American Girl Doll Suit with Godet Skirt

Free Doll Suit Knitting Pattern

The inspiration for this business-casual outfit started with the skirt. I came across a picture of a skirt featuring godets in contrasting colors, which looked very interesting. Since I've been working with short rows recently, I immediately thought of this knitting technique for shaping the godets.

After I had the skirt, I decided I would make the rest of the outfit in a more formal style. Actually, the skirt itself is very Universal (affiliate link): it can be part of a suit, as here, or your doll can wear it around town with a sweater or a sewn top. This jacket, however, is definitely more business-like.

The skirt is worked sideways, in 2 colors, with short row shaping of the color stripes. It is then joined at the back with 3-needle bind-off. The waist belt is worked in 1x1 rib pattern in-the round with picked up stitches. The jacket is worked top-down, seamless, with raglan sleeves. All hems, of both the skirt and the jacket, are crocheted. The button bands of the jacket are crocheted.

Finished measurements: Fits 18-inch dolls, such as American Girl Doll. The length of the unfinished skirt is 5" (12.5 cm), with the belt added - 5 1/2" (14 cm). The length of the jacket from shoulder to hem is 4 ½” (11 cm).

Skills Required/Techniques Used:
- Knit & purl, cast on & bind off
- Provisional cast-on
- Increasing
- Working in the round on double pointed needles
- Picking up stitches
- 3-needle bind-off
- Short rows


Materials: Knit Picks (affiliate link) Wool of the Andes (100% wool yarn worsted weight, 100 m/110 yds 50 g), 2 contrast colors 1 skein each. Main color is referred as color A, the second color is referred as color B.

Needles: 4mm/US#6 circular and a set of 4-5” long double pointed needles of the same size for sleeves, 3-needle bind off and belt, OR SIZE NEEDED TO OBTAIN GAUGE

Crochet hook: G (4 mm)

Notions:
- Stitch markers
- Stitch holders or 2 pieces 10” long of contrasting color waste yarn to hold stitches
- Yarn needle
- 3-4 buttons
- Sewing needle and thread of color matching the yarn for attaching the buttons

Abbreviations:
dpn – double pointed needles
K – knit
P – purl
St, sts – stitch, stitches
Sl - slip
pu&k - pick up and knit
w&t – wrap and turn
as est. - as established, work as the pattern demands, here knit the RS rows and purl the WS rows.
co – cast on
RS – right side
WS – wrong side
m 1 - make 1 increase - I used the increase described by Elizabeth Zimmerman: make a backward loop over the right-hand needle and in the next row/round purl/knit it as a regular stitch.
bb – button band
sm – slip marker

Gauge: 19 st x 26 rows = 4" x 4" (10 cm x 10 cm) in stockinette st.


Pattern Notes

Stockinette in rows:
Row 1 (RS): knit
Row 2: purl
Repeat 2 rows.

Stockinette in rounds:
All rounds knit.

1x1 Rib in rounds:
All rounds: k1, p1.

The selvedge/edge stitches are worked as follows: slip the first stitch knitwise and purl the last one.

Raglan increases: Increase for raglan by making 1 st (m1) on each side of indicated, marked, stitch in every right side (RS) row.

Button Band (bb) is formed by 2 rows of single crochet.

Wrap and turn in the short rows: With yarn in front slip 1 stitch to the right needle. Move yarn between the needles to the back. Slip the stitch back to the left needle. Turn and work back as established.

3-needle bind off: is used to seam the edges of the knitted work. For this, fold the working piece, RS inside, and align the edges that need to be connected. Hold the needles parallel and slip a third (working) needle into the first stitch on each of the two needles. Wrap yarn around the working needle and knit the two stitches together. Allow the first stitch from each of the parallel needles to fall from the needles.

*Knit together the new first stitch on both parallel needles in the same way as above. There will be two stitches on the working needle. Pass the first stitch on the working needle over the second stitch and off the needle, as you normally would when binding off.

