The Ultimate Guide to Sewing Inseam Pockets for Beginners.

If you have already mastered the basics of sewing, you should take your skills to the next level by learning how to sew inseam pockets.

This sewing technique is a must for anyone who loves pockets in garments (which is every single girl!).

Inseam pockets are an amazing way to add pockets to any garment without disturbing its overall design it.

They are incredibly easy to add to any skirt, pants, or shorts pattern you have. In fact, you can even add them to finish garments if you choose to.

Do you want to know how to do it? Keep reading!

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Inseam pockets are some of my favorite pockets for skirts. 

I always sew them on my midi skirts because I tend to have a lot of texture or designs on my skirts. A good example is my half-circle skirt with mesh tulle and pearls.

The goal of these types of pockets is to simulate as they are not there. As they are part of the seam itself.

They are ideal to add handy storage to your beloved garments. 

The best thing is that you can sew them in any type of pattern you already have. 

Why self-draft an inseam pocket?

In fact, the technique of drafting an inseam pocket is the same technique I have shown you in several tutorials on this blog. Remember the tutorial on how to make a paper bag skirt with pockets?

It is because it is so simple that you don’t even need to print a specific pattern.

You can just do it way faster by hand.

You don’t need to have any complicated measurements or modify the pattern.

But let’s start with the basics.

What is an Inseam Pocket?

Inseam pockets are a type of pocket that provides a discreet and streamlined appearance, as they do not disrupt the exterior design of the garment.

They are a type of pocket commonly found in garments, especially pants, skirts, and dresses. Unlike visible patch pockets or welt pockets, these pockets are hidden within the seam of the garment.

The best part about these pockets is that they’re sewn within the seam of the garment, which means they don’t modify the overall design. So, you can carry your essentials without sacrificing the appearance of your outfit.

Drafting the Pattern

I am going to teach you a lazy way to make inseam pockets that will exactly fit your needs without ANY sort of complicated instructions or overwhelming math.

By following these instructions, you can create your own pattern and use it to make pockets for all your current patterns.

In my very personal opinion, drafting the pattern this way is way faster than searching, downloading, and printing a pattern. But just in case I am wrong, let me know in the comments if you would like me to make you an inseam pocket pattern PDF. 

Here is what you will do.

First of all, take the biggest item that you will possibly be carrying in your pockets. For me, that is my phone. 

Remember that these types of pockets should look polished when worn. Only put small items on them to avoid creating bulk on your garment’s silhouette. 

Place the phone slightly titled and then place your hand as if you were putting it inside the pocket to grab your phone. Open your fingers in a natural way (without forcing them open) and make two marks over and under your hand. 

Then, without removing the phone, draw the pocket piece around the phone as if you were making a drop of water shape. 

Make sure there is enough space around the phone.

You can leave it as it is and only add the seam allowance. But if you have a kit of sewing pattern-making rulers, then let’s refine this pocket shape.

Position your French ruler like I am doing in the picture here to refine the shape of your pocket.

After that, just add the desired seam allowance. I like to leave add 1/2″. 

That’s it. Now you have the pattern, let’s sew it into our garment.

How to sew an inseam pocket?

All righty, now let’s get sewing. 

To sew two pockets, you will need to cut two pieces of this pattern and mirror them two times. This will result in two pairs of mirrored pocket pieces.

1. Mark the position of the pocket on the garment.

You can place the pocket at any height of the side seam of the garment you feel comfortable at. 

If you are working with a high-waisted pattern, I recommend positioning the pocket about 3″ below the waistline. 

If you have a low waist pattern, the ideal thing is to place the pattern piece on your body and do a hand gesture as if you were putting your hand inside an imaginary pocket to see at what height you want to position it.

The main thing is that it feels comfortable for you to reach.

2. Prepare the pocket pieces.

To prepare the pocket pieces, serge the edges of each pocket and then press it well.

In this tutorial, we are going to simulate adding pockets to a garment that has open seam allowances that we can leave open or press all to one side.

3. Sew the pockets.

Start by positioning the pocket at the mark you chose in step one on the side seam of the garment. 

Place the pocket over the fabric with the right sides together. Then, sew the pocket with the same seam allowance your pattern indicates. 

For example, if your pattern instructions indicate sewing the side seams at 1/2″, then you should sew the pocket at 1/2″. 

Repeat on both sides.

4. Make an understitch.

To make our pocket look extra sharp, we need to make a topstitch at the edge of the pocket fold holding the seam allowances together.

If you don’t know what an understitch is or how it works, I have a tutorial on topstitching that can be really helpful to you. 

It is basically the same technique used for different purposes. So, the tips on how to sew it will help you with this seam.

5. Finish sewing the side seam.

Align and pin the pockets and side seams with the right sides together, then sew at the indicated seam allowance. 

Again, if your pattern instructions say to sew the side seams at 1/2″, then you should sew these seams at 1/2″.

See how I follow the edges of the side seams up until I get to the pocket. Then, I sew the edges of the pocket until I return to the side seams.

Don’t sew a straight line!! Otherwise, you will end up closing the pocket opening!

6. Press seams.

To get the perfect invisible inseam pocket look, press the seam allowances on the front of the garment. 

But, just in the rare case your pattern calls for open seams, you can still achieve that by making a snip cut at the garment’s (not the pocket’s) seam allowance, just below the pocket. 

That way, you can open your seams and press them like that.

This is particularly helpful if you are dealing with heavyweight fabrics such as denim or scuba fabrics like mine here.

And that was it, my friend! I hope this tutorial was useful for you and that you can get crazy and add in seam pockets to all your garments now!! 

Let me know if you have any questions about how to sew side seam pockets on your garments or if you liked this sewing tutorial in the comments below. 

And as always, Happy Sewing!