Forget Zippers - Pants Pockets will Make You Cry!

 When I first started sewing I heard that zippers were very tricky to install. I tried putting one in a make-up bag project and another in a tote and I just didn't see the big deal. Zippers just weren't that  challenging for me. You want a challenge? Try replacing the front pocket in a pair of cargo pants. I don't mean patching up a little hole at the bottom of the pocket pouch. I mean replacing the entire pouch. I had no idea pants were so complicated. 

I've got a pair of cargo pants which I really like, but a few years ago they developed a hole in the right front pocket. I haven't been able to wear the pants since then. I couldn't not jam my finger through the hole every time I put on the pants. I tried sewing up the hole. That just tore right through after one wearing. The original cloth was just too thin and too old to darn and trying to put a patch over the hole was worse than the hole. The only solution was a complete replacement of the pocket. 

Here's the page of drawings and notes I created to guide myself through the replacement of my front pants pocket on a pair of cargo pants: 

The original pocket pouch and my reverse engineering notes

There's more to pockets than I had ever considered. Depending on which website you read, there are anywhere from three to eight basic types of  pockets. I've read a bunch of articles on the subject recently, and I've concluded there are really just two kinds of pockets: patch pockets and set-in pockets. Everything else is just a variation on those two types. You've got "jetted" pockets, a set-in pocket with a "jet" or "welt" sewn around the opening for dressier clothing like suit jackets. You've got your flap pockets, which can be virtually any pocket - patch or set-in - with a flap sewn over it. There are infinite different shapes of flaps and some articles consider each different shape a distinct "type" of pocket. (I do not; flaps come in all sizes and shapes but once you put one on a pocket the pocket is still just a patch pocket or a set-in pocket with a flap.) There's the "seam pocket" which is yet another variation on the set-in pocket, just with the opening of the pocket coinciding with a seam. One article I read even considered the slash pocket to be a distinct type of pocket even though the only difference between a slash pocket and any other type of pocket is the position of the opening relative to a vertical or horizontal line. In short, I say there are two kinds of pockets, with lots of variations on each theme. My cargo pants pocket was a pretty standard set-in pocket which partly aligns with the pant leg seam. 

I couldn't find anything to tell me what the various pieces of a pocket are named, probably because there really aren't many pieces involved. I'm going with "pouch" for the functional part of a set-in pocket. History backs me up on this since pockets replaced the little pouches that people used to tie to their belts to carry their stuff in. (They hid the pouches behind their clothes. Eventually, someone figured out they could sew the pouch to the inside of their pants and cut a slit in the pants to get to the pouch. Very clever!) I've noticed that many pants front pockets have two "extra" pieces which provide some reinforcement and keep the pocket opening from looking weird. Patch pockets just have the "patch." And, then there's flaps. Pouch, reinforcement pieces, patches, and flaps and that's about it for pocket parts. 

The front pockets on my cargo pants, like most pants, are set-in pockets. There's the pouch, the part that had worn out and needed to be replaced. Sewn to the pouch are two reinforcement pieces made from fabric which matches rest of the pants. I have no idea what to call them. One piece actually closes the gap between the pants leg seam and the pocket pouch. You actually see that piece; the palm of my hand slides against it when I use the pocket. The other "reinforcement" piece seems to just make the outer part of the pocket a little stiffer and protect the pocket pouch from the wear and tear of the back of my hand sliding in and out of the pocket. 

Not super complicated, but figuring it out involved some serious de-constructing of my pants. First, I had to partially disassemble the waistband, including the bottom half of one bar-tacked belt loop. My waistband was lined with the same kind of fabric used to make the pocket pouch, so that took some fairly delicate work with a seam ripper. Then I had to rip the seam in the pant leg from the waist band to the bottom of the pocket, about 8" worth of double top-stitching. Toward the bottom of that seam there was a second seam where the inner half of the pocket pouch was closed up. Then I had to remove the two reinforcement pieces from the edges of the pocket pouch. By the time I was done removing the pocket, there was a giant hole in my pant leg and the waistband was no longer lined. It was sort of scary. Like those HGTV shows where Chip and Joanne go in and start tearing down walls and ripping out cabinets. Except this was the first episode and you don't know if Chip and Joanne know how to put everything back together. 

Before I got things put back together

I'm not sure how I got a hole in the original pocket. Probably from carrying a keyring in my pocket, combined with the fact that the original pocket was very soft and somewhat thin cotton which just wasn't up to the wear and tear of keys and rocks and other stuff that I tend to put in my pockets. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm going to try a medium weight poly knit this time to see if I can find that magic balance between durability and comfort. 

My first step after picking a fabric from my collection of remnants and bolt ends was to use the original pocket as a pattern to cut the new pocket bag. Since the stitches for this part wouldn't show, I went ahead and stitched the reinforcement pieces to the new pocket bag using a tan-ish colored 40 - 50 wt. thread while waiting for my new thread to arrive. That part seemed to go pretty well. 

Once my OD green thread showed up, I was able to start reconstructing my pants. The secret is just knowing which pieces go together first and sort of working from the inside out. Once the reinforcement pieces were attached to the pouch, it was a fairly simple matter of stitching the outer reinforcement piece to the pant leg, folding the pouch over, and stitching the inner reinforcement piece to the other half of the pant leg to close things up, and then closing up the waist band. And reattaching the belt loop. I wish I had remembered to attached the belt loop before I closed up the waistband, but I doubt anyone will notice. 

Here's how things came out: 

This is the original pocket (the other side) for comparison

And, here's the new pouch from the inside: 

New pocket

Not my best stitching work. I didn't want to mess with my serger so I played around with the zigzag stitches on my Kenmore 1802. 

Original pocket

If you don't look at the inside, I give myself a solid B. Maybe an A-. The stitching on the pouch is pretty awful looking, though. Overall, a C. But, I'm very happy to have my pants back.