Add Pockets To Any Skirt Or Dress Without Ruining The Look

It’s criminal that so many women’s clothes don’t come with pockets, even in skirts or dresses where they’d be easy to hide. Take matters into your own hands: This video shows you how to add pockets to a skirt or dress you already own.

First, your skirt or dress must have a side seam that the pockets can be sewn into, so if yours has smooth sides, it won’t work for this project. You’ll also need a sewing machine, paper (for the pattern), chalk, a seam ripper, and extra fabric for the pockets. You can reuse scrap fabric, like an old shirt or pillowcase.

The video above walks you through the whole process, but if you can’t watch, here’s what you need to do.

1. Trace your hand, with fingers together, on a piece of paper. Leave about a 2.5cm gap around your hand. Cut out the outline. This will be your pocket pattern.
2. Fold your pocket fabric in half, then cut out the pockets using your pattern. You should end up with four pieces of fabric.
3. Turn your dress or skirt inside out and use the chalk to mark where the top of your pockets to be. Place your fabric along the seam and mark where your pocket should end. Rip the seam starting 2.5cm above and below your marks.
4. Pin each piece of pocket fabric to a seam side (see 02:10 in the video above for a demonstration). Essentially, you’re pinning each side of the pocket to the seam you just ripped to create the top of the pocket.
5. Sew the 2.5cm seam gap closed at the top of your pocket, the edges of the pocket together, and the 2.5cm seam gap at the bottom of your pocket.
6. Repeat for the other pocket.

This technique also works for pants that don’t have pockets, but keep in mind how they might look on tighter fitting clothes, where items in them might make for some unsightly bulges. If you decide you don’t like how the pockets look, you can always remove them and sew the seams up again.

How to Add Pockets to Anything [Annika Victoria (YouTube)]