The Matelasse Pockets

Now there are two.

The first one went together so easy I decided to make it a buddy. Both are hand finished, but unlike the first one, which is completely hand done, I used the machine a little bit on the second one, for the inside. So instead of binding the linen over the matelasse selvage, I machine stitched both together and then did an overcast stitch along the edge, since the matelasse tends to unravel. When you turn them right-side out, you would never know the difference. I definitely recommend this time saver.

So for the basic construction, after I made the pouch part and turned it right-side out, I pressed them flat, then I cut a slit for the pocket access. Then I bound the raw edge in twill and hand sewed it in place. In hindsight, I should have cut and bound the pocket before I assembled the pouch, but I thought I didn't have any twill for the binding, so I worked a little backwards. Luckily I found some :)

Next I stitched along the top portion to keep everything in place while I added the drawstring channel. I used a machine zig zag for this on the second pocket. On the first I used a kind of loose button hole stitch. Any overcast stitch would work. For the drawstring channel, I took a rectangle of linen and pressed the edged under. On the open sides I folded the edges under twice and secured them with a running stitch. I did this so when you pull the drawstring though again and again, the linen wouldn't unravel. Then I pressed the rectangle in half and pinned it over the raw edge of the pocket. I backstitched this piece to the pocket and then pulled the drawstring through both. I used more cotton twill for the drawstring, knotting the ends and snipping them decoratively. 

A close up of the channel.

The back view. All linen.

As with everything I make, I'm never 110% sure this was they way they did it back then, but this process worked for me, so it's just another option. Cheers!

A Matelasse Pocket

Matelasse pocket from the V&A. England, 1760-1775.

A bit on matelasse from the Victoria and Albert Museum:

"Quilting was a popular form of decoration for a variety of garments including pockets. However, hand-quilting was a time-consuming method of decoration. The increased demand for quilted petticoats, waistcoats and pockets led to the invention of woven quilting. In this technique, an extra weft of thick thread was added to the fabric to give the raised effect of the handmade version. Robert Elsden is credited as the inventor of woven quilting, known by the French term, matelassé. He received a prize from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, in 1745, although the perfection and commercial exploitation of this technique of machine quilting appears to have taken place in the 1760s."

So on to the pocket.

Image via housefabric.com

I found some nice matelasse from housefabric.com. It's very soft and pretty thin. Some other matelasse fabric I've worked with in the past was quite stiff and hard to sew. The back, like the original pocket, will be done in plain linen and the draw string will be cotton twill tape.

To start, I drew up a pattern. I traced a pocket I already had and then shortened it a little and changed the shape. Then I turned it inside out and hand sewed the lining and front piece together. 

I snipped the matelasse selvage and then turned the linen selvage over it and whipstitched to cover the raw edge. After it's turned inside out I'll use linen to make a channel for the drawstring, then I'll bind the pocket slit with cotton twill, which I'm waiting for to arrive.

That's all for now, but more to come!