A tailor in Savannah changed how I think about pockets

I was getting a jacket fitted at this tiny shop off Broughton Street last fall. The tailor, an older woman named Elena, stopped me as I was leaving. She pointed at my sketchbook and said, 'Your pockets are just holes in the fabric. They should be a secret, a surprise for the hand.' She showed me a coat she was altering where the pocket was hidden inside the lining seam, accessible through a nearly invisible slit. It made the whole piece look cleaner. That one comment stuck with me for months. Now I sketch pockets as an intentional design element first. Has anyone else had a simple tip completely shift a basic part of your design process?

2 comments

2 Comments

murphy.barbara5d ago

Had a teacher tell me once that a seam should look like a happy accident... like it was always meant to be there. Totally changed how I press my pieces.

the_max5d ago

Love that idea! My seams usually look like very unhappy accidents, like they're fighting each other. I guess I need to work on my pressing game.