Tori McElwain for Quilting with Darla
Adding a kangaroo pocket is a quick and easy way to create a unique lap quilt!
My friend, Tiana, wanted to make her grandma a quilt for Christmas, but had never made a quilt before! Enter: Black Friday Deals! We set her up with everything she needed from a basic sewing machine to beautiful fabric.. We then collaborated on how to make it special for her grandma and decided to add a kangaroo pocket embroidered with her name!
I thought it was such a wonderful gift, I wanted to share how to make a basic kangaroo pocket and how we chose to apply it to the quilt.
The quilt itself is made of 8.5 inch squares. We bought 4 complimentary colors (1 yard each) and sewed the squares together in a diagonal pattern (8 rows and 8 columns). Then used the extra fabric to make the matching pocket!
First, we found a sweatshirt with a kangaroo pocket size that we liked and measured it. It came out to be 10.5 inches by 10.5 inches. We decided to make the pocket a little bigger and added a few inches. With seam allowance, our initial square came out as 11 inches by 14 inches.
I then embroidered her name. I am still new to embroidery, but the white thread was an easy choice to help her name stand out against the dark pink fabric.
We chose the blue fabric for the lining and cut a square the same size as the pink fabric. I kept the stabilizer from the embroidery work on the back of the pink fabric and sandwiched it (with wrong sides of the fabric together) between the lining and the front. From here it was easy to cut out matching pockets! I pinned the 2 pieces of fabric in place, for the next step.
For the pocket entrances, I marked a line 2 inches in on either side and 6 inches down on either side with a water-soluble marker. I drew and then cut an arch from the marks on either side.
To connect the 2 sides, I pinned the fabric together with right sides facing in. I stitched 1/4 inch seam around the edges, all the way around and leaving about a 3 - 4 inch gap to turn the pocket right side out. The next step was to trim the corners and turn the pocket with the right sides facing out.
To secure the pocket, I stitched a top stitch 1/8 inch from the edge.
From here we have a completed pocket!
We figured there are 2 ways to attach the pocket:
1) We could quilt the quilt and then stitch it on the pocket
2) We could attach the pocket to the top or the flimsy before it's quilted and quilt around it.
We chose to quilt and then add the pocket!
Tiana added a wonderfully soft pale pink flannel to the back and straight-line quilted her very first quilt! She echoed the vertical seams. We then attached the pocket, sewing through all 5 layers, 1/4 inch from the edge and again 1/8 inch from the edge to help secure the pocket.
It came out wonderfully!
Her very first quilt turned out absolutely beautiful and I'm so proud of my friend for diving into a new adventure. Can you believe she did this quilt with a 5 month old and a 2 1/2 year old?? You go girl!
Need a template? You can grab the PDF below.
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