Pocket Toque

This is some junk that I will be turning into a Toque with a hidden pocket to store those important things!

We will harvest the zipper from the pink bag and a sleeve from my Papa's fancy sweater.

You can really use any material that you can find around your house, however I choose my material so I can wear it on the ski slopes.

Tools needed:

1) Needle with matching thread, also some pins;

2) Seem ripper and scissors to harvest sleeve and zipper;

3) Measuring tape;

For the Zipper:

Use the seam ripper to detach the stitching around the zipper. It is easiest to make sure the zipper is closed and pay close attention to the ends; they can be tricky.

For the Toque material:

Turn the sweater inside-out and remove the sleeve with the seam ripper.

For the Pocket material:

I took material from the back of the sweater and used the seam ripper to rip the shirt from the shoulder down. If there are holes along the edges, don't worry you won't use that part. Cut the material large enough to fold in half and match the length of the zipper to the opening.

1) Turn the sleeve inside-out because we want an invisible zipper.

2) Measure from the shoulder 32.5cm down. This was my starting point for the small zipper. This could vary depending on your preference for the zipper placement.

3) Press on the seam to separate the flaps of fabric and place the zipper along the seem upside down with the toggle facing the fabric.

4) Pin in place.

With the zipper pinned in place you can start stitching it in. Don't forget to tie a knot in your thread before stitching.

Use tight stitching because zippers are tugged on.

Keep your eye on the good side to avoid loops.

Now that the zipper is stitched in remove the pins, go to the outside seam and use the seam ripper to open it up.

Lastly in this part, add stitching on the outside to make it look nice and add strength.

Get the material you harvested earlier for the pocket.

Fold it in half so that it is a square and sew the outside together. Leave one side open for attaching to the zipper.

Attach the new pocket to the zipper by sewing.

I opened the zipper and pushed the pocket through to line it up with the zipper.

Try the Toque on to get a good idea of what length will look best for you and what the brim will look like.

The sleeve has extra material for my liking so I cut off 16.3cm and sewed the top closed.

I also folded part of the excess material under to make the forehead area look nicer and fit better.

If it is a little short where the armpit was, do your best and roll with it.

To finish off the best look I added a homemade pompom.

To attach the pompom, take the tails and pull through the corners with the needle and tie really tight. It will cinch up some of the top material making it look much more toque-like.

This was a big learning experience for me and I hope you enjoy the project as much as I did.

You can store anything you want safely in this stylish toque with hidden pocket.

I hid my important thumb drive.

Alaira