Flora Dress
Completed: June 2008
Pattern: my own
Notes: This dress is knit from the top down and uses a bit of shirring in the bodice to ensure a good fit. The bodice is done in dot stitch, which reminds me of a flower center. The top of each "petal" in the skirt has slip-stitch and eyelet detailing. The petal tips and lace inserts are adapted from the Hemlock Ring Blanket.
Additional sizes added on 6/13/08. Edited 6/24/08 to correct error in Chart A.
SIZES
3-6 mo, to fit 15-17" chest
9-12 mo, to fit 17-19" chest
2 yrs, to fit 19-21" chest
4 yrs, to fit 21-23" chest
6 yrs, to fit 23-25" chest
FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Chest: 16[18,20,22,24] inches before shirring
Length: 13[14,16,18,20] inches
YARN
Tahki Cotton Classic [100% mercerized cotton; 108yd/100m per 50g skein]; color: 3449; 3[4,4,5,6] skeins
NEEDLES
1 US #6/4 mm circular needle, 16 inches
1 US #6/4 mm circular needle, 32 inches
Or size to obtain gauge
NOTIONS
Stitch marker
Tapestry needle
Sewing needle with large eye
Elastic thread
Fray Check
Ribbon
Thread
GAUGE
22 sts/26 rows = 4 inches in dot pattern
20 sts/26 rows = 4 inches in stockinette
It is more essential to get stitch gauge in dot pattern
STITCH GUIDE
Dot Pattern
Round 1: *P1, k1; repeat from * to end.
Round 2: Knit.
Round 3: *K1, p1; repeat from * to end.
Round 4: Knit.
Repeat rounds 1-4 for pattern.
DIRECTIONS
Bodice
Using shorter circular needles and cable cast on, CO 88[100,110,122,132] sts. Place marker and join to begin working in the round, being careful not to twist.
Work dot pattern for 4[4.5,5,5.5,6.25] inches, ending with round 1 or round 3.
Sizes 3-6 mo, 2 yrs, 6 yrs:
*P1, k9 tbl, p1, repeat from * to end.
Sizes 9-12 mo, 4 yrs:
P1, k9, p2tog, *p1, k9 tbl, p1, repeat from * to end.
Skirt
Work Chart A 8[9,10,11,12] times across sts (click for larger image). Switch to longer circular needles after completing row 1.
Repeat row 11 of Chart A till work measures 10[11,13,15,17] inches from cast on edge, or until desired length before transitioning to lace section (lace section will be 3 inches in length).
Work Chart B 8[9,10,11,12] times across sts (click for larger image).
Next round, knit across all sts.
Bind off in purl.
Finishing
Weave in ends. Block.
Cut 5 16[18, 20, 22, 24] inch strands of elastic thread . Turn garment inside-out. Starting with the 2nd row of purl bumps from the top, weave elastic under purl bumps as shown.
Tie square knot in elastic, leaving 1-1/2” tail on both ends. Repeat using remaining strands of elastic thread, distributing the rows of elastic evenly over the length of the bodice. Try garment on. Adjust elastic thread if necessary to ensure comfortable fit. Trim ends. Dab Fray Check onto knot and elastic thread ends; weave in ends.
Sew ribbons into place for straps.
30 comments:
wow, what a cute dress! I will be crunching numbers to hopefully work out a pattern for a slim 4 year old ;) excellent work!! ;)
vloula
It is wonderful and dreamy -- a dress that any little girl would adore!
And you nailed it when you said it's easier to read a pattern than write one.
Beautiful Dress----I want to make one for my new neice coming soon----any recommendations for making it smaller? I am fairly new to knitting, but I think I could do this!
Very beautiful! Going to have to make this for my daughter. Thanks for the pattern!
Very pretty dress. The pattern is thorough, too...nice job:)
Ang
OMG!!!!! I love this dress, my sister is having a little girl soon. So, hopefully by the time she get this age I'll have obtained more knitting experience than the purl stitch that I know Now. Thanks for shring. I think you should try to get this pattern publish, for sure.
Love this dress!!! Very crafty :)
Oh What a Beautiful Dress.. Thank You for sharing.. I have so many Grandaughters :)
thank you so much for the pattern, i just cast on (while listening to cast on;-) it seems perfect summer knitting for the moment, sitting outside in the sun in the garden while watching my daughter playing in her little pool. greetings from germany, mara
I've run into a problem on Row 10, Chart A. I'm guessing the symbol "O" is a yarn over. But I end up with an extra stitch before and after the slipped stitch that goes down the center of the "petal" on the needle. Should I be doing some knit togethers here somewhere?
Thank you for pointing that out, Pam! I've uploaded the corrected chart.
