​Mini Tutorial: Sewing A Slit Slash Pocket

1. Cut two identical pocket bag pieces such taht they are at least 1" wider than the pocket opening. The pocket pieces can be as long as desired considering the final pocket depth plus an extra 1" to cover the pocket opening. Fuse a piece of interfacing to the wrong side of the garment at the desired pocket opening. The interfacing will provide stability and strength in the finished slash pocket application. 

It is up to what fabric you would like to use for the pocket bag as long as one of them is structured enough to clean finish the pocket opening edges. Conventionally, one of the pocket pieces is cut from the same fabric as the garment and the other from a thinner fabric (like lining). 

2. On the garment face side, mark the slip pocket opening with a hand basting stitch. Place the more structured fabric pocket layer on top of the marked pocket opening such that fabric afce sides are touching. The pocket layer should be centered at each pocket sides and its top edge should be about 1" away form the top pocket opening line. 

3. Hand baste the pocket layer at the garment layer at the top and bottom to keep it secured during the machine stitching process. 

4. From the garment's wrong side, machine stitch the pocket opening following the marked hand basting as a guide. 

5. Apply another layer of stitching at each pocket corner, placing it directly on the existing stitch at about 1" away from the corner on each side (as shown above). 

6. Remove the hand basting applied in Step 3 above. 

7. Cut lengthwise down the center of the pocket opening into each of the corners as shown. Cut as close as you can to the stitching at each corner but be careful not to accidentally clip through the stitch. 

8. Turn the pocket layer to the garment's wrong side and iron the resulting clean finished edges flat. There should be no tension at the slit pocket's corner. If there is too much tension at the corners it means you did not cut close enough into each corner- flip the layers back on their wrong side and cut into the corner more again, being careful not to accidentally cut the stitching. 

9. Understitch the top and bottom pocket opening by stitching through the pocket layer and seam allowance layers underneath at about 1/8" from the seamlines as shown above. 

10. From the garment's wrong side, place the second pocket layer on top of the one already stitched such that all edges align and insert pins perpendicularly to secure 

11. Machine stitch along all edges to complete the pocket bag. 

12. The contrast pocket piece used to complete the pocket bag will be visible in the finished application. For that reason, chose a fabric taht will work best with your garment's fabric or design. If unsure, you can use the same fabric as the garment to complete the entire pocket bag.