General Notes
This pattern uses American crochet terminology.
This simple yet adorable baby dress is crocheted in one piece, top down. First,
you make the circular yoke in rows back and forth. The yoke has button closure
at the back. The dress body is then crocheted straight onto the yoke, in rounds.
The dress can be worn on its own in hot weather or over a body and tights in
colder climes or perhaps as a coming home outfit.
A note for left handed crafters: in rows 8-14, you will need to put the button holes
on the opposite button band in order to be able to do the reverse single crochet
in row 15.
Depending on your tension/gauge, you may end up with a slight twist in the skirt,
where the vertical lines twist to one side. If this is the case for you, you can
choose to turn at the end of each Dress Body round, thus alternating direction
each round. This will give you poker straight lines.
Materials
• Approx. 200 meters (219 yards) sport or DK weight cotton in main colour, or
other baby safe fiber, and 50 meters (55 yards) in a contrast colour.
• 4 mm hook, or hook required to meet gauge.
• Darning needle for weaving ends.
• Three buttons, sewing needle and thread to sew them onto the button band.
Sizing & Gauge
This dress is sized for newborn up to approximately 3 months, depending on the
wearer of course. You could of course experiment with heavier/lighter weight
yarns for larger or preemie sizes.
Gauge: 10 cm (4 ins) = 17 stitches x 9 rows in dc.
Yoke
Row 1 With MC, 52 fsc. Turn. (Alternatively, ch 53, turn, sc in 2nd ch from
hook and in all chs to end.) Turn. (52 sts)
Row 2 Ch 3 (counts as 1st dc), dc in same st, *dc in ea of nxt 3 sts, 2 dc in
nxt st* repeat to end, except work 2 dc in the last st. Turn. (65 sts)
Row 3 Ch 4 (counts as 1st dc + 1 ch-sp), sk 1 st, dc in nxt st, *ch 2, sk 1 st, dc
in nxt st* repeat to end, except for the final repeat: ch 1, sk 1 st, dc in
top of beg ch3 from prev row. Turn. (33 dc + 32 ch-spaces)
Row 4 Ch 3 (counts as 1st dc), 2 dc in nxt ch sp, *dc in nxt dc, dc in nxt ch-
sp, dc in nxt dc, dc in nxt ch sp, dc in nxt dc, 2 dc in nxt ch sp*
repeat to end, except work 2 dc in last ch sp and work last dc in
3rd of beg ch-4 from prev row. Turn. (77 sts)
Row 5 As row 3. Turn. (39 dc + 38 ch-spaces)
Row 6 As row 4. Turn. (91 sts
Row 7 Ch 2 (counts as 1st hdc), hdc in ea of nxt 2 sts, 2 hdc in nxt st, *hdc
in ea of nxt 3 dcs, 2 hdc in nxt dc* repeat to end, working the last
hdc in 3rd ch of beg ch 3 from prev row. (113 sts).
Change to CC at the last yo of final hdc. Fasten off MC. Do not turn. You should
have the right side of your work facing.
Button Bands & Yoke Edging
Row 8 With CC, still RS facing, ch 1 (does not count as a st), ‘turn the
corner’ and sc up the side of your work (what will be the right
button band, with buttonholes), working 2 sc into the side of ea row
of yoke. Turn. (14 sts)
Row 9 Ch 1 (does not count as a st), sc in ea sc down the button band.
Turn. (14 sts)
Row 10 Buttonhole row: Ch 1 (does not count as a st), sc in ea of nxt 2 sts,
*ch 2, sk 2 sts, sc in ea of nxt 2 sts* 3 times. Turn.
(14 sts: 8 sc + 6 ch)
Row 11 a Finish right button band: ch 1 (does not count as a st), sc down the
button band working 1 sc in ea sc and 2 sc in ea ch sp. (14 sts). Do
not turn, continue with yoke edging:
Row 11 b Yoke edging: work another 2 sc into the same st at the bottom of
right button band to turn the corner. Work 3 sc into the bottom edge
of the button band. Sc in front loops only of ea hdc all around yoke
edge, 2 sc in the beg ch-2 from row 7 to turn the corner. (119 sts, not
counting the 14 sts of right button band)
Row 11 c Start left button band: 2 sc into the side of each yoke row. Turn.
(14 sts)
Row 12 Ch 1 (does not count as a st), sc in ea sc down the button band.
Turn. (14 sts)
Row 13 Ch 1 (does not count as a st), sc in ea st up the button band. Turn.
(14 sts)
Row 14 Ch 1 (does not count as a st), sc in ea st down the button band.
(14 sts)
Turn your work RS facing, hold yoke with the right button band (with buttonholes)
overlapping the left one. Now we’re going to crab stitch / reverse sc through both
button bands to join them together and all around the yoke.
Row 15 Button band joining & yoke edging: 4 rev sc – going from left to
right – into both button bands held overlapping. These 4 stitches
are a bit fiddly, working through both layers of fabric, but bear with
us! Continue rev sc in ea of the yoke edging sts, all around yoke.
Fasten off CC. See photos below.
