THE BEST Afterthought Side Seam Pocket Tutorial
Pockets are in!
Pockets are in!
After wearing my #OLOlivePants a couple of weeks I finally took them off long enough to put in afterthought pockets!
What is an Afterthought Pocket?
An afterthought pocket is a pocket that gets added after the garment is complete and you have been wearing it a while.
Why would you make pants without a pocket?
Good question! When you are learning to fit pants and want to focus on the basics it is easier to eliminate side seam pockets. Slant pockets in particular can be tricky. Or if you are making a style for the first time and you are not sure if you will enjoy wearing it, you may want to eliminate the pockets. Or maybe you skip pockets because you are short on time. Life is full of compromises but there is no reason for regret with this afterthought pocket tutorial.
Afterthought Side Seam Pocket Tutorial
This is simply the best side seam pocket installation tutorial. It is a super useful and can be adapted for any garment, not just pants. Practically foolproof, you can sew it late at night and sloppily and it still will give great results.
This tutorial has several advantages:
1) No seam clipping.
2) Easy to install.
3) Straightforward to include after fitting and final determination of side seam shape.
4) You get to choose the pocket opening location.
What’s the catch?
The seam allowances of the seam where the pocket is installed need to be open. If the seam allowances are overlocked together (quite common in construction and RTW) then this tutorial will not work.
The basic tutorial results in a pocket is inherently floppy. This is fine for most purposes and can be adapted for additional structure when necessary (see ideas below).
Read on for detailed tutorial together with a provided pattern.
Although other pocket pattens can be installed with this procedure, the provided pattern has been fully tested for function, engineered to accommodate hands and a phone, and with sufficiently gentle curves to allow for easy overlocking.