How to…Add a pocket to the Action Pack Leggings

Inspiration

6 Oct

We asked Dani @pocketortwo to make a review the Action pack. She went one better and asl did a hack to add a pocket for her essentials when exercising outdoors. Here’s her review and tutorial for adding your own gadget pocket to your leggings.

I’m going to talk you through a hack that I did to create side pockets on the MHW Action Pack leggings. I did a bit of research on how ready to wear sports brands incorporated pockets into their designs and came up with this hack. I wanted to include a side pocket rather than one that was enclosed in the waistband so that when you’re doing floor exercises you’re not sat on your phone/ipod/keys etc.

So, this hack involves creating new pattern pieces in order to, effectively, create a side panel in the leggings. It’s a great hack for colour blocking too – so, if you want to add a different print or colour to your leggings, you could cut the side panel and pockets from a patterned or different coloured jersey (just make sure that both fabrics have the same amount of stretch). I made this pair from all one fabric, a sports jersey which was kindly provided by Crafty Sew & So, but am looking forward to trying other variations.

The first step is to adapt the pattern. You're basically going to turn your leg piece into three by cutting a central panel from the full length of the leg. This can be any width you chose to accommodate your pocket size – I made mine with enough width to fit my phone in. Don’t forget to add the seam allowance to each of these pieces on the sides where you have split the pattern (the inside legs already have seam allowances).

The next step is to split the central leg piece that you have created at the right height that you want your pocket, and again, add the seam allowance to the edges that you have split.

You then want to create a pocket piece. I measured around my phone and put a diagonal across the top. (In hindsight, I should have created two of these pieces for each leg so that the diagonals cross-crossed and hugged the phone to my leg.) You might also prefer a straight seam on the pocket top, which would also work fine.

When finished, your pieces should look something like those in the photo below.

Once you have cut out your pieces – two of all the leg pieces and, if doing the diagonal pocket top, four of these (two of each direction mirrored) – you are ready to assemble the legs. I sewed mine on my overlocker, which made it a quick sew but, if you don’t have one, you can use a stretch or zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine.

As sports jersey rarely frays, the edges don’t really need finishing with the exception of the top edge of your pocket (which you can finish or fold over and stitch).

Step one: Make a sandwich from the three centre leg pieces: the pocket and top centre piece are right side up and the bottom wrong side up.

Step two: Sew all three layers together along the bottom edge and press open so that you have one long centre leg piece.

Step three: Sew the centre leg piece, making sure you catch the pocket piece, to the side leg pieces one at a time and press open.

You should now have two complete leg pieces, ready to follow the MHW Action Pack pattern instructions as usual.

For my pair, I cropped the leg to create a summer pair of workout leggings, but the hack is suitable for the full length too.

As noted above, my only mistake really, was not to make extra pocket pieces that would enclose my phone a bit more securely (as I’ve seen on ready to wear leggings). My phone does stay in the pocket, but it might not be as secure with high-intensity workouts. A straight pocket would also work fine. The beauty of a hack is getting to play around with things like different pocket shapes and colour blocking.

How would you customise your Action Pack leggings?