Flair Skirt Dress for 18-inch Doll

Free Doll Dress Knitting Pattern

I put together this dress pattern for those who are looking for a basic, no-frills dress for their doll, perhaps as a base dress for a more elaborate outfit. It features raglan-style shoulders and seamless construction. The body of the dress is knitted in stockinette. You can make the dress without sleeves, with short sleeves or with long sleeves (as pictured).

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

Materials: Lion Brand (affiliate link) Shawl in a Ball aran weight yarn (58% cotton, 39% Acrylic, 3% other), 150 g/5.3 oz 481 yds - 1 ball makes 2 dresses. Shown in color 201 Restful Rainbow, and in color 200 Community Coral

Needles: 3.5 m/US #4 circular and a set of 4-5” long double pointed needles of the same size for sleeves, OR SIZE NEEDED TO OBTAIN GAUGE

Gauge for stockinette st: 20 sts x 32 rows = 4" x 4" (10cm x 10cm)

Notions:
- Stitch markers
- Stitch holders or 2 pieces 10” long of contrasting color waste yarn to hold stitches
- Yarn needle
- 4-5 sew-on snaps size 2/0 or 3/0
- Sewing needle and thread of color matching the yarn for attaching the snaps

Abbreviations:
dpn – double pointed needles
K – knit
P – purl
St – stitch
Sts - stitches
pu&k - pick up and knit
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


Pattern Notes

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

Stockinette in rounds: All rounds knit.

Garter stitch in rows: all rows knit

Garter stitch in rounds: knit the first round, purl the next round. Repeat 2 rounds

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: m1, sm (slip marker), k1 (raglan st), m1.

Button Band (bb) is worked in garter stitch on 3 stitches in the beginning and in the end of each row.


Dress

The dress is worked top-down back-and-forth with raglan sleeves and button band on the back to the hip line, then the skirt is worked in the round. The sleeves are worked on dpn in the round.

Using 3.5mm/US #4 circular needles, cast on 48 sts, these include: 1 edge - 3 right bb - 5 right back (RB) - 1 raglan (first raglan line) - 8 right sleeve (RSl) - 1 raglan (second raglan line) - 10 front - 1 raglan (third raglan line) - 8 left sleeve (LSl) - 1 raglan (forth raglan line) - 5 left back (LB) - 3 left bb - 1 edge

Work 2 rows in garter stitch - both rows knit. Place markers before each raglan stitch and slip them while workiing . After 3-4 rows you’ll be able to see the raglan lines clearly and continue without the markers. However, you need to be concentrated, otherwise better do not remove the markers.

Starting with row 3 (RS) work in stockinette (except edge and bb sts) - right side knit, wrong side purl. At the same time make 1 st before and after raglan stitches in every RS row: in rows 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17. In each of these rows you increase the number of stitches by 8. In row 18 you should have 112 sts.


Divide for sleeves and bodice:

Row 19 (RS): sl 1, k 17, transfer 24 sts to a piece of waste yarn, co 2 sts, k 28, transfer 24 sts to a piece of waste yarn, co 2 sts, k 17, p 1 = 68 sts

Row 20 (WS): sl 1, k 3, p 60, k 3, p 1.

Work rows 21-24 in stockinette as established.

Skirt

After row 24, count the stitches and place 5 markers: after 8 sts, after the next 13 sts, after the next 13 sts, after the next 13 sts, after the next 13 sts.

In rows 25 and 29, make the increases (m 1) before and after sts between which a marker stays, thus you'll increase the number of stitches by 10 in every 4th row.

Row 25 (RS): sl 1, k 6, * m 1, k 1, slip marker to the right needle, k 1, m 1, k 11 - repeat from * 4 times, m 1, k 1, slip marker to the right needle, k 1, m 1, k 6, p 1. = 78 sts

Row 26 (WS): sl 1, k 3, purl, slipping the markers, to last 4 sts, k 3, p 1.

Rows 27-28 work in stockinette as established.

Row 29 (RS): sl 1, k 7, *m 1, k 1, slip marker to the right needle, k 1, m 1, k 13 - repeat from * 4 times, m 1, k 1, slip marker to the right needle, k 1, m 1, k 7, p 1. = 88 sts

Row 30: sl 1, k 3, purl, slipping the markers, to the last 4 sts, k 3, p 1.

Rows 31-32 work stockinette st as established.


Join skirt into round

Note you can continue to work back and forth with the opening on the back, or join and work the skirt in a round as described below.

With right side facing, transfer the last 4 sts of the row (left bb) to a spare needle, fold the working piece and place the spare needle with 4 sts over the 4 sts of the right bb. Insert the right needle in the first stitch on the left needle, then in the first stitch on the spare needle. Knit the stitches together. Repeat for the remaining 3 pairs of sts.

Continue to work in the round in stockinette - all rounds knit, at the same time make increases (m 1) before and after the stitches on each side of the markers, in every 4th round ( rounds 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21 and 25).

Work 28 rounds or to desired length. Work 4 more rounds in garter stitch: round 29 purl, round 30 knit, round 31 purl, round 32 knit. Bind off.


Sleeve

Transfer 24 sts to dpn, pu&k 2 sts underarm. Work 22 rounds in stockinette (all rounds knit). Work 4 more rounds in garter stitch. Bind off.


Finishing

Weave in yarn ends. Sew 4-5 snaps on the button band.

Have fun!