Just try to pick these pockets!

We're heading to Europe in a few days for a great historical vacation.   The first part of our trip we will be staying in Rome.  We are very excited about all the historical places, sites and artwork  we're going to see.  Recently we read in the news that Rome is a haven for pick pockets.  We've also been reading and following Rick Steeves guidebook on Rome.   He cautions many times in his book about how to protect yourself from pickpockets, and how to spot them, and how best to avoid them.   So, because I'm all paranoid about them, we're taking extra precautions on our important stuff, credit cards, passports etc.  

In addition to the common sense things Ricks says, this morning, I sewed inner pockets on our jeans to hold some valuables.   They're going to be hard for us to get at let alone pick pockets.  

Here's a quick tutorial on how I made security pockets for my hubby's jeans and shorts

First - put a simple hem on a rectangle of light fabric the size of the inner pants pocket.  This will be the top of your inner pocket.   

For my quick inner pockets, I chose not to hem the sides.  I just left them raw.  If you are more ambitious than I am, You could hem.  

Next, lay this fabric over the pocket on the inside of the jeans.  Pin all around the pocket and make sure you can feel that you have an area where you can sew around.  Because there were bar tacks for a belt loop, I lowered the pocket a bit for ease of sewing around 3 sides.   After pinning, I trimmed away the corner of the lining that followed the inner pocket's curve.  Next, I sewed in two steps.  I sewed along the inner seam of the jeans.  It's a thick seam, but it's not too thick to be sewn through.   Then I sewed the other two sides which are actually on the inner cotton pocket itself.

Here you can see my completed security pocket.  You an see the outline of our passports in this pocket.  I put safety pins on the pockets instead of a button.     Remember, these pockets don't have to be fancy, just effective.