btw this fabric here is fulfilling a long held dream of mine…. a Marimekko dress!! print is Pieni Unikko 2, 100% cotton, available here… yes, you can get Marimekko fabric in Australia! More details on the dress in a future post to come… 
Also, sorry for the unwieldy title but it’s the most accurate way of describing this technique, I reckon…
Anyway, recently I was putting in some inseam side pockets but I wanted to have a contrasting coloured strip set into the seam and carrying on seamlessly to incorporate a neatly bound edge to the pocket opening also… how to do it? well here is my method…
This is illustrated for a dress but works equally well in a skirt, trousers or shorts as well, obviously. 
You have your dress (or skirt/trouser/shorts) front and back, the under pocket piece cut from the fashion fabric and a pocket liner piece cut from either lining fabric or the fashion fabric, and 1 1/2″ (4cm) bias cut fabric in a contrasting colour for the inset strip/pocket edging. btw the measurements given here are for a garment cut with 1/2″ (1.2cm) seam allowances and will resulting in a 1/4″(6mm) wide contrasting strip, but the measurements can be varied accordingly for different dimensions as desired.
Stitch the bias strip to the skirt front, using a 6/8″ (2cm) seam allowance. Press the strip to the side edge.
From the underside, make two 1/2″ (1.3cm) snips (seam allowance width) through all layers at the top and bottom opening edge of the pocket. Take care to not snip all the way to the previous stitching, but ONLY the width of the seam allowance.
Stitch the lining pocket piece to the bias strip in a narrow 1/4″(6mm) seam allowance.
Press the pocket lining out, then turn it under the front piece and press, forming the 1/4″ (6mm) wide bound edge of the pocket.
Use a matching thread and stitch in the ditch along the joining seam from the right side through all layers, securing the pocket lining to the front.
Underneath, pin the pocket piece to the pocket lining piece around all inner edges, stitch, Finish the edge as desired… I chose to finish the edges in a HongKong seam using the same yellow voile.
from the right side (with some irrelevant (white) basting along the side edge… not really necessary for this method)
Pin the back piece to the front piece at the side seams, marking the pocket opening points exactly with a pin. Have the front piece uppermost, so you can use the previous, bias attachment seam as a guide while stitching; this is so you can ensure your contrasting bias strip comes out as a nice perfectly even width all the way down the side seam. Stitch side seams in a 1/2″ (1.3mm) seam, passing exactly through those pin-marked points. Reinforce the pocket opening edges with a few backward and forward passes with the machine at these points. Take great care to keep the pocket opening edge free between the two layers.
And done! When you turn it out, you will have a nice side-edge strip, which seamlessly goes on to edge your side inseam pocket. Nice, yes?
As always, if you find this a useful and/or helpful tutorial, please do leave a comment saying so…
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