DIY Swing Turtleneck Dress

Some links may be affiliate links. Purchases made through these links will help support the blog at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your amazing support and please see my disclosure policy for more information.

My 3rd and final Jolene Dress for this little series on this fabulous pattern is my take on this dress I found originally on Pinterest. You can find my other two dresses, 1 and 2 by clicking the links. I wanted to create a swingy, turtleneck dress and with my $5 fabric in hand, I figured I didn’t have much to lose if it went horribly wrong. Overall, I am happy with the outcome. This modification was simple to make. Below I will tell you the quick steps I took to make this DIY Swing Turtleneck Dress.

DIY Swing Turtleneck Dress Supplies:

Pattern from Seamingly Smitten: Jolene Turtleneck Top and Dress
Scissors- my favorite pair
Tracing Paper- I use this inexpensive Amazon find
Ruler
Tape
Knit Fabric (I used an inexpensive $5 Walmart 2 yd. Bundle that I found in a local store)
Sewing Machine

DIY Swing Turtleneck Dress Steps:

Take the Jolene Dress Pattern and trace it on to the medical paper if you don’t want to alter the orginal piece. As you can see, I did not do that here but it is an option to keep your original pattern in tact. Draw two vertical lines from the hem of the dress (about 3 inches apart from each other) to about the underbust or high waist area.
Cut your pattern apart on the lines you drew.
Spread your pattern apart to add swing. You can increase or decrease the swing by how much you spread the pattern apart. Remember there is already some flare to this pattern so I only spread it apart as you see in this pic. (about 3 inches in between each section at the hem).

Then cut out your new dress pieces and sew following the pattern. For the hem, I simply trimmed mine even and left the hem raw. The dress will need to be evened out at the hemline with adding the swing to the already flared pattern. I knew I would need to do this, but forgot I was working with minimal fabric and had already lost some length when cutting out my pieces. Because my dress was so short I left the edges raw. If you have more fabric to work with or love mini dresses, simply turn the hem under and finish as preferred.

Please note that some of these links include affiliate links. When you purchase through the links, a small portion of the sale goes back to me with no additional cost to you. This helps support my pattern and fabric buying and bringing content to the blog. Thank you for considering purchasing through my links. Please see my disclosure statement for more info.

Until next time, Happy Sewing