Friday 20 May 2011

Babygirl Dress - knitting pattern

So in love with the pink babygirl dress I made last week, I had to make another (just to re-test the pattern of course!).  Using just one 100g skein of chunky yarn and size 7.5mm needles, it knits up super fast.  You can see why it was hard to stop at just one...  






Materials:

  • 1oog Misti Alpaca, chunky (100% baby alpaca... so delicious)
  • 7.5mm circular needles
  • 4 stitch markers
  • 2 buttons
  • yarn needle to sew in tails

Abbreviations:
k - knit
p - purl
st st - stockinette stitch
k2tog - knit 2 stitches together
ssk - slip following 2 stitches knitwise, insert left hand needle through the front of both slipped stitches and knit.  Or see tutorial here.
YO - yarn over
rnd - round
dec - decrease
sl st - slip stitch
SM - stitch marker


Babygirl Dress 
Size newborn - width: 6.3" length (not inc straps): 7.5" approx.
Gauge: 3 sts by 5 rows = 1 inch sqaure


Cast on 61 sts.  Join to work in the round, being careful not to twist your stitches.
rnds 1 - 4: work in Moss Stitch - k1, p1 continuously.
rnds 5 - 8: knit.  
On 8th rnd, place SMs like this: k13, SM, k5, SM, k25, SM, k5, SM, k13.
rnd 9 (dec rnd): k until 2 sts remain before SM, ssk, transfer SM from left to right needle, k5, transfer SM, k2tog, k until 2 sts remain before SM, ssk, transfer SM, k5, transfer SM, k2tog, k to end of rnd.
rnd 10: knit.
rnd 11: knit.


-repeat rnds 9 - 11 4 more times, until you have 41 sts remaining-


rnds 24 - 27: knit.
rnds 27 - 38: moss st (12 rnds).
rnd 39: cast off 4 sts, k4, cast off 25, k4, cast off 4.  The 2 sets of 4 sts left on your needles are the beginnings of the straps.  Now you can either use a crochet needle to sl st over to your first strap, or if you prefer, break off the yarn and rejoin at strap.
Straps: Continue in moss st for 30 rows (at this point you can adjust the length of the straps by removing or adding rows to suit your dress).
row 31 (button hole shaping): k2tog, YO, k2.
row 32: *k1, p1* twice.
row 33: *p1, k1* twice.
Cast off.


Sew buttons on the bodice (using the picture for guidance) and sew in tails.


To embellish, use a crochet needle to pick up stitches around the button holes and crochet little flowers, or whatever motif you like.  I found inspiration for mine in 201 Crochet Motifs and 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet.





17 comments:

  1. awwwwww so in love with these i cant wait to get knitting one of these or 2 or 3 lol, well done on such a beautiful and gorgeous pattern i can see its going to be a hit.

    Can the knitted dresses be sold on to friends and family?? Id knit one for every baby girl if i could afford to.

    im loving it ♥♥

    ReplyDelete
  2. Marie: Thank you! Yes of course by all means you can sell this on to friends and family, but please credit me if you publish any photos of it. xxx

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  3. Hi Elisa thanks for the pattern I made a set with booties and hat and this dress it looks awesome !

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Elisa. I tried this pattern but i found 61 sets to b too small to fit a new born. Plz help me.Hi Elisa. I tried this pattern but i found 61 sets to b too small to fit a new born. Plz help me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Elisa. I am eagerly waiting for ur help. As i want to knit this dress asap. Hi Elisa. I am eagerly waiting for ur help. As i want to knit this dress asap.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anon: Sorry you're having trouble with this pattern... The simplest thing to do make the dress bigger would be to up the needle size - maybe try it using 9mm? Or, you could make a note of the measurements you need for the dress to fit around the chest, figure out how many stitches you'll need for that measurement by checking the gauge, then add the 5 rounds of decreases (or more to increase the length also) to that to figure out how many stitches you need to cast on. Just remember, each decrease round eliminates 4 stitches, so for 5 rounds of decreases you'll need to add 20 stitches to the amount of stitches you want around the chest.

    I hope this helps!

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  7. Just made one in white. I think this dress needs a matching diaper cover!

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  8. To Anon:

    I was having the same problem, and then I realized I was using 7 US size needles, not 7.5 MM(what the pattern calls for)...So I switched to a 11 US (8 MM) and it is a much better size now! That may not be what happened with you, but I thought I'd share!

    Love the dress! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi I love this little dress it is so cute, I have just had my first granddaughter after having two grandsons and would love to knit this. The problem is I just cannot get on with a circular needle, I am getting so frustrated and wondered if this can be knitted on straight pins instead. Please help me if you can. I would hate this to defeat me.
    Thankyou so much.
    Mrs Lyndsay Cox

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, I would imagine that this could be knit on straights quite easily - starting at what would be centre back, knitting back and forth, then seaming up the back.

      But I do highly recommend having a little practice on circular needles; once you get the hang of it, it is truly wonderful knitting in the round! There are some great tutorials on YouTube that are really helpful.

      xxx

      Delete
    2. Hi, Thanks for such a beautiful pattern. I tried it recently and just loved the dress..

      Lyndsay - I used the straight needles myself. The issue I faced was, row 9 is decrement row, and then 10 - 11 rows are purl - knit rows. On the next round of decrement (row 12) you are facing the purl side with straight needles. So I followed this pattern for purl side - p until 2 sts remain before SM, ssp, transfer SM from left to right needle, p5, transfer SM, p2tog, p until 2 sts remain before SM, ssp, transfer SM, p5, transfer SM, p2tog, p to end of rnd. Hope this helps. Thanks, S.

      Delete
  10. Hi, I found your pattern in ravelry and I'm loving it. i want to make it for my 8 month premmie (which doesn't have and especific size; some 6month clothes are too big for her); but I just started knitting like a month ago, and I dont really get a hang on written instructiona... so I'm going to increase some stitches from the begining and I'll let you know how it turned out
    Thank you for providing this lovely pattern

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  11. Hi! I love this pattern & want to knit the dress for my most beautiful friend's baby-on-the-way, but I don't know what length circular needle I should purchase? Can you tell me how many inches/cm long the circular needle you used is? Thank you so much!!! Peace, MJ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi mj! Get the shortest circular you can - I think it's about 6 inches long. Hope you enjoy knitting the dress! x

      Delete
  12. Hi, I'm new to knitting with circular needles and have purchased 7.5mm as pattern suggests. Any tips on starting off as when I start joining in the round after I have cast on the stitches I'm struggling to do 1st round as stitches are too tight.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Elisa ... This looks beautiful. I would like to make one for a 1 year old. Could you please help me? Thanks - Knittingnewbie.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have knit two of these already and am working on my third! I love this pattern for baby gifts! Such a quick knit I can finish one in a day on my commute to and from work... Thank you for this great FREE pattern.

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing your thoughts, and if you have any questions at all, I will reply to them within these comments - so please be sure to check back to get your answer!

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