Making the Itty Bitty Baby Dress reversible

A little while back, I posted pictures of several gifts I sewed for a friend's baby shower. One of the items was my version of the Itty Bitty Baby Dress from Made by Rae.

I strayed a bit from the original pattern to make the dress reversible, and I had some comments asking how I'd done it, so I'm going to try to tell you. BIG DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, I didn't make notes at the time, and I no longer have the dress with me to refer back to, but I'll do the best I can.

First, here's what I did the first time. Originally, I thought the dress was reversible (because the bodice is lined, so I assumed the whole thing was), so I cut my fabric and followed the directions as written until I got to step 9 (see the original pattern here), when you're supposed to attach the skirt. It was at this point that I realized my skirt clearly wasn't long enough to double up and therefore wasn't going to be lined. My solution was to cut a second piece of the lining fabric in the same measurements as my outer skirt. Next, I gathered it in the same way. Then, I followed step 9 (attaching the skirt to the bodice) twice, once attaching the outer bodice to the outer skirt, and then attaching the inner bodice to the inner skirt. This got a little awkward because the bodice pieces had already been sewn together on the sides, but I made it work.


The only other modification I made was in step 10 (attaching the bias tape to the bottom edge of the skirt). First, I pinned the two skirts together along the bottom and then secured them using a basting stitch. Then, I sewed the bias tape over both skirts to hide the stitch and create a clean hem. The basting stitch isn't necessary, but I think it made adding the bias tape easier and ensured the skirts stayed aligned.

Now, here's what I'd do if I was making the dress again. Basically, all you really need to do is make two dresses, an inner and an outer dress, and then sew the bodices together along the curved edge. Make the following modifications to the original tutorial:


1. Cut all of the fabrics the same way except in step 3, where you should cut four rectangles (instead of two): two in the lining fabric and two in the outer fabric.
2. Steps 4 and 5 should be done to both skirts.
3. Skip step 6 for now.
4. Do step 7 to the inner and outer bodices (sew the front and back inner bodice together along the sides (not the curves) and then sew the front and back outer bodice together along the sides).
5. Complete steps 8 and 9 on the inner and outer dresses.
6. New step: Slip the outer dress inside the inner dress, right sides facing. Then, sew along the curves of the bodices using a 1/4" seam allowance to attach the dresses to one another. Clip the seams at the curves, turn the dress inside out from the bottom, and press.
7. Pin and baste the bottom edges of the skirts together and then sew on the bias tape as discussed above.


How's that? Clear as mud? :) I'm sorry I don't have better instructions or pictures to go with them, and it seems everyone else I know is having boys, so I don't have a reason to re-make the dress right now. I do hope this helps, and if you try it out, let me know if it works okay or if you find a better way. Good luck!