Adjusting the Duathlon Shorts pockets for bigger phones

My Duathlon Shorts pattern has been one of my best selling designs, and for good reasons - it's easy to sew, has a bunch of length options, and suits a wide variety of activities. It's also got two pockets integrated into the side panels, great for stashing your stuff. But when I made this pattern back in 2014, the iPhone 4 and 5 were the standard size phone, and phones have gotten so much bigger over the past few years! I've had a few requests asking how to enlarge the pockets to suit an iPhone 6, and it's really easy to do! I've drawn out the changes into the below diagram, but essentially you need to add both width and depth to the pocket for bigger phones.

My Duathlon Shorts pattern has been one of my best selling designs, and for good reasons – it’s easy to sew, has a bunch of length options, and suits a wide variety of activities. It’s also got two pockets integrated into the side panels, great for stashing your stuff. But when I made this pattern back in 2014, the iPhone 4 and 5 were the standard size phone, and phones have gotten so much bigger over the past few years! I’ve had a few requests asking how to enlarge the pockets to suit an iPhone 6, and it’s really easy to do!

I’ve drawn out the changes into the below diagram, but essentially you need to add both width and depth to the pocket for bigger phones.

Duathlon Shorts - bigger pockets

For the pocket depth, add however much taller you want the pocket to be in BOTH places indicated by the red lines in Step 2 on the Upper Side piece. So if you want to make it a half inch deeper, add a half inch at the first line and a half inch again at the second line.

For the pocket width, first measure your phone against the current pocket (minus 3/4in for the seam allowances, remember!) and figure out how much you need to add. Now take a bit away from that because you need the pocket to be a bit narrower than the phone to keep it snugly in place – if you make it the same width as the phone, it will fly out as you exercise!

Add this extra width onto the Upper and Lower Side pieces (Step 1), and then shave half this amount off the side seam of the Front and Back pieces (Step 3). So if you want to add a half inch in width to the finished pocket, add a half inch to the Lower Side piece, a half inch to the Upper Side piece, and then remove a 1/4in from the side of the Back, and a 1/4in from the side of the Front.

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