I’ve had the idea for using bias binding trim on the pockets of the Explorer Skirt since before it was even a scrappy little drawing.  I’ve been meaning to post a pattern hack for it, but LIFE, you know?  When I finally got around to it, I spent way, WAY, too much time trying to find fabric in my stash for it.  I wanted to make a skirt my littlest bug would actually want to wear as well as match the picture I had of the skirt in my head.  Things is though, what my little bug loves and the skirt it my head were 2 very different skirts.  So I went with the one my kiddo would love.  Cause isn’t that the point of sewing for our families and friends, for ourselves?  Isn’t the point to spend the time, love and effort to create something the wearer will really love?  She loves driving cars and digging in the sandpit, and I’m sure she’s going to love filling up these pockets with sand…

Usually, we’d sew the SKIRT FRONT and the POCKET  right sides together, but for this pattern hack we need to sew them with their wrong sides together and the right sides facing out.

 

 

Line up the edges of the SKIRT FRONT, the POCKET and the bias binding.  I am a lazy pants.  I use big long strips of binding straight off the roll or in this case, straight out of the balled up knotted mess.  Hang it over the edge a little and trim later.  Lazy pants or genius, you decide.

 

Open the binding out and in the crease sew all the way along the pocket edge.

 

You should now have your SKIRT FRONT and your POCKET sewn together with the open binding on the top.

 

Fold the binding in half over the raw edges of the pocket and top stitch about 2mm (1/8″) away from the edge of the binding.  You want to stick as close to the edge as you can so it looks nice and neat when it’s finished, but also making sure that your top stitching catches the binding on the underneath as well.  This will secure your binding to the pocket.

 

Trim those tails, lazy pants!

 

 

See, nice and neat!  And easy.  Lazy pants.

 

 

 

 

Repeat for the other pocket and finish off the pockets.  (Start at the top of page 5 of your instructions.)  Fold them in half and press.  Stitch and finish off (overlock/zig zag) the bottom edges of your pocket.  Your skirt front is now ready to go!  Finish off your skirt just like you always do.

 

 

Ta da!  A cute-sicle Explorer Skirt with binding trim.  All ready for my little popsicle to fill her pockets with sand.

 

 

 

 

Using Michael Miller’s Merryville and Dear Stella’s Anchors Away.