Crocheted Top-Down Toddler Dress With A Lacy Skirt
One of the most pleasurable things to crochet is clothing for babies and toddlers, as garments can be made relatively quickly and the results are truly adorable. Lacy crocheted items for babies is something that could truly be useful and appreciated especially for a special occasion……and one could even crochet gorgeous little flower girl dresses, or at least shrugs or sweaters for a bunch of little darlings. Now, of course most of us use patterns to crochet, but I am now here to encourage you to crochet custom made garments by simply using the measurements of the child! It is true, there may be a few spots where you have to add a stitch or two that would normally not appear in a commercial pattern but I promise, no one will notice! And that dear readers is how this sweet little dress came about……. a sketch with some measurements taken from an existing garment, and a crochet diagram for inspiration, and voila!
Ready to take the plunge and design something yourself for a someone special in your life? Lets get started……
You'll Need:
- a pattern that you like, either in diagram form or written form, just something to get you started
- yarn of your choice, mine is mercerized baby weight cotton
- hook to match, mine is 3mm steel hook
- measurements of existing garment that fits child properly
- a sketch showing clearly the measurements needed
- just a bit of courage!
How To:
I love the idea if crocheting top-down garments, so I started with this how to make a baby dress pattern, but first I drew a little sketch of a dress and added the following measurements:
- height of garment from shoulder to bottom of dress
- height of garment from shoulder to bottom of armhole
- width of garment at bottom of armhole
- with of garment a hem
- sleevelength
Then, following the diagram in the link above I started crocheting the boddice, (one starts with a chain that is the neck opening) making sure that it conformed to the required measurements. From there you can see what I did by examining photo. I wanted a straight dress so I choose a stitch that only increased a bit, and then added a lacier stitch at the bottom. I would have preferred to increase the diameter at the bottom just a bit, but not knowing how to do this I just crocheted rounds of the same stitch.
I love the results, and if I had more time before giving this little dress as a gift, I might have threaded a thin pink ribbon through the double crochet stitched just below the armhole.
And, take note, I also should have taken the existing measurements and added at least an inch or even two to them, little ones grow quickly!
My apologies to those of you who were hoping for an exact pattern, but since this is creative jewish mom, my job is to encourage you to stretch your limits! Go for it!
