How To Sew A Pocket On Any Dress or Skirt

Let me teach you how to sew pockets on any dress or skirt. Every one loves a good pocket. I even had pockets on my wedding dress. Of course, when sewing most garments I ask myself where can the pockets go? Here is a quick tutorial on how to add pockets to any dress or skirt. Anything with a side seam will receive this pattern well. This especially great if you found a dress while thrifting that doesn’t have pockets yet! The best part is, this is perfect for a beginner sewing project. First you’ll need the pocket bag download and then we can get started.

Materials

Pocket Bag Download

Skirt or Dress

Seam ripper

Sewing machine

Serger, pinking shears, or zig zag stitch on a sewing machine

Iron

How To Sew A Pocket On Any Dress or Skirt

First, measure where you want your pocket to land. I like to hold my arm at a relaxed diagonal and rest it below my hip. Measure from the top of your shoulder to where this begins and take note of the measurement.

If your garment is already finished and you are going back to add pockets, seam rip a 6.5 inch opening.

Pin your pockets to your original measurement. Make sure the right sides are facing. It will look like you’re sewing the pocket to the outside right now.

Sew these pockets in place on the front and back on both sides of the garment.

Turn the dress wrong side out and match up the pocket and pin in place.

Sew from the side seam down around the pocket and finish on the side seam.

Don’t forget to backstitch and follow up with a serger finish, pinking shears or a zig zag stitch.

Flip your pocket to the inside and press the seam with an iron.

That’s it! This is also available in our Betty dress pattern. If you’d like to see the video tutorial, you can follow along here.