Hi all!  I just recently made Simplicity’s 1360 dress using their pattern, and after trying it on to see how it fit, I realized that the dress would be way better with some inseam pockets.  And I figured why not share it with you?

The skinny:

This inseam pockets tutorial is a very simple fix to upgrade the comfort level of your dress.  This can easily be applied to skirts as well.

Materials:

• ¼ yard of fabric (one that matches your dress/skirt)
• matching thread
• seam ripper
• ¼ yard of fusible knit interfacing (optional) – my dress is made of a light knit fabric and so is my pocket material, so I will be using interfacing to help the pockets keep their shape and be able to hold heavier objects.

Now onto my Inseam Pockets Tutorial

Instructions:

1.  To make your pocket pattern, trace out around your hand onto a piece of paper, matching up the straight edge with your wrist and orienting your hand at the angle you want your pocket to be.

2.  Once you have your pattern, try on your dress/skirt inside out to determine where the top of the pocket will begin.  Mark this with a pin.  Place your pattern onto your dress, lining up the top of the pocket with the pin.  Mark the bottom of the pocket pattern with a second pin.  Using a seam ripper, remove the seam between the two pins.  You might want to try the dress on at this point, just to make sure that the pocket openings are in a good spot.

3.  Trace/pin this pattern onto your pocket fabric, and cut out (4) of these; two in one direction and two in the opposite direction so they can pair up.

If you are not using an interfacing, skip to step #6.

4.  (Optional)  If using interfacing, also trace/pin this pattern onto your interfacing fabric.  Cut out (4) of these; two in one direction and two in the opposite direction so they can pair up.

5. (Optional) If using interface, you now want to fuse the interfacing to your pockets.  For this you will need an iron, ironing board, and a damp cloth.

Place your interfacing onto the pocket fabric, rough side down.  Make sure that the interfacing is slightly smaller than your pockets so that the interfacing doesn’t adhere to the ironing board below while pressing.  Once you have them positioned, cover them over with a damp cloth (I used a hand towel).  Iron over the damp cloth until the interfacing is adhered, about 10 seconds or so over each spot.  Do this for both sets of pockets.  This will adhere the interfacing to your pocket fabric.

6.  Right sides together, pin and sew the pocket pieces to the opened seams.  Make sure that the pockets are pointing downwards.  You want your seam allowance to be the same or less than the seam allowance on the sides of the dress/skirt.

7.  Right sides together, pin your pockets together.  Sew from above where you opened the seam, around the pockets, to down below where you opened the seam, making sure that you’re sealing the seam back up.  Do this for both sides.

Turn the dress inside out, put it on, and voila! You now have pockets in a once pocketless dress.  I hope you enjoyed my inseam pockets tutorial 🙂