I know that you’re going to look at this dress, and say, “OMG, there’s 4 different types of yarns there!” Yeah, there is. I gathered yarn, and made it look good. The majority of the dress is Red Heart’s soft yellow, bought by the 7oz skein, of which I had 5. The rest is a combination of yellow yarns that I found in my collection, and the bottom rows are Lion Brand Chunky USA, which they no longer have listed on the site. It is this rich medium yellow. Then there’s Lion Brand Fun Fur in Pale Yellow with a strand of Red Heart Soft Yellow in a sc edging, which I did not include in the instructions. (Hold tog a strand of fur with a strand of yarn, sc around.) The Fun Fur edging is around the base of the skirt, the sleeve edges, and the neckline. I love Fun Fur.

I have had numerous people asking me for the pattern, so here it is. All in all it’s pretty simple. Oh, and just so you know, I don’t do gauge. Whatever that is. I use body shapes, body sizes, and if it doesn’t fit you, it’s your own fault for assuming there’s a gauge to begin with. Fit is key. Check the fit at every step. Gather as much yarn as your arms will carry. I hope that’s somewhere close to 6 pounds. I think that should be enough, but I cannot guarantee it.

I am making a lot of assumptions here, mainly, that you know how to crochet, how to join a round, and how to create a seam.

Using worsted weight (#4) yarn, and a size H aluminum ( plastic, glowy, acrylic, etc) hook:

Make a chain long enough to go around your waist + 2ch (don’t stretch it, it’s supposed to be comfy.)

DC in 3rd ch from hook, and all the way across. ch2, turn.

row2-? (just below the breasts, or at bra line): dc across. ch2, turn. This should make a wide swath of fabric that can be measured without stretching from waist to just below the breasts, without overlapping, and possibly without touching at the ends. If you can’t reach all the way around your body with it, you need to redo it, and add some to it. if it’s too loose, and overlaps, you need to rip it out and start over, try removing the overlap only. This means counting. I had to rip out my first 3 tries, for these reasons. I finally decided to count just the overlap, then the rest of the piece, and got it right the 4th time. (Learn from my mistakes!)

Next rows: dc to center of breast,(be as accurate as possible, measuring with your body, and even asking a spouse or close friend to eyeball it for you) increase 1, dc across. Count that number of stitches to just before the increase. Increase again when just before corresponding number of stitches from other end. In each succeeding row, increase in each increase. When center of breast(roughly nipple area, or the “look down” rule) is reached, begin decreasing in each increase, and decrease the same number of rows that you increased. This makes a nice sort of “cup” that makes the dress fit comfortably, and nobody else can wear it!

Back: dc across to center of armpit. ch2, turn. Continue until fabric measures just below center back of neck.

Left shoulder: Same chunk of fabric. dc across to center of armpit. ch2, turn. dc across, decrease in first 2 dc. Continue rows, decreasing in each decrease, until fit measures exactly or just before top of shoulder, and fabric is tapered comfortably. This makes a nice sleeve base, because the dress has been decreased at the bust, it will have a bit of curvature to it.

Right shoulder: repeat as for left shoulder, but decrease on opposite side. This is a V neckline, after all. Join rows at shoulder, sc at back of neck, join other shoulder.

Sleeves: begin at center of armpit, and dc around the outside edges of the shoulder, join to the back by overlapping one st, dc around. Join with slst to 2nd ch of ch2 sp. ch2, (next row) *sk 2 sts, V in next st, sk 2 st, dc in next st* repeat from* to * around. Join with slst to 2nd ch of ch2 sp. ch2 (next row) *shell in next V, dc in next dc* repeat from * to * around. Join with slst to 2nd ch of ch2 sp. ch2 (next row) *shell in next shell, dc in next dc* repeat from * to * around. Repeat the previous row until piece is a comfortable length.

Repeat sleeve on opposite side, turning garment inside out for accuracy. You can stop now, for a cute little minitop with fabulous sleeves.

This is not the design of the dress I made, as the sleeves are solid dcs to the elbow. I did that because I get cold from mid-September, when the weather stars getting below 75 degrees, until mid-May, when it starts getting warm again. If you choose this route, here is the alternate sleeve pattern:

Sleeves: dc in each dc from armpit around, decrease in every 4th st from armpit to mid-shoulder (about 4 rows from top). continue dcs around the back of the garment.

Row 2: repeat R1.

Row 3: repeat R1.

Row 4: dc in every dc around.

Rows 5-12: repeat R4.

Row 13: V in every 3rd dc, ch1.

Row 14: shell in every V, ch2.

Row 15: *shell in shell*

Row 16-end: repeat R15.

Skirt: Remember that sleeve? It gets bigger. Begin at front, and follow the same pattern around, joining with slst to first ch2 sp. Continue that pattern for 5 rounds,  round 6, add a ch1 sp , Round 7,  dc between the shells for the next round. Round 8, make the dc into a V. Round 9, shell in each V. Follow shells pattern again for 10 rounds, and measure for length. When you’re happy with the length, stop. If you reach the top of the foot, and you’re wearing boots, stop. Yarn can be heavy, and if you don’t account for the weight, it will puddle around your feet.

The front still needs to be tied up, so make a chain twice the length of your arm. (or 3 times the length of the front of the dress, approximately 150-200 sts) Lace up the front of your dress. Pull it on, adjust the lacing, and tie it. Pull it off, and find a nice long solid colored sheath dress, about the length of the dress, and wear it under your lovely new dress. you could also use a chemise top and skirt, if the chemise top is (solid, not sheer) spaghetti-strap style.

This is the dress, up close and personal.

This is a great winter dress if made with worsted weight (#4) yarn, a cute little springtime/autumn number if made with sport or DK weight (#3) yarn, and a gorgeous little summer beach coverup if you use (dc, ch2, skip 2dc) filet patterning, shorten the length, and use fine (#2) yarn. If you want a summer dress, or wedding dress from this pattern, I urge you to use fine #10 bedspread weight cotton or polyester thread. Cotton is more common, but poly holds the shape better and doesn’t stretch like cotton does. Gather approximately 5 1000yd balls, and you should have enough. If you choose to go with a color thread, I’d suggest getting about 10-15 balls, as most of them are only 350 yards each.  I know it may sound like a lot (okay, so it is) but for a wedding dress, I say it’s worth it. All the way. I had a lot of fun making my first wedding dress when I was 17, using basically this pattern, (okay, it was an empire waist dress, with full shoulders, and it took 5000 yards and 4 months) but I think it’s a worthwhile venture. I might make mine. hmmmm….