Old fashioned substitute for the lack of women's pockets

Ela La Salle just posted some awesome "pocket upcycling" pictures over on this thread:
upcycled pockets

I've been working on a similar idea of upcycling pants pockets into some form of a "fanny pack", but it keeps stalling. Ela's post is imploring my subconscious to get back on that task!

I’m going to make a pocket for my phone and have it clip to two belt loops. The back loop to clip to the belt loop will be slightly longer so the phone will be at a slight angle. You can get wee carabiners at Walmart-for whatever reason in the automotive section. Then I’ll probably use snaps to hold it closed. I made a ‘girl vest’ pocket bigger and held it closed with snaps which worked well. I’ll let the group know it works!
I live in Alabama and the problem with vests in the summer here is that they are just too hot!

I had a pair of stained jeans and needed some shorts. I cut the legs off, hemmed them then used the legs for pockets. Cargo style.

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Faye Streiff wrote:When I think of all the tools I’ve laid down in the garden or pasture when we were working on projects, never to be found until a year or so later when they were rusted and useless....

Not related to pockets, but I paint all my tools hot pink. I got tired of trying to find them. Not my first choice of color (I'd rather they were purple) but most visible against the grass and dirt.

A young man who worked for me was raised by his Grandma with his sister. He worked in theater staging: putting up/tearing down shows, etc. His tools kept getting stolen. He went out and bought pink paint and painted his tools pink. Because he was raised by females, he's not worried about his machismo much and he was able to stop buying tools!

Hubby's managed to loose his cell phone twice recently. Luckily, both times it was found fairly quickly. He gave up on the clip that's *supposed* to hold it to his belt. He wanted cargo pockets.

A few months ago I'd found a really nice pair of pants really cheap at the Charity Shop - 100% cotton and *no* spandex. They were too long for him, so I had to cut a bunch off the bottom while adjusting the hem. That gave me matching fabric for the cargo pocket (just barely enough).

Sewing cargo pockets on an existing pair of pants is a pain. I'm glad the pants weren't any narrower. The phone doesn't show when slid all the way down, but the pocket isn't sooo... deep that getting it out became awkward.

Really though, he won't just be wearing these pants, so I'm thinking I need to make a modern version of the substitute pocket that can slide onto his belt. I guess that's next on the list!

I'm a guy and have never been accused of being stylish, but I'm fond of cargo pants (shorts for hot weather). Don't they make them for women too? In gardening season especially, it's really handy to be able to carry a compact pruner, not just a phone, and to pocket a small zucchini at risk of being missed until it's a big one. (Ditto for mini beit alpha cukes.)

I realize this is a tangent from the original topic, but not more so than the gun holster, eh. 🙂

I sometimes wear suspenders and use this to keep a knife and a pen accessible.  Has anyone thought of using MOLLE pouches?  There are a million different sizes and attachment to a piece of clothing would only require the straps sewn onto the article being worn.  The vid shows a tactical vest but ignore the camo and imagine denim. The pouches initially were for the military, but a pocket is a pocket. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7gRTMYKIKU
Just a generic MOLLE search on Amazon will show the variety out there

I can't find the youtube short or a screen shot of it now, but I saw an actual pair of women's denim pants that was made of almost only pockets, I believe it had 41 big pockets in total. It's about time designers take control of cargo pants and make them mainstream fashion, add that 2% spandex to the fabric so they maintain a proper pocket shape for more than 15 minutes like current cargo pants fail to do. You don't win over an audience when it looks like the wearer is carrying a sack of potatoes, 1 or 2 spuds per pocket, even when the pockets are empty. That would be the holy grail, functional cargo pants with real pockets that otherwise look like shape-holding, form-fitting pants. Not so form fitting and thin that people get a show when you cough like yoga pants though. My pants aren't so tight that you know my circumcision status, let's make some womens clothing that's loose enough that you can wear normal underwear without casting a 5 o'clock shadow.

Mark Brunnr wrote:I can't find the youtube short or a screen shot of it now, but I saw an actual pair of women's denim pants that was made of almost only pockets, I believe it had 41 big pockets in total. ...

Going to try and post this, and add comments after so expect some edits:


source

OK - click on the word Source above and it might take you to the tiktok video.

And wrote:

add that 2% spandex to the fabric so they maintain a proper pocket shape for more than 15 minutes like current cargo pants fail to do.

 Personally, I've haven't been impressed by spandex. The difference between "cargo pockets" and the pockets used in the picture above, is that cargo pockets are "Patch pockets" applying all their cargo space *outside* the pant leg, whereas the typical front pants pocket is an *inside* pocket where the cargo is hidden inside the pant leg. This works well near the hips, because the cargo is trapped between the body and the pant material.

I tried this approach by making a set-in cargo pocket on a pair of pants that didn't have a large enough pocket for my cell phone. I didn't tack the body of the pocket to the pants, but let it hang like the usual waist level pocket, and it definitely wobbles around much more. If the pants were more form-fitting, I think the issue would be reduced. The entrance to the pocket was a slash opening, which I hung the pocket from and a zipper closing. For a first try using upcycled material, I was pleased, but definitely not professional!

I do think we're on to something... We need to get Pearl Sutton here to give some opinions/instructions, as I know she's added pockets to pockets on some of her outfits. Some pictures of how she's done that might be very enlightening.