I love this dress, but my little girl is a size 7 going on 8 (26 inc chest and 23 1/2 inc waist). Any ideas of what I can to to enlarge this pattern? I've never attempted to make a pattern larger or smaller.
This is amazing! Totally fabulous, and so are you for sharing such a lovely creation for free!
Thanks so much for your generosity and congratulations on your creative pattern.
Could someone help me, i am just starting to knit and i don't understand, chart A says to knit eleven times across the points but 11 times 19 is 209 points.
Am i being a real dummy?
Can someone help me please?
Thank you
Dear Anonymous,
I assume you are making the 4 year old size? For that size, you start out with 122 stitches. In the row just before starting the skirt, you do a p2tog, which reduces the stitch count by 1: now you're down to 121 stitches. When you begin row 1 at the bottom of the chart, keep in mind that the black squares represent areas where there is no stitch. If you count the other squares, there are 11 of them. So you're really working 11 stitches 11 times, for a total of 121 stitches. As you work that first row of the chart, though, notice that there are some 3's and 5's. Those are stitches in which you'll work some increases, so that the total number of stitches will increase to 11x19 = 209 *after* you've finished the row. I hope that helps. If not, email me at vysews@yahoo.com. Good luck!
This is a beautiful dress. I'm inspired to use it to make an adult sized top, either with the dot pattern on top or just on top down sleeves. Thanks for posting the pattern.
Katherine
This is fantastic!!
i'm really confused and will probably have a duh moment when it gets explaned but what is it that you mean by no stich on chart a line 1? I had thought slip stich but then you have a symbol for slip one purlwise. so i'm really confused
ooh never mind I figured out what is ment by no stich. disregared previous comment
Oh good! I'm glad you figured it out, Christina. If you need anything else email me at vysews@yahoo.com. I'd love to "see" it when you're done!
hi
this is simply wonderful
ive started it but am stuck on how to begin chart B.im totally confused as to where to start it.im makinh it for 2 yr old so there are 21 st in a round,but the chart has only 20 sts in line 1.also why is the chart not in 1 line like chartA.plllllllllllease clarify this
thanks:)
Hi, Priti
When you are just about to begin line 1 of chart B,
you will have 21 stitches on your needle for each
pattern repeat. As you work line 1, you will add 1 stitch with a yarn-over at the beginning, but then decrease 2 stitches with the double decrease in the middle of the petal tip (the "V" symbol), so you'll have 20 stitches per pattern repeat when you go
to do line 2. You read the chart from right to left.
The stuff at the left side eventually becomes the
petal tip, while the stuff on the right side becomes
that lacy stuff in between. The chart is lined up like that to help you visualize how the stitches relate to one another. For example, all of the double decreases (V's) are lined up with one another in the chart because that's how they'll look to you as you work the knitted fabric.
I'm writing out the directions for line 1 here in case that helps:
yo, p1, k8, s1, k2tog, psso, k8, p1
Email me at vysews@yahoo.com if you have any more questions. Good luck!
This is SOOO ADORABLE! Thank you for your generosity.
Thank you so much for this pattern! Absolutely adorable! I just finished the dress and my daughter LOVES it. It fits perfectly (size 6) and the pattern was easy to follow. I find it amazing that you can come up with something like this - and that you simply let others use it for free. Thank you again. You can see the finished dress in ravelry.com (my username is CreativeToyshop).
Please help! Am trying to print the instructions to the Flora dress, which is possibly the most beautiful knitted garment I have seen. All that prints are two pictures and the graphs? I do hope you can help. Thank you! Congratulations on being so artistic and many thanks.
Cazcuz, I'm not sure why it's printing out in that way for you. I don't have it set up as a pretty pattern pdf file, but I can at least convert the webpage into a pdf file for you. Email me at vysews@yahoo.com and I'll sent it to you
Hi I just finished a size 2. I believe this will be a favorite pattern. Real simple to knit. I am change the knot for the elastic. the square knot may not hold up in the wash. I'm using "Figure Eight, or Flemish" climbers use this to join rope.
Thanks again
I love this dress but would want to knit it for myself it's too good for kids I'm a size 16 and help would be appreciated
lind150459@aol.com
I am trying to knit the Fora dress for my granddaughter. I have a question regrading the instructions in Chart A. What do you mean when you say "no stitch" and what do you mean when you say "sl 1 st to cn"
This is gorgeous!!! I'm only a beginner knitter, but I'm getting typically carried away, and am planning all sorts of projects for my friends' kids (there's only so many jumpers I need) - there's one very girly little two year old who is going to be over the moon if I manage this - thank you so, so, much for sharing!
ps found you via Ravelry.
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