We sewists have many advantages over poor Ready-to-Wear buying ladies, and surely one of the mightiest is: the pocket!
Yep, pockets are scarce in women’s clothes in stores; I do not know why (a handbag industry conspiracy?!). But, you can add them into almost any garment when you sew.
So it was only natural to add one into my fave Turner Dress. Perfect for storing my phone while strolling around LACMA….
I love this geometric windowpane Turner Dress that I made with ponte from Fabric Godmother. It’s gorgeous and thick and cosy, though watch out: it’s also really melty, so you need to use a very cool iron. That may or may not be a melted bit under my right boob…
And now, dear ones, you can have a Turner Dress with pockets too.
To get the free Turner Dress pocket and tutorial on how to sew it click here: Cashmerette Turner Dress Pocket Download
This looks so comfy! I need a dress like this for those days I want something pretty but easy!
I totally understand about the pockets thing, though! I hate having my phone in a bag, it’s an expensive item that I don’t want to scratch or lose, pockets are my favourite things!
Looks great, Jenny! Do you have any issues with the weight of your phone dragging the dress down? I’m always leery of adding pockets to knits because of the potential distortion factor.
Yes I think you have to be aware of how structured your fabric is and how heavy things are. Personally I don’t pockets in things made out of thinner jersey, but in this case, the fabric is a pretty heavy ponte and it copes fine!
Great post. I think the reason for leaving off pockets in RTW is the same one for a lot of decisions reached in RTW, which is economic and has to do with “fast fashion” strategies – the dang things use up fabric. If they leave off the pockets (or make fabric thinner, or make sleeves super short or no sleeves at all, etc.), it’s not like the consumer is going to buy the same dress with pockets that some other shop is selling. After all, all RTW originates from the same sweatshops, and no other shops at the same price points are going to be selling RTW dresses made with pockets (or sleeves, etc…but wait, that’s what is called a trend, haha)
Just another reason to make your own clothes, as if we need another!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.mic.com/articles/amp/133948/the-weird-complicated-sexist-history-of-pockets (There are several articles on this topic from the past couple years, all fascinating.)
I have another theory why no pockets in RTW lately – I think it’s less that they take up fabric, more that the flimsy fabrics lots of fast fashion uses can’t support either the extra detail of a pocket without drooping in an unpleasant way OR the contents of a functional pocket.
Even more than the extra fabric, adding pockets is extra labor. Also if you have much of a waist to hip ratio, the pockets have to be very well designed to hang nicely. And echoing Jenny on thin jersey, the only time I have ever removed a rtw pocket was on a thin jersey wrap dress. It would have had to be falling off loose to keep those packets from gaping.
Super excited as I just got some new fabric today to make another Turner for an event next week. Hope it’s heavy enough to support pockets!