Girl Toddler's Spring Knit Dress
Free Knitting Pattern for an 18 to 24-Month-Old Girl
A simple but pretty girl's sleeveless dress designed to fit an 18- to 24-month-old girl with chest and waist measurements of 22". It measures 18.5" from back of neck to hem.
Materials
- Sport-weight/DK cotton, acrylic, wool or a blend. (The texture should be soft, not scratchy.) 5 skeins x 50 grams (5 x 94 metres)
- 3.5 mm needles (straight and circular)
- Tapestry needle for finishing
Gauge
4" x 4" = 21 stitches, 27 rows in the pattern stitch
Pattern Stitch (optional)
A simple checkerboard of alternating 3x3 K and P squares. 1st and 3rd row: *K3, P3*, repeat to end of row. 2nd row: Knit the K stitches and purl the P stitches. 4th & 6th row: *P3, K3*, repeat to end of row. 5th row: Knit the K stitches and purl the P stitches. Note: K the 1st and last stitch of each row, regardless of what the pattern dictates. Note: A nice variation would be to use stockinette st in the skirt and the pattern st above the waistline, maybe changing colours (e.g. red or navy skirt, white or cream bodice).
Instructions for Front (work first)
- Cast on 84 st (use long-tail cast-on method if possible)
- K 4 rows
- Work 57 rows in the pattern st (this gives you 28 pattern squares horizontally and 19 vertically)
- *K2 tog, K4*, repeat to end of row (=70 st)
- *K2 tog, K4*, repeat. End with K2 tog twice (=57 st)
- K 2 more rows
- Work 18 rows in the pattern st
- Increase by 1 st at the beginning and end of the row for 3 rows. Note: Extend the pattern st on each side as you increase. (=63 st)
- Work the pattern st for 24 rows.
- Keeping in the pattern, work 21 st, pass 21 st to a holder to begin neck opening. Using a new ball of wool, work the remaining 21 st.
- Keeping in the pattern and working with a separate ball of wool for each side of the neck opening, bind off 1 st on each side of the neck opening, every second row for 11 rows (=15 st on each side of neck opening)
- Keeping in the pattern and working with a separate ball of wool for each side of the neck opening, work 12 more rows, then slip remaining 15 st from each side onto holders, leaving a tail of about 24" of wool attached to each side.
Instructions for Back
- Work as for front, steps 1 through 8.
- Work the pattern st for 48 more rows.
- Graft 15 st together with 15 st on the dress front. Slip 27 st to a holder. Graft the remaining 15 st on the back to the remaining 15 st on the front. (Depending on the order in which you do this, you may need to use one of the tails of wool that you held back from the dress front.)
Instructions for Finishing
- Pick up 70 stitches, evenly spaced, from along each sleeve edge (from the first row of 63 stitches on the front to the last row of 63 stitches on the back).
- Knit 4 rows, bind off.
- On circular needles, pick up the 27 stitches held at the back of the neck, 18 stitches from the front left side, the 21 stitches held at the centre front neck, and 18 stitches from the front right side (=84 st).
- Knit 4 rows loosely, bind off. (If you're a tight knitter, use 1x1 ribbing instead of knitting to give a more generous and stretchy neck opening.)
- Sew the side seams, sew in all loose tails of wool, block/press if desired.
- (Optional) Add a few small ribbon flowers, simple embroidery or similar ornament at neck, hem and/or waistband, but remember that hard attachments like buttons or beads are choking hazards for this age group.
If you use this pattern, please e-mail the author via the link at the top of the page to let her know how it turned out! (Pictures welcome.)
Free Girl's Knit Dress Pattern
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