Mark Brunnr wrote:I  add that 2% spandex to the fabric so they maintain a proper pocket shape for more than 15 minutes like current cargo pants fail to do. .

Interesting, because I won't buy clothes that aren't 100% natural fiber – mostly because of microplastics, but also because I find they get stretched out and stay that way, even when washed!

Jay Angler wrote:

I do think we're on to something... We need to get Pearl Sutton here to give some opinions/instructions, as I know she's added pockets to pockets on some of her outfits. Some pictures of how she's done that might be very enlightening.

I tend to put hand pockets, made extra deep, and over the top of them, a flat patch pocket for phone etc, and over THAT a pleated cargo pocket. Both patch pockets with elastic tops to keep stuff in. Let me see if I can get a picture easily.

Ok. Sloppy pictures. I put something in each pocket to show where it is. And inside shot, and badly marked seams so you see how they nest together.

Very much enjoying this thread! It’s inspiring me to add (better) pockets to my practical clothing or to create/find one of those waist packs

I love the look of pockets and their use potential, have used and loved cargo types of pants for many years... but eventually most of the built in pockets of garments literally rub me wrong if I use them regularly. My skin gets chaffed and sometimes tender like bruise without one from the weight and any movement of stuff in the same spot all the time. I have eyed those tie on pockets for skirts like in the OP video, and love both the idea and look of them.. but I know they would not work for me in practice as they'd have the same issues as the built in pockets for me.

The pockets that avoided that the longest were in long pants that had wide legs with ties at the bottom like the elastic in sweat pants. The key was the pockets were down at my ankles which were awesome in that they had flaps with straps that tied down with D rings which kept things from falling out but were easy to slip my fingers past without unbuckling... but due to how wide the legs were and how low the weight was they were not great for moving quickly with heavy things there.

Waist and fanny packs keep things from bothering me like the pockets, but they don't always work over the clothes I wear, or under them, as when I reach up (which happens a lot) the clothing under it can untuck itself or gets bunched up uncomfortably when my arms are back down again.

For town, I get tired of a purse over my shoulder, even cross shoulder, when I go to town. I used to have lots of pouches on my belt used for pocket knives, or all sorts of things, some I made.

I no longer like to wear belts, so I have pouches that I use elastic hair ties to attach to my belt loops (so they can be easily removed) and then I tuck those pouches into my pants so they sit down below the waistband but stay in place from friction. Some things will go into the pants pockets, but barely, and still tethered. Hard to explain, but it has been working for me when going to town.

I have everything tethered to my belt loops either via the elastic hair bands or carabiners. The carabiners are the ones used for keys, and they have a little length of webbing strap between the carabiner and the key ring that allows my to tuck it. The carabiner has a simple slide that allows you to lock it closed so it doesn't accidentally open up and unclip itself. This makes using it much easier when it's unlocked too. I use those for keys, of course, but also for other things sometimes. Mostly I use flat pouches with the elastic hair bands though, and I even use it for my phone because my phone case has a loop I can use for that.

Maybe I'll come back and add a photo or two of some of the tethering.

I started tethering everything because I got tired of something falling out of regular pockets. It's great for when you're in a hurry to go pee because you've held it too long and you just need to get the pants off quickly. The tethers are short enough that things stay close to the pants, so I can just take off my pants and let whatever falls out do it's thing. Then I can grab whatever is hanging too heavily and tuck it into my pants as I am sitting on the toilet afterwards, or just let 'em hang until I pull my pants back up. It works for peeing in the woods too.

In terms of around the land, I have various aprons (full or half) that I've been using to keep things for certain jobs in so that I can just grab the apron and put it on. I tie loops into the apron ties close to the apron, especially with the half aprons, so that I can clip my keys or other things on there that have carabiners. The tethers help them get to the nearest pocket better too. The aprons can get in the way when I want to lift and carry heavy things in front of me though. I usually wear the half aprons when I might be doing the lifting (if I wear pockets on me), then I rotate the apron around to face backward so it's no longer in the way. It's a hassle and so often my favorite pockets are not in my clothes or on me, but on other things that I can take with me and set down nearby.

I use pockets that you can attach to a bucket on buckets and/or large tote bags that have inner and outer pockets. The buckets can hold stuff I decide to harvest that wasn't planned or plant matter I want to take elsewhere rather than chop and drop. The pockets hold tools, water bottles, and other things I don't necessarily want to be carrying on my person the whole time. This actually works the best out on the land as it keeps me more mobile once I put the bucket down. My spouse also uses a used golf bag with caddy wheels for long handled tools instead of golf clubs, and there are loads of pockets on the outside for smaller tools.

Lol, so I've gone from having as many pockets as possible on my person either in my clothes or on belts, etc. to actually preferring clothes without pockets at all (since I rarely use them now). Funny that.

David Wieland wrote:I'm a guy and have never been accused of being stylish, but I'm fond of cargo pants (shorts for hot weather). Don't they make them for women too? ...

If they make trousers/pants for females that look like cargo pants ... then probably the pockets will be too small, or even 'fake pockets'!
Recently I bought a pair of men's cargo garden trousers. In a cheap supermarket (Lidl). 100% cotton! I only have to make them shorter.