Monday, February 20, 2012

Pesky Pocket Parts

One button on.  One button under someone's dining table.
Pocket flaps in their usual, unsightly position.


I liked them so much I bought four pair. The price was excellent and, I must admit, contributed to my enthusiasm. But right off, there was trouble.  These nice cord jeans had non-functional back pockets.








Back pockets make a style statement. But Handy Andy, a.k.a. Practical Pat, wants to use the back pockets.  It there's a flap in the way--not so good.  If the flap is buttoned down, we're in for big trouble.  That's probably why the buttons started popping off.  A dining chair with an interesting back grabbed the first one.  Later as I passed through a tight doorway, another button went for a spin.  Finally, as a guest at Christmas dinner I sat down to the sound of a snap and a whir as another pocket button swirled across the floor. Everyone at the table wanted to help find it.  I was muttering "just get lost."

Off they come!


But finally the most useful project of the Things I get to do today was to remove  the rest of the flaps and buttons from that shipment of pants.  What I really learned from this experience is that while the flaps may have annoyed me and made the pockets useless, the buttons were hazardous as they scraped chairs and snared strands yarn on the inside of my sweaters.  Next time I'll settle in right away to remedy the situation--no waiting until damage is done.  By then there will be new blog material for recycled pocket flaps.



Flaps for sale
It took pliers and wire cutters to remove
the rest of the sweater-snagger buttons! 

4 comments:

  1. Isn't in funny how those snaps just pop off on their own, but try to take them off yourself!!!

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    1. great! no more snags in that beautiful, hand-knitted sweater!

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  2. i've been trying to think how we could re-purpose (i feel so trendy!) those pockets. one idea i saw in a catalog: at the bottom of a short cardigan, boxy and a bit flared at the hem, were knit pockets. the fabric was stripes (yippee for stripes!), and the pockets were the same striped fabric, but turned, making those pockets a fun design item. not certain that corduroy pockets from jeans would work, but a lot of clothes don't have pockets -- and need them!

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    1. The color in the pictures is misleading because of the lighting. The charcoal pants that look gray really do go with the "black" looking flaps. And when they were worn right after the buttons were removed, the seat split open just beneath the pocket itself. Well, well. It seems that the flap can be used for reinforcing the butt of the pants on the inside when I machine sew over the area. Not going to give these up immediately after they are finally made right! Thanks for your suggestions. We are a creative lot!

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