Sewing Glossary: How To Sew Cargo Patch Pockets Tutorial
Pockets are a vital addition to any garment. Not only they are practical but can also act as a beautiful design detail. In this tutorial we are going to show you how to sew Cargo patch pockets. They look a lot like inset pockets but are external and topstitched onto a garment. And they most certainly add a stylish rugged touch to any piece of clothing.
Materials & Tools
Fabric of your choice (we are using our IL042 894 Premier Finish Medium Weight Linen)
Matching sewing thread, pins, ruler, scissors, chalk, fabric marker, pen, sewing machine
Difficulty
Beginner
Time
1/2 hour
Pattern
Even if you are working with a pattern that doesn’t feature Cargo patch pockets, you can easily draw them yourself. Depending on a specific garment design, determine the width and the length of your desired pockets and draw a rectangle. Then add a curved line and 1/2″ (1,4 cm) seam allowances around all edges.
Steps
Note: Prewash your fabric and tumble dry it until it is still slightly moist, let this dry in room temperature. Iron the fabric so it is easier to work with.
1. Fold the curved edge twice to the wrong side (1/4” (7 mm) to 1/4″ (7 mm)) and pin in place.
2. Topstitch along the curved edge. This is your pocket’s opening.
3. Fold and press the rest of the seam allowance twice (1/4” (7 mm) to 1/4″ (7 mm)) and pin in place.
4. Position your pocket on the garment and pin all the edges in place to make sure that your pocket doesn’t move when you stitch.
5. Topstitch your pocket in place around all straight edges leaving the curved edge unstitched to create an opening. Remember to backstitch.
6. Give your pocket a good press and you are all done!
By drawing a horizontal rectangle with two curved angles at the top, you can easily transform a Cargo patch pocket into a Kangaroo patch pocket and attach it to your garments by following the same steps.
Have a browse through our selection of linen and see which of our fabrics inspire you to use your new skill!
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8 Comments
Deborah Comeaux
Thank you for the tutorial, very helpful. I would love to see a tutorial for the other cargo pocket – the one that has a gusset and a flap – just in case anyone else is interested.
Rima Khusainova
Great idea Deborah! We’ll try to do this other cargo pocket version soon!
Doris Lin
Those are cute patch pockets, but I don’t think they are cargo pockets. Cargo pockets have a gusset or a pleat in them, to hold a lot of stuff.
Doris Lin
I’ve googled it, and I now withdraw my comment. It seems that a cargo pocket doesn’t always have gussets or pleats!
Rima Khusainova
No worries, I can totally see why this is confusing 🙂
Rima Khusainova
Thank you for your comment Doris. To be honest with you, I spent some time researching what these pockets could be called and saw this title in a couple of sewing books. There are actually several variations of cargo pockets and looks like this is one of them.
Chantal Lapointe
Thank you for this tutorial! I will bookmark it to use on a future jacket project.
Rima Khusainova
Thank you Chantal! Hope it’ll come in handy one day 🙂