Think of men’s clothing and what comes to mind. For me – pockets! Lots of pockets. Front pockets, back pockets, key pockets in the pants. Pockets aplenty in the vest, watch pocket included. In the jacket – !!!! – hand pockets, chest pockets – both on the outside and the inside. Count these all up and we are in the double-digit number.
Translated into women’s clothing these garments usually lose pockets in the interest of a more tailored, body-hugging fit.
Proliferate pockets, I say!
It was during an eureka moment while cutting up a linen skirt to make into a vest that it suddenly occurred to me that it already had vest-like properties so I sewed up part of the waist opening for the neck and cut into the side seams for the armholes. When I tried it on the gathering at the waist gave a comfortable drape on the shoulders.
That wasn’t the eureka moment, this was: while looking in the mirror this-way-and-that, I idly folded one lower corner up on itself and saw – pocket! I stitched the bottom to the side seam. Definitely pocket.
I put some Knitting in here to illustrate carrying capacity but what I have found it most useful for is cell phone, keys, change…it is deep but accessible. And it does what pockets do excellently – it distributes the weight of what would all end up in a purse.
These pockets were pot holder gifts, lovely works of art, a nice addition to the kitchen but an even nicer use on the front of this knitting bag. That’s originally a man’s vest with deep armholes.
With the bottom sewn up and the shoulders gathered into handles the result is a comfortable, roomy knitting bag. With colourful pockets.