Repeat from * until only one stitch remains on the working needle. Cut yarn and pull the end through the last stitch to tie off.

Provisional cast on: A provisional cast-on is a temporary cast-on that can be removed to reveal live stitches, which you can continue working. There are several methods to do a provisional cast-on. You can use your favorite. If you’re not acquainted with the technique, this video might be helpful.


Skirt

Using a piece of yarn of contrasting color make a provisional cast-on of 24 stitches.

Work 4 rows with color A in stockinette.

Row 5 (RS) with color B: sl 1, k22, p1. Turn.

Short Rows Godet:
All the short rows are worked with yarn B.
Short row 1 (WS): sl 1, p 7, w&t.
Short row 2 (RS): k 7, p 1. Turn.
Short row 3 (WS): sl 1, p 11, picking up the wrap and purling it together with the wrapped st, w&t.
Short row 4 (RS): k 11, p 1. Turn.
Short row 5 (WS): sl 1, p 15, picking up the wrap and purling it together with the wrapped st, w&t.
Short row 6 (RS): k 15, p 1. Turn.
Short row 7 (WS): sl 1, p 11, w&t.
Short row 8 (RS): k 11, p 1. Turn.
Short row 9 (WS): sl 1, p 7, w&t.
Short row 10 (RS): k 7, p 1. Turn.

Row 6 (WS): sl 1, p 23, picking up all wraps and purling them together with wrapped sts.

Rows 7-10 work with yarn A in stockinette stitch.

Repeat rows 1-10 seven more times. Block the working piece.

Remove the auxiliary yarn from the provisional cast-on, transfer the beginning stitches to a spare needle and do a 3-needle bind off. Cut yarn.

Finishing

Pick up 44 sts along the waist line. Work 4 rounds of 1x1 rib. Bind off.

Optional: to make the hem of the skirt stronger, work a round of single crochet along the hem.

Weave in all yarn ends.



Jacket

The jacket is worked top-down, seamlessly, with raglan sleeves.

The button bands, hem and sleeve hems are crocheted in contrast color.

Cast on 36 sts with yarn A. These stitches include: 1 selvedge st - 3 sts right front - 1 raglan (place a marker before a st) - 8 right sleeve - 1 raglan (place a marker before a st) - 8 back - 1 raglan (place a marker before a st) - 8 left sleeve - 1 raglan (place a marker before a st) - 3 left front – 1 selvedge st.

Row 1 (RS): sl 1, k 3, *m 1, sm, k 1, m 1, k 8, repeat from * 3 times, m 1, sm, k 1, m 1, k 3, p 1. = 44 sts

Row 2 (WS): sl 1, purl all sts.

Work 12 rows in stockinette, increasing by 1 sts before and after each raglan line st in RS rows. Thus, the number of stitches will increase by 8 in every RS row. After 12 rows you’ll have 84 sts. Purl all WS rows.

Divide for sleeves and bodice:

Row 13 (RS): sl 1, k 10, transfer the next 20 sts to a piece of waste yarn, co 2, k 22, transfer the next 20 sts to a piece of waste yarn, co 2, k 10, p 1.

Row 14 (WS): sl 1, p 47.

Work 8 rows more in stockinette. Cast off. Cut yarn.


Sleeve

Transfer 20 sts from the waste yarn to dpn, distributing the stitches evenly, pu&k 2 underarm sts. Mark the beginning of the round. Work 23 rounds in stockinette, bind off. Work the other sleeve.


Finishing

With yarn B, work 2 rounds of sc along sleeve hems. Fasten yarn to the back of the neckline and work 2 rows of single crochet along neckline, front edges and hem. When working the second round, make 3-4 button holes (the number of button holes depends on the size of the buttons you use) on the right front, by working *ch 2, skip 1. Weave in all yarn ends. Sew buttons to the left button band.

Have fun!

Pattern was updated on August 12, 2018