Garter Stitch Summer Dress for 18-inch Doll

Free Doll Dress Knitting Pattern for American Girl Dolls

Skills Required/Techniques Used:

-Knit & purl, cast on & bind off

-Increasing:yarn over (YO), knit front and back (kfr&b), make 1 (m1)

-Working in the round on double pointed needles

-Picking up stitches

-Basic chrocheting

Materials: Gaia by Filati (affiliate link) Bertagna fingering weight yarn (100% merino), 25 gr/0.88 oz. 100 meters/109 yards, color - Yellow - 2 balls
3 buttons 5mm in diameter

Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) circular and a set of double pointed needles (dpn) OR SIZE NEEDED TO OBTAIN GAUGE

Hook: B (2.25 mm)

Gauge:
32 sts x 60 rows -= 4" x 4" (10 cm x 10 cm)

Notions: yarn needle, 2 stitch holders or 2 pieces of waste yarn, 3 small buttons, sewing needle and thread to attach buttons.

Pattern notes:

Garter Stitch in rows: all rows knit
Garter Stitch in rounds:
Round 1: knit
Round 2: purl

Repeat 2 rounds.

Selvedge Stitches: Knit the first stitch in the row and purl the last one.

Abbreviations:

k - knit
p - purl
yo - yarn over
pm - place marker
kfr&b - knit front and back of the same stitch
m1 - (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 knit (purl) it as a regular stitch.
st, sts - stitch, stitches

Dress

The dress is worked from top down, first in rows, then in the round. Round yoke.
Button band is crocheted.

Yoke

Cast on 49 sts.

Work 4 rows in garter stitch: k48, p1.
Row 5 (RS, increase row): k4, *kfr&b, k3 repeat from * 11 times, p1 = 60 sts
Row 6-8: k59, p1
Row 9 (RS, increase row): k3, *kfr&b, k3 repeat from * 14 times, p1 = 74 sts
Rows 10-12:k73, p1.
Row 13 (RS, increase row): k4, *kfr&b, k2 repeat from * 23 times, p1 = 97 sts
Rows 14-18: k 96, p1.
Row 19 (RS, increase row): k3, *kfr&b, k5 repeat from * 15 times, kfr&b, k2, p1 = 113 sts
Rows 20-28: k112, p1.

Divide for Sleeves and Bodice

Row 29 (RS) : k15, transfer the next 26 sts to a holder or a piece of waste yarn, cast on 8 st, k 31, transfer
26 to a holder or a piece of waste yarn, cast on 8, k14, p1.
Row 30 (WS): knit 76, purl 1 = 77 st

Bodice

Rows 31 (RS and all RS rows): knit till the last st, purl 1.
Rows 32 and 34 (WS): *k6, p1 - rep from * 11 times = 77 sts
Row 35 (RS, increase row): k1, m1, k5, *m1, k1, m1, k6 repeat from * 10 times, m1, p1. = 99 sts
Row 36 (WS): k9, *p1, k8 - repeat from * 9 times, p1, k7, p1.
Rows 37 (RS): knit 98, purl 1

Repeat rows 36-37 two more times. Repeat row 36 one more time.
Row 43/Round 1: knit all sts, join into round and continue to work in rounds
Rounds 2, 4, 6: *p8, k1 - repeat from * 11 times.
Round 3 and all odd rounds: knit
Round 7 (increase round): *k8, m1, k1, m1 - repeat from * 11 times = 121 sts
Rounds 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18: p9,*k1, p10 - rep from * 10 times, k1, p1
Round 9 and all odd rounds: knit
Round 19 (increase round): k9, * m1, k1, m1, k10 - repeat from * 10 times, (m1, k1) twice. = 143 sts
Round 20 and all even rounds: p10, *k1, p12 - repeat from * 10 times, k1, p2. (=143 sts)
Round 21 and all odd rounds: knit
Round 39 (increase round): k10, *m1, k1, m1, k12, m1 - repeat from * 10 times, m1, k1, m1, k2. = 165 sts
Round 40 and all even rounds: p11, *k1, p14 - rep from * 10 times, k1, p3
Round 41 and all odd rounds: knit

Repeat rounds 40 - 41 seventeen more times or to desired length. Bind off. Cut yarn.

Sleeves

Transfer sleeve sts to dpn needles, evenly distributing the sts; pu&k 8 sts over underarm sts.

Work in garter st 2 rounds and bind off.

Finishing

Weave in yarn ends. With a length of yarn and a hook, fasten yarn to the upper right edge on the back. Make 1 sc, *ch 3, skip 3 edge sts, 1 sc in each of the next 3 edge sts, rep from * 3 times, sc to the edge sts of the rounds. Cut the yarn. Weave in the ends.
Block the dress. Sew on 3 small buttons and any decorations on the front of the dress.

Sew the buttons. Make an embroidery on the front of the yoke or crochet 5 small flowers and decorate the yoke and the skirt of the dress.

Enjoy!