Reversible Skirts/Dresses

One of my favorite Lululemon items is the Beat the Heat dress. I bought one last summer and it's great, you can wear it as a dress, flip the boob tube down and wear as a top or a skirt, plus it's reversible so there are a total of 6 looks!

Every year they introduce new fabrics so I often go the store and get tempted to buy more but it's not cheap.

Why not sew them?

ONE

On my first try, I just used the actual Lulu dress to trace the pattern and made this. For the bandeau, the Lulu dress is shaped in such a way that it fits the boobs better, but to make things simple, I just used rectangles.

Reversibility seems like a challenge but it was actually not difficult at all. I decided to swap the boob tube/waistband fabrics so the printed patterns matched when in top/skirt mode.

Dress Version 1:

Dress Version 2 (reversed):

Skirt (with boob part folded down):

TWO

Then, I remembered I found a free pattern here and made a version with these fabrics. One side a floral and one side dots.

Here's a pic of the dress with the floral pattern.

I love them. They are versatile (6 looks in 1!), comfortable, convenient (no ironing) and cheap (uses less than 1 meter of each fabric). With some jersey fabrics selling for $4-7 a meter, that's less than $15 for each dress!

THREE

Previously, I made another reversible skirt using the Simplicity pattern 2608 and replaced the waistband with a simple elastic. This one is more suitable for work (when it's worn as a skirt).

I must say, the serger has made my life easier!