Reversible Dolls Dress Tutorial

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When I first decided to make dresses for Rascal's dolls, I was a bit intimidated by the idea of sewing such small fiddly seams. I put my thinking cap on and came up with the idea of making reversible dresses, (which have the added bonus that you get two dresses for the price of one).

These are really easy to make, I hope you have fun making them and that your child gets as many hours of joy out of them as Rascal has from hers.

The doll that this dress was designed for is  roughly 13 inches tall. That said, She is generous and shares her dresses with her friends.

A couple of notes before we start:
I have included a 1/4 inch seam allowance in the pattern
For the purpose of this tutorial, I have assigned the pink elephant fabric as the outer and the aqua butterfly fabric as the inner.

You will need:
to download the pattern here
two largish scraps of fabric
poppers or velcro
Optional extra if you are using poppers is a few small strips of light weight interfacing

Start by cutting out your fabric.

Ensure that you place the front piece on top of a folded piece of fabric with the fold located where marked. Cut 1 piece of the outer fabric in this way and 1 piece of the inner fabric.

Using the back piece pattern cut 1 piece of the outer fabric and 1 piece of the inner fabric.

Flip the back piece pattern over. CHECK that you have positioned it the opposite way to the piece that you have just cut. DOUBLE CHECK and only then cut 1 piece of the outer fabric and 1 piece of the inner fabric.

This is what you should have cut out

Now you can start sewing:

Start by placing the front and back outer fabric pieces right sides together and sewing the side seam.

Do this for both back pieces.

Repeat these two steps for the inner fabric pieces.

Press the seams

Place the outer fabric and the inner fabric right sides together.

Starting from the back edge, sew around the dress pieces. Ensure that you leave a gap of about 3 inches to turn the right way out.

If you are going to use poppers to close the dress, it is an idea to iron a small strip of light weight interfacing along the back edge of the inner fabric, just to give the a bit of extra strength (this is not essential, but I would recommend it).

I will try to improve this photo, but hopefully you can just make out the interfacing on both pieces

Notch the curves and clip the corners

Turn the right way out and push the corners out.

Top stitch all the way around

Overlap the shoulder pieces slightly and stitch. I tend to hand stitch this, but you could use the machine if you want to.

I am aware that this is not the prettiest way to do the shoulders and that there are neater, more complicated methods, but show me a 3 year old who complains and I'll maybe think about changing my methods!

Add poppers or velcro for closure.

Stand back and congratulate yourself for making a beautiful reversible dolls dress. You could fancy it up by adding a ric rac or lace border along the bottom or using plain fabric with an applique design- the possibilities are endless!

As with all my tutorials, I'd love to hear how you get on. If anything is unclear or  you need extra instructions don't hesitate to get in touch.

Now that you've made the dress, why not go and make a couple of matching dolls nappies?

Good luck and happy sewing!

I'm sharing at Our Creative Spaces and Creative Friday