Rob,
Your wife is most likely right about the pockets.
Unless you have darts in the side or a pleat down the centre or some other way of putting excess cloth into one side of the pocket you won't be able to put much in it.

BTW:- What fabric are you using?

Regards,
Phill

I know that the voices in my head aint real,
but they have some pretty good ideas.
There is no such thing as a quick fix and I've never had free lunch!