Double Sided (Reversible) Pocket Square Tutorial

Thanks to my sewing hobby I've become popular...naturally this new found popularity comes with requests to make things.  One such request was from a high school friend that wanted pocket squares to wear to church.  He sent me this tutorial and asked me if I could make something like it.  Although this isn't rocket science, it looked extremely time consuming...and this project probably would have drove me nuts trying to get all the stitches perfect (I can be a bit of a perfectionist).  Thus I decided to try to convince my friend to try it himself since it only required a needle and thread...his response was that he didn't have time to do it himself.  In my head I laughed and said to myself, "Neither do I,"  however what I actually said was that I could give it a try on my sewing machine.

I had never sewn a pocket square before, so I had to do a little research before attempting this project.  Most of the pocket squares I found were hand sewn and made out of silk, but I did find a few that were non-silk and machine sewn (like these J. Crew, Express, and Hill-Side Pocket Squares), which convinced me it is okay to sew using cotton fabric and a machine.

Our friend gave me 3 different fabrics and thought about how I could make a cool pocket square out of the material.  Two of the fabric coordinated, so I thought it would be cool to make a double sided pocket square and add a little flair so the plain color side wasn't so plain.

Here's how I made the double sided pocket square:  

Supplies:

1. 2 Different fabrics of your choice (I'm using cotton fabric)
2. Thread
3. Cutting mat with ruler
4. Rotary cutter (or scissor)
5. Iron
6. Sewing Machine

Instructions:

1. Line up your fabric (on your cutting mat) so you will be cutting on the grain.  Cut out a 13' x 13' square from each of your fabrics, so you will have two squares.

2.  Pin your fabrics right sides together

3. Once you have your fabrics pinned you can sew around the square with a 1/2" seam allowance, leaving a 1"-1 1/2" opening on one of the sides (so you can turn it right side out).  Be sure to use the back stitch function around the opening area.

Use the back stitch function

4.  Clip your corners so they will turn nicely.

4.  Turn the pocket square right side out and use something to help you get those corners nice and sharp (I usually use a chopstick).

5.  Iron the square once it is right side out and pay special attention to the opening area.

6.  After you have the pocket square nice and ironed, go to your machine and top stitch around the edge of the pocket square.  For the one I made, I used a decorative stitch with metallic gold thread to make it interesting and give it a nice pop!

There you go, you're done!!!

(p.s. - this would make a perfect last minute gift for the holidays...wink, wink)