I have avoided learning one particular sewing technique, making pocket welts – those stitched-down flaps of material that cover the pocket openings of jackets or coats. Just thinking about making welted pockets always made my stomach churn. I didn’t want to learn how to do them for one simple reason. I hated the thought of slashing the fabric to create the pocket opening.

If you don’t do the welting process precisely, you end up with a crinkle in the fabric where the welt is stitched to the coat front, or worse you make the slash a hair longer than the welt – which means a small hole you can’t easily repair.

Not so long ago, I wanted to make a coat using Butterick pattern 6900. The coat has a vent in the back, front facings cut separately from the coat front and a back facing that is more like a yoke that extends down across the back shoulders inside the coat. And wouldn’t you know it, the pattern calls for welted pockets.

I thought long and hard about substituting in-seam pockets for the welted ones. In-seam pockets could be done easily with no fuss. But that would change the coat’s design, something I didn’t want to do. The welts echo the shape of the coat’s simple, rounded collar and create a lovely unity on the coat front.

The other thing that gave me pause about making the coat was the fact that it is unlined. Coats, in my opinion need linings. I decided to add one.

I bought black cotton twill and sky blue satin lining. But before any sewing could be done, I had to face up to those pocket welts. The key to pocket welts, I saw as I read the instructions, was accurately transferring the pattern markings to the fabric. I used dressmaker’s carbon and a tracing wheel to accomplish that. I used a crumb of chalk to mark the dots showing the placement of the welts. I stitched along the markings to reinforce the fabric.

After the welts were interfaced and stitched, I sewed one to its proper place on the coat-front piece. I stitched the pocket pieces to the lines I had traced and stitched onto the fabric. So far so good. The task of slashing the fabric to make the pocket opening was imminent. And I have to tell you, I froze right then and there. I couldn’t bring myself to make that first snip on the cutting line.

It’s not too late, I said to myself, to rip out the welts and pocket pieces and revert to good old, simple and easy in-seam pockets. But I didn’t do that. Instead, I checked the stitching to make sure everything was aligned. Satisfied that it was, I made the first snip. I carefully angled the cut into each of the four corners of the opening. I turned the pocket pieces to the wrong side of the coat front and was happy to see that the welt was sitting pretty – right where it ought to be.

I pressed the welt forward, then stitched the pocket pieces together. I saw that I needed to do a bit more snipping into the corners of the pocket opening. That done, the welt lay flat with nary a crinkle. I topstitched the welt in place on either side.

Confident that I knew what I was doing, I tackled the other side of the coat. But that welt didn’t go as easily as the first one. Everything seemed to be the same, but apparently the slash line was a hair longer than the welt.

Doomed. There it was – the dreaded tiny hole at the lower corner of the welt.

At that point, I had several choices – throw the cussed thing out into the dooryard and abandon the project altogether or figure out how to live with that minute hole.

The first thing I did was rip out the stitching that held the pocket welt down. Once I did that, it was clear to me that even though the slashing was not quite right, there was a fingernail-size, triangle-shaped bit of fabric at the end of the slash. It could be finagled to lie under the edge of the welt and close the offending tiny hole.

Once that was done I stopped sweating bullets and moved on to the rest of the sewing. A few days later I was making buttonholes, hemming the coat and feeling rather pleased with myself – just as if I’d turned the final bolt in the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.

Snippets

The Bangor Area Chapter of the American Sewing Guild will sponsor a visit from Shirley Adams of “The Sewing Connection” 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, at the Ramada Inn, Odlin Road, Bangor. Adams will demonstrate how to make pants and skirts hang evenly, unusual applique, wearable art in piecing and quilting, and recycling denim into clothing for children. She also will present a trunk show of 200 garments and a collection of bags. The cost to attend the event is $40 and includes lunch and snacks. For more information or to register, call 862-4367.

Common Ground Fair, Sept. 21-23, offers many delights for those who love working with fibers. Be sure to visit the Fleece Tent, the Wednesday Spinners Tent, the rabbit barn, Maine fiber farms area, Maine agriculture booths and the Maine Marketplace and run your fingers through the skeins and hanks. Visit www.mofga.org for more information.

Looking for a Web site dedicated to old sewing machines? Visit www.treadleon.net. The site is for those who use hand-cranked or treadle sewing machines. Or go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wefixit/ to join discussions about old sewing machines. Topics include how to keep old sewing machines from ending up in landfills.

Piecework magazine is seeking entries for its Excellence in Needle Arts Awards: Pincushions 2008. For details visit www.pieceworkmagazine.com.

Call Ardeana Hamlin at 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.