How I Made the Reversible Dress of Secrets
I sewed this dress from my simple trapeze dress pattern called the Seren (coming soon-ish). I found a really cool reversible fabric, inspiring me to make a fully reversible dress. This was a fun sewing project, kind of experimental but very enjoyable. I love solving puzzles and devising solutions to unique sewing challenges, both of which were abundant in this project.
In this post, I dive into the construction details, including a unique seam finish and custom bias tape.
The Fabric
Double-weave fabrics are two light fabrics connected together by threads sewn on an interval, so they act as one fabric. This double-weave really caught my eye, with its very different faces. The plaid and the stripes go together surprisingly well, so I wanted to color-block this dress to show off both sides.
Creating the Side Panels
The first step was making the side panels and cutting out the fabric. I simply folded the side seam corner of the dress to make a triangle. I added seam allowance on the fly and cut the bodice out.
Then, being careful to preserve the fold, I traced the folded part of the dress onto a new piece of tissue paper. I used this to cut the side panels.
Construction
Because this dress is reversible, the seams will be visible on one side. I used faux flat-felled seams to make them presentable. It’s really simple – make a French seam and edgestitch it down. It looks really neat from either side and is extra durable with the addition of a third stitch.
I pressed the seam toward the bodice and kept the bobbin stitches on the white striped side, as the white stitches blended in better than on the plaid.
The seams look so neat and tidy. I may do technique more often!
Patch Pockets
Once I assembled each side, I attached the mirrored patch pockets. Each side has one pocket and they are placed exactly over each other so I could stitch them both on at once. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this, so I only did one experimental set of pockets instead of two. It was tricky making sure they were exactly the same size and perfectly aligned, but I took my time and they turned out great!
Double-sided Binding & Hem
The neckline and armholes are finished with bias tape. If I used the fabric as-is, the same side of the fabric would be shown on both sides of the dress. I wanted the binding to match each side of the dress respectively, so I had to get clever.
Using my thread nippers, I separated the two layers by snipping the connecting threads. Then I sewed them back together lengthwise, pressing the now two-sided ribbon into bias tape.
Check out this short video that demonstrates the fabric separation.
Hem of Secrets
I applied the same separating technique to the hem, picking apart the bottom inch so I could fold each side in and lay them on top of each other. I folded them at 1/2″ and topstitched them down at 1/4″. I like how the hem looks, it’s delicate and subtle. Like with the binding, this preserved the pattern on each side of the fabric. I had to unpick all of the seams at the bottom, which was a little annoying. I carefully folded them back into place when I was pressing the hem. Once the hem was done, I stitched the seams down again so they won’t unravel.
Review
I’m so pleased with how this dress turned out. Dealing with the double-weave was a cool challenge; I enjoyed methodically clipping the threads to separate the fabrics. I think the extra work was well worth the effort and the special binding elevates the dress. You can’t really tell it’s a reversible dress unless you know it is, which is a huge improvement over reversible dresses I’ve made in my past. It’s a light dress but I think it will pair well with thick tights, boots, and a cozy sweater.
Check out this gallery of the finished dress. You can click on the images to see them full size.
Thank you for reading <3
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