I had one of these arm pockets and sometime during the building going on in our house, I packed it away in a safe place. So safe, I cannot find it anymore. It’s such a handy thing as I put my house keys in the pocket, slide it onto my arm and go for a run. It’s also great for those who run with a phone or use gels.

They look so simple and I was fairly certain I could make one. I went on-line to see if anyone else had made them so I could get a sense of how they’re put together. Couldn’t find much on them. 

Then I found a site called fehrtrade.com. She’s been sewing and putting out patterns for over a decade. She has heaps of patterns and tutorials. Quite diverse stuff too. Fehrtrade.com has a FREE sewing pattern for what she referred to as a Y-Fumble. Don’t recall ever seeing them in South Africa.

I’m so pleased to find this pattern as it saved me having to figure out how to make this running armband. The pattern has all the info on it including where to make your folds. And you get a PDF explaining how to assemble this. I printed the pattern onto 4 x A4 sheets of paper from our home printer. Doesn’t get easier than that.

This arm pocket needs super stretchy fabric. It’s the s-t-r-e-t-c-h that makes it stay on your arm and stops your stuff falling out. I used black lycra.

You need: –

FREE sewing pattern from fehrtrade.com

stretchy fabric

matching coloured thread

sewing machine with stretch stitch

ball point sewing needles

You do: –

Cut the pattern from your fabric.

Make sure you replace your regular sewing needle with a ball point sewing needle. (Discovered my sewing machine needle cases are disintegrating! Bit annoying that – how else will I store them?)

Next set your sewing machine to stretch stitch. If your machine does not have a stretch stitch, you could try pulling the fabric slightly when you sew. Can’t promise it will work but will go some way to ensuring the stitches have a bit of give so they don’t snap when you pull on the arm pocket.

Make a hem at each end of the pocket piece and fold top over to create the flap for your pocket. 

Fold bottom to create pocket.

Sew each end of the non-pocket piece leaving a bit open in the middle.

Now this is the bit I missed and had to unpick and redo. The instructions are clear on the accompanying PDF. You slide the pocket piece INSIDE the non-pocket piece.

And sew the sides.

You pull the pocket through the piece you left open on the non-pocket piece. And your running arm pocket comes together. Like magic.

You can either hand sew or machine sew the open piece closed to finish.

If you find the Greenie Galleries there are heaps of older posts and ideas to make and upcycle clothes and accessories. I’ve also loaded pics of upcoming tutorials and FREE sewing patterns on the Greenie Dresses for Less facebook page.

Have a great week.

Greenie.

P.S. A few have asked what size the pattern pieces are. The pattern comes different sizes so best to measure and fit to YOUR arm, but my pattern pieces are 16 cm wide and 41 cm long for pocket piece. And 16 cm wide and 38 cm long for non-pocket piece. Includes seam allowances.