I love adding mesh accents to my clothes and I couldn’t wait to do one on the Cadence Tights! I knew I wanted mesh pockets to wear with my Blade-Core mash, but with a little cutout to match. The little peekaboo at the bottom of the pocket is such a fun way to add a little extra flair. For this set I used Burgundy Mesh and Majestic Triathlon Tricot, I just love how they look together! As an added bonus the mesh is dark enough that it’s opaque from a distance. This hack is super quick and easy. It does not require any significant adjustments to the pattern: only trimming off the bottom of the yoke and doing one extra sewing step.
Getting Started
Because I was trimming off the bottom of the yoke I would be making the pocket shorter: to make sure I still had enough room for my phone I placed mine on top of my pattern piece to mark where to trim the bottom. My phone fit in my other Cadence Tights pockets fully, so I knew as long as there was room for the seam allowance on either side of the bottom of my phone the pocket would still be deep enough to hold it securely. I marked where I wanted to cut with a washable marker. The collage below shows my phone laid across my fabric with the pattern being projected onto it on the left and my mark for shortening on the right.
Then, using my long quilting ruler and the grain line as a guide I cut across the bottom of the yoke before cutting the rest of the way around my pattern piece. I use a projector to do my cutting, but if you use a paper pattern you can do the same steps: determine how much to shorten your piece, then use a ruler and writing tool to mark your pattern then fold or cut along the line. When I used paper patterns I always preferred folding so I didn’t need to worry about losing the piece I cut off later. Cut out the rest of your pieces and get ready to sew! The collage below shows my ruler across my fabric, using the grain line and my marker line as guides to shortening the yoke on the left, the cut across in the center, then the bottom of the cut out yoke on the right with the pattern still being projected onto the mat.
Sewing
After hemming the top of your pockets lay them on top of the yoke and pin in place. Next sew across the bottom of the yoke to close the pocket. You can do this with a coverstitch or sewing machine with a stretch stitch. Note: I like to serge the raw end of my yoke because I stitch from the top and it’s easier to feel the edge of the fabric with the serger stitches. It also prevents the fabric from rolling, which can be annoying. After you have the bottom of your pocket sewn shut finish sewing according to the tutorial. I like to topstitch around each side of the yoke for extra stability, especially since my toddler likes to pull on my pockets. The collage below shows me sewing across the bottom the yoke on the left, both pockets sewn in and sides basted to finish construction in the center, and a close up of the peekaboo cutout after the yoke was sewn in and topstitched on the right.
Now it’s time to show off your fancy new Cadence Tights! I hope you share your creations in the Facebook Group or on Instagram if you have them!
