Sew a Patch Pocket is a zine and comes with an accompanying shirt, however, the shirt is not required because it is written to stand alone so the reader/wearer can apply its instructions to whatever they want to sew a pocket onto. The zine teaches the reader/wearer 3 hand stitches as a patch pocket is created. Fabric for the pocket is provided within the zine and once cut out the remaining fabric can be used to learn and practice with. The accompanying shirt is a low-waste pattern meaning all pattern pieces fit within a rectangle eliminating fabric scraps left over between pattern pieces. An allover print of dashed lines acts as a guide for pocket placement and works on its own as a snappy graphic. The reader/wearer can place a pocket where they choose, they can sew one pocket and continue to use all the dashed line guides to cover the shirt with pockets gradually.
The hope is to spark an interest and understanding of garment creation and the history of pockets in particular. I find there is an intrinsic amount of value that I feel towards an object when I have control of aesthetic and functional choices and invest the time to implement them. Sew a Patch Pocket allows someone to experience this all while learning valuable skills.
The zine has a middle page of printed fabric. It’s designed to provide fabric for the final pocket to be sewn and fabric for practicing the reader’s new hand-stitching skills. Different designs of this page are below.
The final draft waiting to get its final version penned.
The final fabric page
These pages provide fabric for a practice pocket with printed guides, a blank pocket without guides, and a place for you to sew it to if you want to practice before sewing the final to your garment or bag. Below are the final fabric page designs that will be bound at the center of the zine.
Shout out to the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC) in Portland where I learned how to risoprint and have been risoprinting my covers at!