Tutorial: How to Sew a Flat-Felled Seam with an In-seam Pocket

This is a nice style option on trousers or skirts, or even a sleeker denim jacket. It's based on the previous tutorial on How to Sew Felled Seams. This tutorial assumes your sewing pattern has 15 mm (5/8") seam allowances.

1.  Trim off 5 mm of the pocket facing at the bottom, and sew the pocket facing to the RS of what will be the pocket bag.

2. Sew the bottom of the pocket bag in a French seam, first 3 mm seam allowance and then 7 mm seam allowance so that you sew a 1 cm seam allowance altogether. Sew only up until 2 cm from the raw edge at the side seam. You need to have the seam allowances free for the next step.

3. Sew the pocket bag to the front of the trouser, using a 2 cm seam allowance and understitch. Snip into the trouser seam allowance at the bottom of the pocket, up to the stitching line.

4. Top-stitch the front of the pocket, sewing only through the front trouser and front pocket bag. My seam allowance looks uneven in the photo but it should be 2 cm all the way down.

TIP: stitch the pocket in place along the waistline in the seam allowance so that it lays flat and doesn't get in the way.

5. Sew the back trouser to the front trouser, off-setting by 1 cm and sewing 2 cm from the farthest raw edge. Make sure you don't catch the opening of the pocket in your stitching. You can feel whether it is in the line of the needle with your nails through the top layer of fabric.

6. Wrap the larger seam allowance round the smaller one and stitch down. This is where you can use your felled seam foot if you have one. If you are doing so and using a thicker fabric, it may be necessary to trim the smaller seam allowance slightly to fit it into the foot.

7. Bartack the bottom of the pocket and you're done!