’t cut mine on the bias, because I didn’t want the pattern on an angle, and I didn’t need the “give” that using bias tape offers. So, it was completely okay for me ~~to be lazy~~ to practice time-management and not take the time to make bias tape.

Sew the un-biased tape to the top of the clear vinyl strip. I stitched twice, to give it a more finished look.

Make your pockets. Fold each strip of pocket fabric in half, right sides together, then sew along the long end. Turn right side out, and press. I put a double-stitch at the top of each pocket to give them a more “finished” look.

Pin pockets on the front. Here is how it looks all pinned down (the vinyl is taped with masking tape, instead of pinned, because I didn’t want unnecessary holes). The individual pockets are made by putting a pleat in the long strip of pocket fabric. You can make these pleats as large as you like, but your pockets may hang forward a bit. I made mine 1″ deep, each.

Sew around the entire project (I did a double-stitch to match all the other places I did a double-stitch).

I had a lot of trouble sewing down the vinyl. I later learned that a Teflon foot would have come in handy, because it glides over “sticky” fabrics like clear vinyl. Since I didn’t have a Teflon foot, I put a piece of paper on top, and tore it off after I was done stitching.

Sew down the bottoms of each pocket. Lastly, sew down the middle of each pleat to make the individual pockets.

Hang on the end of the bed, or wherever you like, and fill the pockets with fun things! Enjoy!

If you change up the measurements a bit, this could be a great backseat car organizer! You’ll want to add straps to the bottom to tie it down so that it doesn’t hang freely and flap all over the place. : )

Expect Moore… soon!

Linking to:
Seven Thirty Three