18th Century Pockets + First Embroidery Project!
Welcome back readers! Today we are switching things up a bit, and taking ourselves back in time to discuss a fashion topic that I think all women feel very passionately about - POCKETS!
I know that I am not the only one who has been very frustrated when I’m trying on new piece of clothing, only to realize that the ‘pockets’ are fake (even though there is sufficient room for real pockets where the fake ones are), or that there are no pockets in the garment at all. It never seems like men have this issue with their clothing, and I’ll be honest and say that on the day-to-day I don’t like carrying around a purse. I love a cute clutch or small purse when the occasion calls for it, but I usually where a very small cross body bag that only fits my phone, cards, and lip balm. I often find myself thinking that if I were a man, my clothes would have enough pockets for these items that I wouldn’t need a bag for them at all.
I’ve also lost count how many times friends and I will be admiring a piece of clothing, only to realize that it has actual pockets, to which we all say ‘oh pockets!’ making the item an immediate winner.
So you can imagine my interest when a few years ago I first came across a reference to what was being called 18th century pockets, and seemed to be removable, tie-on pockets that were worn by women in the 1700’s.
Photo courtesy of https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/157045.
This is a beautiful, modern-made example of what they looked like. Photo courtesy of thistlthistle.com. The pocket and embroidery pattern are available here: https://thistlethistle.com/garments/18th-c-pocket-with-thistle-embroidery .
It looked like such a practical idea, and I vowed to find out more on a future sewing adventure. Then, a few months ago one of my favorite youtubers, Bernadette Banner, covered the subject of women’s pockets in one of her videos. I’m just going to take a quick moment and say that if you are a fan of sewing, historical clothing, or anyone who is passionate about their craft and finds beautiful ways to share it, I highly recommend you check out her channel. Her content never ceases to entertain, educate, and inspire me.
In this particular video, she covered a few hundred years worth of women’s pocket history in a succinct, but incredibly entertaining over view, and the subject of the 18th century pockets came up again. You can check out the video here, and it’s absolutely worth 20 minutes of your time.
I also, in a stroke of wonderful coincidence, came across this book around the same time:
It turned out to be a really interesting read, that delves into how the historical examples of these pockets, as well as references to them in art and literature, can be used to analyze different facets of the lives of women from those times.
Those times are estimated to have occurred from late 16th century to late 18th century, though there is some evidence that some women continued to use them well into the 1900’s. I won’t spoil all of the fascinating conclusions drawn by the authors of this book, but I will say that I found it extremely informative regarding how this accessory was used. It would seem that in the 1500’s women found themselves frequently without pockets, despite the many layers of fabric that made up their clothing at the time, and the fact that men’s more form-fitting clothes still managed to included them. Sound familiar?
They came in different shapes and sizes, sometimes more triangular than round, with the largest version falling down to the knee. All were constructed very similarly though, and were generally worn under the woman’s petticoats, but overtop of the rest of their skirt layers. The pockets were accessible through small slits in the petticoats at the waist. Despite the pockets being mostly invisible to others, it was common for women to adorn their pockets with embroidery.
When I saw this idea in more detail, I thought it was ingenious, and that I could make my own version to wear today, on the outside of my clothes. I found the example below of measurements that could be used to create a pattern for making your own.
This image and more details about the measurements can be found at the following site: https://www.worldturndupsidedown.com/2009/12/colonial-pockets.html .
I followed this general guideline, and cut out 2 back pieces, and 2 front pieces with slits, from some scrap cotton I had in my stash. Before assembling the actual pocket, I also decided that this was the perfect opportunity to try my hand at embroidery, which I’ve been wanting to do for a few years. I already owned the book below, which contained several patterns I really liked and detailed instructions on how to create the embroidery stitches required for each.
You can find this book here.
I was looking for patterns that felt summary, and ended up liking both of the options shown below, so I decided to combine them! I took a portion of the wreath design on the left, and combined it with one of the fern patterns from the right.
The instructions in this book were so fantastic, with really clear visuals and uncomplicated explanations. Instead of using the specific thread colors they listed for the patterns, I used my own combinations from embroidery floss that I already had on hand.
I think the finished product turned out great!
It fits all of my essentials, and I think it will look super unique no matter what outfit I wear it with. If you’d like to see more about how I would style this, let me know in the comments!
The version that I made stays fairly true to the historical looks and designs, but I also think you could modernize this idea by making it out of other fabrics, with different or no embroidery. I’m already imagining a version for fall made of suede, and leafy embroidery.
Minus the embroidery, I also think this would make a fun project for kids. It could be made of 2 layers of felt instead of 4 layers of fabric, and they could hand stitch the edges with yarn or embroidery floss. It could make a great little pocket for them to store their treasures on outdoor adventures, or of course snacks. Don’t we all wish we had a pocket full of snacks at all times?
I’m going to use mine for running errands, gardening, forest foraging, and anything else I figure out I can use it for. I wonder what I woman from the 18th century would think about another one from the 21st continuing this idea? Probably that the plight women face with pockets hasn’t change all that much…
Happy crafting!
~Amanda
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