A little pocket tutorial

 I've used this side seam pocket on a lot of my clothes in the past and everytime I do I have to rethink how I did it before. Well, this post will be my reference in the future.

Step 1. Cut the curve for the pocket about 7 inches below the armscye. This time I made a little template to keep the shape the same on both sides.

Step 2. I used a pocket pattern from some previous pattern and it works for everything so I keep it pinned to my design wall. It's about 9-10 inches long on the straight side and about 6" wide on the curve. Cut two, one for each side, and serge the curved edge.

 Step 3. Make some bias strips, 1 3/4 inches wide. I  used cotton duck for this dress and since it is a bit heavier I thought I would 'face' the pocket with the bias as a single layer instead of doubled as the white bias is above. (That bias is for the neckline and armholes)

 Step 4. Sew the bias on the front side of the pocket opening, using a 1/4" seam. 

 Step 5. Fold over the seam allowance, press and stitch from the wrong side about 1/2 inch from the edge.

This is how it looks on the front. Trim the excess even with the side edge of the dress.

 Step 6. Place the single layer pocket over the curved pocket opening. lining it up with the side seams. Pin in place and stitch from the wrong side around the curved edge. 

 Voila! it is done. The raw edge of the pocket will be the serged into the side seam.  

Here is the finished side seam, with the scissors inserted to show the finished pocket. I prefer this style of pocket, because it lies flat, no protruding bulge, is fast to do and easy, if you can remember how to do it. With lighter weight fabrics I would double the binding and sew it to the wrong side of the fabric, fold it over and topstitch it from the front . 

Here's the pattern I kinda used. I eliminated the sleeves, added a bust dart at the arm opening, lowered the neckline, lengthened it quite a bit, added side seam pockets and devised the underbust seam because I was using two leftover fabrics. In the final dress,/jumper/pinafore, I added a casing in the back for narrow elastic. 

 

Two more examples of the side seam pockets. On the left is another iteration of the same devised pattern, only this one has a pleat down the front and back. 

And the pants...can't find the original pattern, but of course it got adjusted a zillion times, so nevermind.