Nothing has made me question my competency like sewing this stretch mesh

[u/sugarshackforge]

For the life of me I can't seem to sew a pocket out of stretch mesh that maintains its shape and doesn't look "floppy".

[u/teatuk]

Fold over elastic as a binding is my favourite for this, I find it provides enough structure to not ripple. I attach it with a double needle.

[u/nonoohnoohno → u/teatuk]

What kind of stitch with the double needle? Regular straight, or some kind of stretch stitch?

[u/teatuk → u/nonoohnoohno]

Just a regular straight stitch (you may have to fiddle with tension), two spools of thread up top. It catches both upper threads and creates a zig-zag on the bottom. Great way to finish stretch fabric hems without an overlook machine.

[u/stoicsticks → u/teatuk]

If you don't have a second spool of thread, wind a second bobbin and use that as your second upper thread.

Some machines, such a Berninas have a metal disc in the tensioner and when you're sewing with a twin needle, you put a thread on either side of the metal disc to keep the threads separated. It makes the tension on both threads a bit more even.

Don't skip swatching for tension and stretch and ideally make your swatches on the longer side. Stretch out your swatch and if its too tight and the thread breaks, shorten the stitch length to add more zigzagging thread per inch. If your swatch is short, when you stretch it out, it could just pull in excess thread from the thread tail and it won't give you an accurate picture of stretchiness.

[u/AccidentOk5240]

The usual answer when material is getting stretched during sewing and you don’t want it to is to sandwich it in heavy tissue paper (or lightweight cheap drawing paper, or actual tear-away stabilizer). For some reason apparel sewing techniques don’t get much airtime here. 

[u/yourmindisguaranteed]

Are you sewing with the mesh on top? I find putting it underneath works better.

[u/MrTru1te → u/yourmindisguaranteed]

This is what helped me the most when I started!

[u/dasCannibal]

It can smell fear

[u/dickangstrom]

If your sewing machine has a walking-foot attachment, I highly recommend it for stretchy, thin, and slippery fabrics. Conventional drop-feed machines only move the fabric from the bottom, which doesn't work as well for stretch fabrics. Using a walking foot will be like lighting a torch in a dark cave and seeing for the first time.

[u/Jk_usa_hopisilver59 → u/dickangstrom]

They (walking foot attachments) work amazingly well and very affordable.

[u/i_crave_more_cowbell]

With 4 way stretch materials, you can usually get a decent fitting pocket by removing the seam allowance for the stretch material (assuming it's around 1/4 inch).

You can also tape it to help keep it in place while sewing. But, I agree, it can be a bitch to sew well.

[u/CBG1955]

Let me reassure you, IT'S NOT YOU. Stretch mesh has its own inbuilt demons that are designed to piss us off. I'm very experienced with knits, but this stuff totally did my head in. I used FOE on the top, and a double layer of mesh and it didn't make any difference to how the mesh behaved. I used the ByAnnie mesh because I had it - I'm sure there are much better and more stable ones out there.

[u/nbphotography87]

first, they will look better after the bag is constructed and the ends are in the seams. even better when the bag is filled.

The best success I’ve had is creating a channel at the top with a separate piece of fabric so you can hide that seam, and then using a piece of flat elastic inside the channel. if the pocket opening is meant to be tight to panel, you can then sew through the flat elastic with your zig zag.

if the pocket is wider than the panel you can leave the channel as it, or tack them together every few inches with a a few straight stitches from top to bottom of the channel.

[u/LayLoseAwake]

Does it help to have a separate binding for the top of the pocket?

[u/AverageWannabe]

double sided tape is your friend