December 12, 2016

Polka dot overlay Turner Dress: fancy AND comfortable!


You know how sometimes you try on a garment, and you think oh this is just so me?

THIS IS SO ME! (And if it’s so you, too, you can buy your own kit to make the dress here!)

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I’ve been a fan of dresses with sheer overlays for ages, but never quite managed to make one for myself. Partly because they’re typically woven – and I typically don’t wear many woven dresses. Love the idea, don’t like the sitting-down-in-them bit. However, I recently realised that the stretch polka dot mesh I bought last year would make an amazing overlay Turner Dress… and so it did!

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The Turner Dress really lends itself to having an overlay: the bodice is lined, so simply use the black jersey for the inner bodice and mesh for the outer bodice. Then, I cut the sleeves from the mesh, and for the skirt, simply cut one skirt in black jersey, one in mesh, basted them together at the waist, and then constructed as usual.

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I tried a couple of different hemming approaches – in the end, I machine zig-zagged the skirt hem, and hand-sewed the sleeve hems. Next time, I’ll use some rip-away tissue paper on the sleeve and machine-sew them, I think.

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What I love most about this dress is it looks really fancy… but it’s incredibly comfortable! I’ve decided it’s my Christmas Day dress – it’ll look great, but plenty of stretchy room for turkey seconds.

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If you want to make your own polka dot Turner Dress, I put together some kits so you can do just that! Check them out here – you can get one with or without the pattern.

What are your holiday sewing plans? Stay tuned over the next two weeks for some more Cashmerette Holiday versions!

14 thoughts on “Polka dot overlay Turner Dress: fancy AND comfortable!

  1. Laura Casey says:

    Oh my Gawd….this dress is WONDERFUL…love it on you!

  2. mrsmike97 says:

    This is beautiful on you!!

  3. Brenna says:

    So pretty! I’m curious, are the side seams treated separately or sewn together as one piece? This always stumps me when making an overlay.

    1. In this Turner Dress, they’re treated as one piece in the bodice, and separate in the skirt.

  4. erniek3 says:

    Damn girl. That is beautiful on you. I do not have that design bug, but this makes a powerful argument for an overlay. And polka dots.

    Which brings us to a family issue: I have trained the men to say “That XXXX is/looks great on you” NOT “you look beautiful in that XXXX”. Which gets my son to say: “That looks great on you. On the floor, not so much.”

    These kids today!

  5. I.N. L.O.V.E.!! Absolutely gorgeous

  6. Lyndle says:

    Love, love. If I’d seen this earlier I would have copied it shamelessly. You look fab and the dress is awesome.

  7. Julia McCabe says:

    This dress is so great! I can’t see well in the pictures, but when you treat the black as the lining and the sheer as the overlay, is the joining seam in between at the neckline visible through the mesh, or is there something else you did to camouflage that?

    1. You can’t see the black mesh against the black lining, so it’s not an issue.

  8. Brenda & Bob King says:

    The dress is gorgeous and looks wonderful on you. LOVE your fabric selection! I feel you look much nicer w/o a contrasting belt! Much more sophisticated! : )

  9. Diane says:

    Wow! Absolutely gorgeous! I usually have a love-hate relationship with overlays… liking the idea, seldom liking the sheer overlay because… well it’s often lace and I am picky about lace. But this polka dot! It’s whimsy, yet on the black Turner, it looks modern and sophisticated. Stunning.

  10. Greta Johnson says:

    My goodness. That is absolutely stunning! You look gorgeous!!

Let me know what you think!