Tidy overlocking on bag pocket

Who else loves tidy inside seams on their garments?

I love to tidy up my inside seams with an overlocker and usually the ends are encased in other seams, keeping them tidy. When you have a bag pocket however, there is the seam at the end of the pocket (towards the crotch of the pants) that is left either unfinished. I always use this method on the shorts and pants I make my children, as well as skirts for myself.

There are many options to finish the ends of overlocking and most I find time consuming, like threading the ends into a needle and then passing them back through the seam.

The method I love most is the flip method. I first learned the flip method from knit patterns by designer Boo! Designs. There are many other designers who also use this method on their knit patterns such as Pattern Emporium and Tadah.

While this method is from knit patterns, I’ve applied it to both knit and woven pocket bags. In case you haven’t seen this method before, here is a quick tutorial.

The first step, after folding the pocket and stitching the seam allowance with the sewing machine (when using woven), is to place the pocket with the fold facing you and place the seam about 1-2 inches from the folded end. Lower the foot.

woven, knit, flip method, overlocker, finishing seams, pocket bags — Step 1

Stitch to the end of the pocket bag (the fold) and stop, making sure the needles are up. Lift the presser foot and carefully ‘flip’ the pocket over so that the folded edge is now furthest away from you.

You will be stitching back over where you already stitched. I try to be careful at this stage, not to accidently cut the original stitches with the knife, I do leave the tailings out the side so that they can be trimmed.

Continue right to the end of the pocket seam now. This end will be ‘caught’ in the side seam of the pants or skirt, so no need to do anything with it at this stage.