Dress Body
Worked in rounds. The first dc round of the dress body is worked into the back
loops of row 7, behind the yoke edging. Except, there are no back loops behind
the button band; here, you work 4 dcs however you can into the fabric. It doesn’t
matter too much what it looks like, as this is the wrong side of the dress.
Hold the yoke by the button band, WS facing with crab stitich edging towards
you. Attach MC to top right of button band just below the crab stitch edging, as in
photo A.
Rnd 16 First body round, creating the arm holes: Ch 3 (counts as 1st dc)
(see photo B), 3 dc into the button band, working into any loop you
can just below the crab stitch edging, (see photo C), 2 more dcs
into the corner sts of row 11b, dc in the back loop of ea of the nxt 15
hdcs of row 7 (see photo D), ch 7 loosely, sk nxt 24 hdcs, 2 dc in BL
of nxt hdc, *dc in BL of ea of nxt 7 hdcs, 2 dc in BL of nxt hdc*
repeat 3 times, ch 7 loosely, sk nxt 24 hdcs, dc in BL of nxt 17 hdcs.
(You may have to work 2 dcs into the final hdc to get to 17 dcs.) Sl st
into 3rd ch of beg ch-3. (Front: 38 dcs; back: 38 dcs; each armhole:
7 chs = total 90 sts around body)
Rnd 17 First body pattern round: Turn to have RS facing, ch 3 (counts as
dc), dc in ea of nxt 2 sts, ch 2, sk 2 sts, dc in ea of nxt 8 sts, *ch 2, sk
2 sts, dc in ea of nxt 8 sts* (continue working into the underarm
chs), repeat 6 times, ch 2, sk 2 sts, dc in ea of remaining 5 sts, join
with sl st into the 1st dc of the rnd rather than into top of beg ch-3
for a much less visible seam (see photo E & F, next page). (72 dcs +
18 chs). Do not turn.
Rnd 18-20 Ch 3 (counts as dc), work nxt dc into the dc you sl stitched into
(see photo F), dc in nxt dc, *ch 2, dc in nxt 8 dcs* repeat 7 times,
ending with ch 2, dc in remaining 5 dcs, sl st into 1st dc of rnd. Do
not turn. (72 dcs + 18 chs)
Rnd 21 Increase round: Ch 3 (counts as dc), work nxt dc into the dc you sl
stitched into, dc in nxt dc, *ch 2, dc in nxt 3 dcs, 2 dc in nxt dc, dc
in ea of nxt 4 dcs* repeat 7 times, ending with ch 2, dc in nxt 3 dcs,
2 dc in nxt dc, dc in last dc, sl st into 1st dc of rnd. Do not turn. (81
dcs + 18 chs)
Rnd 22-25 Ch 3 (counts as dc), work nxt dc into the dc you sl stitched into, dc
in nxt dc, *ch 2, dc in nxt 9 dcs* repeat 7 times, ending with ch 2,
dc in remaining 6 dcs, sl st into 1st dc of rnd. Do not turn. (81 dcs +
18 chs)
Rnd 26 Increase round: Ch 3 (counts as dc), work nxt dc into the dc you sl
stitched into, dc in nxt dc, *ch 2, dc in nxt 4 dcs, 2 dc in nxt dc, dc
in ea of nxt 4 dcs* repeat 7 times, ending with ch 2, dc in nxt 4 dcs,
2 dc in nxt dc, dc in last dc, sl st into 1st dc of rnd. Do not turn. (90
dcs + 18 chs)
Rnd 27-30 Ch 3 (counts as dc), work nxt dc into the dc you sl stitched into, dc
in nxt dc, *ch 2, dc in nxt 10 dcs* repeat 7 times, ending with ch 2,
dc in remaining 7 dcs, sl st into 1st dc of rnd. Do not turn. (90 dcs +
18 chs)
Rnd 31 Increase round: Ch 3 (counts as dc), work nxt dc into the dc you sl
stitched into, dc in nxt dc, *ch 2, dc in nxt 4 dcs, 2 dc in nxt dc, dc
in ea of nxt 5 dcs* repeat 7 times, ending with ch 2, dc in nxt 4 dcs,
2 dc in nxt dc, dc in last 2 dc, sl st into 1st dc of rnd. Do not turn. (99
dcs + 18 chs)
Rnd 32-34 Ch 3 (counts as dc), work nxt dc into the dc you sl stitched into, dc
in nxt dc, *ch 2, dc in nxt 11 dcs* repeat 7 times, ending with ch 2,
dc in remaining 8 dcs, sl st into 1st dc of rnd. Do not turn. (99 dcs +
18 chs)
Rnd 35 Ch 2 (counts as 1st hdc), hdc in the dc you sl stitched into, hdc in
ea st around, working 2 hdc in ea ch sp, sl st into top of beg ch-2.
Change to CC at the final yo as you do the sl st. Fasten off MC. Do
not turn. (117 sts)
Rnd 36 With CC, ch 1 (does not count as a st), sc in ea st around, sl st into
1st sc to join. Do not turn. (117 sts)Rnd 37 Ch1, crab stitch/ reverse sc in ea st around. (117 sts). Fasten off CC.
• Sew 3 buttons onto button band.
• Optional: slip stitch around the neckline to tighten it up if needed.
• Secure ends, wash & block if needed, done! Hope you like it.
