Anyone who has a toddler knows how they want to do everything themselves. And souricette 2 is no exception. She wants to dress herself, thank you very much. And she does a decent job but sometimes, her dress is on backwards or inside out. Or both. I set out to make her a dress that she can only put on the right way. It had to be reversible not only in the traditional sense but also in the back to front sense. And here it is!
I based my design on the Jalie basic T-shirt pattern. It’s a great pattern with lots of options and sizes from a toddler 2 to a women’s 22. I went one size up from what souricette 2 usually wears because I was doing two layers. I made two fronts, one V-neck and one crew neck. I chose the 3/4 sleeves and skipped the neckline binding. Then, I made a simple A-line skirt, 8 inches long. I made two dresses and sewed them together at the hem (odd choice I know). I used fold over elastic to bind the sleeves together and elastic lace folded in two at the neckline.
This dress was a huge learning experience. I used cotton jersey for the top. A good choice and it fit well. I had a slight issue with the skirts though. I only wanted to use fabric I had so the grey argyle was matched with the magenta cotton/spandex jersey and the pink damask was matched with navy blue rayon/spandex jersey. The magenta being cotton, the weight was fine. A little heavier than the top fabric but not that bad. The rayon though… Much heavier. Both skirts were cut out the exact same size but the rayon stretched down. And because I sewed the dresses together at the bottom, I couldn’t fix it when hemming. So a little bit of navy shows on the magenta side. At least, it looks cute. The navy works with the other colors. The magenta wouldn’t have work with the pink damask. By adding the navy blue fold over elastic at the wrists, you get another little navy blue accent on the grey side which makes the “mistake” look more deliberate.
Honestly though, even the cotton/spandex blend was a little too heavy. When I tried just the T-shirt on souricette 2, the hem hit her just right for a drop waist. The added weight of the skirts pulls on the tops and the drop waist now hits a little too low. Which gives her room to grow, I guess. The sleeves are also longer than 3/4 on her because I made a bigger size than she actually needs and because I didn’t hem the sleeves. Just basted them together (with a zigzag stitch) before binding with the fold over elastic.
But. She actually can put it on herself!
Putting it on live!
And I did an awesome job centering the print on all fronts, backs, and sleeves!
And most importantly, she likes it!
Creative mommy at home to two wonderful little girls, trying to juggle family, sewing, exercise, family, knitting, photography, and did I mention family?
Deux souriceaux 
Neat idea. Good job!
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Thank you!
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