In this paper, we revisit the application of generating trees to the pattern avoidance problem for permutations. In particular, we study this problem for certain general sets of patterns and propose a new procedure leveraging the FinLabel algorithm and exploiting the subregularities in the associated generating trees. We consider some general kinds of generating trees for which the FinLabel algorithm fails to determine in a finite number of iterations the generating function that enumerates the underlying class of permutations. Our procedure provides a unified approach in these cases leading to a system of equations satisfied by a certain finite set of generating functions which can be readily solved with the aid of programming.