Enlarging jacket pockets

Grolschevik

Hello there. Wonder if anyone can point me in the direction of some resources or offer some advice?

I have a jacket that has ridiculously small pockets, and I'd like to enlarge them. They're internal 'pouch' type pockets. Plenty of room in the lining to accommodate larger pockets.

My thought was to make larger pouches from some material, maybe handkerchiefs, and sew them to the maybe inch of material that would be left after I cut the old pockets away. My reason for thinking of doing it this way is that it's a heavy leather jacket and I don't fancy my chances of getting a needle through the leather.

(Also, I don't have a machine or know how to use one!)

Does this sound like a ridiculous way of going about it?

Ta!

briarrose

No, it does not sound ridiculous at all to me: in fact, it sounds like the only idea, particularly with a leather jacket. I have a feeling it will be a rather fiddly job.

Grolschevik

Yeah, I've been putting it off for ages!

briarrose

Are the pockets actually narrow, or just shallow - does your hand fit properly but you touch the bottom too soon, which would make them shallow, or do you have troubles putting all your fingers in comfortably, which would make it narrow, or both?

Grolschevik

Shallow. No access/width issues at all. They just won't hold what I want them to hold.

briarrose

Then I wouldn't cut them out and replace them entirely. I would just cut out a strip off the bottom and add my material from there. I imagine that your pockets are in a specific colour that matches the leather. So if you can't find a material in the right colour, after replacing the pockets you might still see a bit of the original colour on top and the rest of the pocket in a different colour. That might not matter, and it might actually be a feature, or it could be annoying. But, if you only replace the end of the pocket, the difference in colour won't be as noticeable (e.g. when you put something in your pocket it will open, showing the inside; so if there is a strip of brown at the top and the rest of the pocket is white it might look ugly, but if the white is placed just at the bottom of the pocket it's harder to notice).

You can do this job by hand, and actually it might be the only way to do it, particularly if you are not very familiar with a sowing machine. Just buy material that won't fray and you should be ok.