How to sew a Welt Pocket – Single & Double welt pocket tutorials

Welt pocket as you know is a beautiful slit pocket you usually see in coats and jackets, with a bound pocket opening. It has a pocket bag in the wrong side of the garment and can be sewn with or without a flap

Welt Pockets come in all sizes. They are  positioned straight or inclined. You can add  a zipper fastening as well. The elegant look they give a garment is something else. They are equally beautiful and functional. What more do you want from pockets?

Making a Welt pockets look way more difficult than they actually are. You can make these pockets very easily.  The method to make single and double are basically the same

Checkout the post on the 15 different types of pockets you could sew on your clothes here and the tutorial to make a vest pattern to see the welt pocket in which lining makes the pocket bag. 

What do you need to make the welt pocket

Welt piece – One piece of fabric 8 ” wide, two inches longer than the finished pocket length (typical pocket lengths are 7″ for a man’s jacket, 6″ for a woman’s jacket, 5″ for pants) and 10 inch long
Lining for the pocket –  width = 8″ & length is equal to length of the welt piece -1″ 

Interfacing strip – cut a square of interfacing 2″ longer that your pocket length ( 8″ here), and 2″ wide. This is to be attached to the wrong side of the fabric  for added strength. This is optional but recommended as pockets apply pressure on the fabric and the fabric need the strength of interfacing to withstand this.

How to sew the welt pocket

Here I am making a pocket of length  6” 

Step 1

Decide the placement of pocket. Mark the position of the pocket on the right side of the fabric. ( Pocket line)  

Interface the back of the pocket marking – I cut 2″ wide interfacing strip which is 8″ long. Fused it to the back of the pocket line.

Fuse the interfacing to the back of the fabric directly behind the pocket line.

Step 2

Mark the pocket shape on the welt fabric strip, wrong side.

Mark the pocket opening as a box on the welt rectangle piece as in the picture . I usually take a 1/2 inch wide opening but for narrow welts you have to bring the lines closer together. Start the “V” about 1/4 away from the end of the pocket line.

Mark a center line between the box with 2 diagonal lines to the corners on both sides as in the picture.
Finish the edges of this piece with a zig zag stitch or an overlocker.

Step 3

Keep the welt fabric strip up along the length of the pocket line, aligning the pocket line correctly ( wrong side of the welt piece up). Pin this piece to the right side of the fabric along the box you have sewn. 

Step 4

Sew along the two parallel horizontal lines of the welt pocket with a very tight stitch (Stitch length 2-3). You have to be very precise and exact when sewing this and want to start and end exactly where you have marked the lines. Do not sew the vertical smaller lines.

Step 5

Slash the pocket open.

Cut through the middle and make diagonal snips as drawn. Your thread snips could be used for this. It should be very sharp. You should cut just close enough to the stitching at the corners for you to get this perfectly turned.

Step 6

Push  welt fabric strip to the back side ( inside of the garment) through the hole you have cut

This is a look from the wrong side after the welt rectangle is inserted inside. You will be folding and manipulating the top and bottom parts of this to form the welt lips of your pockets. From the front the fabric will lokk like below picture.

Step 7

Start Pressing.
Start pressing the seams. 
Turn the bottom of the welt rectangle and Press the seam allowances open.

Press the top of the welt
Press the bottom of the welt
Press the sides and top of the welt flat.
Press from the right side of garment the TOP and SIDES of the welt and manipulate it to look perfect.(Do not press the BOTTOM)

Step 8

Fold the welt fabric strip over the seam allowance to form the welt. Pin in place.
For a single welt pocket you fold up only the bottom lip. For double welt you fold the upper and lower lip.

The single fold should just touch the top of the welt window. This IS the binding, piping  or the welt for your pocket opening.

How to sew a Double Welt Pocket

The directions for sewing a double welt pocket is the same as that of the single welt pocket. The only difference being that the fold for the welts will be taken from the top and bottom of the welt rectangle. In the single welt pocket the fold is taken from the bottom of the welt rectangle. Hence the welt opening should be drawn exactly in the middle of the welt rectangle

In this case each welt will be having exactly half the width of the welt opening. ie if you have a 1/2 inch welt opening the welts will be 1/4 inch each.

Step 9

Stitch the welt in place . For this you will have to uncover the triangle cut earlier on the sides from the middle cut and stitch it together with the welt  fold. Do it for both sides of the pocket.

If you want to add a zipper, baste the zipper behind the welts at this point. Be sure that the zipper pull is in the open space between the welts; otherwise you will sew your zipper closed in the next step.

Do this for both the sides

Step 10

You may need to “Stitch in the ditch” around the whole pocket opening. Position the stitching so it is in the seam where the welts attach. This will make the stitching next to invisible. Be sure to pull the fabric taught as you stitch.

Step 11

Pin the other lining pocket piece to the back of the pocket.

Stitch all around catching the seam allowance of the pocket ( not the front of the garment) about 1/2 inch from the edge of the pocket pieces. Put the ends of your pocket pieces together and stitch with a 1/2″ seam allowance.

Zig-zag stitch the edges to keep them from fraying. The seam may not be at the exact bottom of the pocket – you can trim the ends of the pocket pieces so they line up, so you can press the pocket so the seam is on the side.

If you want to do a buttonhole, now is the time to sew it in. Stitch in buttonhole through the fabric and pocket lining below the pocket opening.

You may want to use a square of interfacing between the fabric and pocket lining to reinforce the area, if necessary.

Step 14

Press the pocket out, making a nice crease at the bottom of the pocket. Pin the pocket sides together.

Step 15

Starting at the top, stitch as close as you can to the pocket opening, being sure to stitch through the welt ends.