Posted on 8 Comments

(Theoretically) Reversible Beatrix

I’m back with my final Beatrix hack of the season: Reversible Beatrix!

Reversible Beatrix at Polka Dot Cottage

The first time I played with this Made By Rae pattern was in October of last year, when I eliminated the button band, did a full bust adjustment, and a hollow chest adjustment.

The second time was just last month, when I left off the sleeves and used bias binding on the neck and armhole edges.

This time, I used two super lightweight fabrics and sewed them together in such a way that the shirt could be worn with either side out. Theoretically.

09_sewing_02_ul

I say “theoretically” because I got so impatient sewing the first curved hem, that I couldn’t face doing another. Instead, I just took my scissors and roughly hacked off a couple of inches from the bottom so that it wouldn’t peek out from behind the main fabric. It’s a total cheat and kind of a mess, but I don’t expect to want to wear the inside showing anyway. And if I decide I do want to wear it that way somewhere down the line, I can always sew some lace along the bottom to make it all look like a purposeful design element.

I’ve been envisioning this project for weeks, and I was sure I knew exactly how to do it. I started with the outer fabric: sewed the darts and sewed the shoulders and side seams. I then repeated the process with the inner fabric.

The next step, as far as I was concerned, was to nest the two shells, right sides together, sew around the neck, sew around each armhole, and then turn the whole thing right side out.

I sewed the neck. So far, so good. At this point I had the (unusual for me) presence of mind to do a quick Google search and make sure that my plan was going to work.

It wasn’t.

Luckily for me, I found this super helpful tutorial from Colette Patterns, and it walked me through the armholes. It was a good thing, too, because I never would have figured them out on my own.

Reversible Beatrix at Polka Dot Cottage

So, voila! I am very happy with my results. And let me tell you a little something else that excites me about this: I designed my own fabric!

I have a much more detailed blog post planned about this very soon, but for now, let me just quietly announce the Polka Dot Cottage Summer Flowers fabric collection, which is available now from Spoonflower

Summer Flowers fabric collection from Polka Dot Cottage

The two prints I used for this project were Flowers on Retro June and Graph June in Poly Crepe de Chine. Originally I thought I’d have preferred cotton lawn, since I like natural fabrics, but it’s been discontinued. As it turns out the Poly Crepe de Chine was perfectly nice to work with, and is probably going to be drapier than lawn would have been. Drapey is nice with a blouse like this.

I’m really happy with this entire project (well, maybe I’m not so happy with the hem on the lining fabric, but we don’t have to talk about that) and I can’t wait to wear it!

I’m feeling my sewing mojo start to slip away, but I still have one more little thing I want to make with some of my newly-designed fabrics. The plan is to get to that before this week is over. Wish me luck!

LET’S KEEP IN TOUCH!

Sign up for occasional Polka Dot Cottage news and get a coupon for 10% off your next order!

Don't worry, we won't bother you more than once or twice a month!

Posted on 8 Comments

8 thoughts on “(Theoretically) Reversible Beatrix

  1. I think you did good w designing fabric. That’s way beyond my ability. Color and I do not go together. Lol

    1. Thanks, Peggy! It’s funny, I had the colors picked out long before I figured out the designs! 😁

  2. I love it!!! Very cheerful 🙂

    1. Thanks! I’m looking forward to wearing it 😊

  3. Nice design and pattern!

    1. Thanks 😊

  4. Very cute. I love the simplicity of it!

    1. Thanks! I’m very happy with the way it turned out.

Leave a comment!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.