Since my first post showing the knit toddler sundress that I made in May, I have made two more. I have not had the chance to post a picture of the second one yet and the the most recent one is the dress I will talk about here. I have been designing a 4th of July themed dress in my mind for awhile, and actually started knitting it before I had the design pegged. The construction is the same as the first ones that I knit, but I made the skirt on this one a few inches shorter. The color theme is American Flag inspired (obviously) but I chose "country Americana" colors instead of straight red, white and blue. It was meant to be worn by the Little Princess for all of our Independence day get-togethers, but it turned out really cute and she will be able to wear it all summer!
I finished it the morning of the 4th, right before leaving to go watch the parade!
Since I have had tons of blog hits from people looking for a knit toddler sun dress pattern, I will post it here. Parts of it were inspired by a free pattern I found for a tank top online, but I have changed and added so much that I now pretty much call it my design, hehehe. Keep in mind I am no expert pattern writer!
Stars & Stripes Toddler Sun Dress (Size 2T)
Materials:
Size 9 (US) straight needles
1 skein each of worsted weight yarn in red, white, and blue
Back:
*CO 84 sts
Knit 8 rows in red for garter stitch border.
Switch to white and p 1 row
Work 4 more rows in stockinette stitch.
Next row: k2, sl 1, k1, psso, k across to last 4 sts, k2tog, k2
These 6 rows form 1 stripe.
Work 5 more stripes, reducing in the same fashion every 6th row. (72 sts remain)
Work 2 more stripes even with no reductions.
Switch to white and begin the last stripe (total of 10 stripes). Work two rows even.
Next row: k3, (sl1, k1, psso)x15, k6, (k2tog)x15, k3 (42 sts remain)
Work 3 more rows even.
Switch to blue and k 1 row.
Work the following chart bottom to top, left to right, right to left, etc...
Next row: BO 5, p across
Next row: BO 5, k across
Next row: p2, p2tog, p across to last 3 sts, p2tog, p1
Next row: k across.
Repeat the last 2 rows 2 more times*, BO
Sew in ends.
Front:
Work the same as given for back between **
Straps
Next row: p7, BO 12, p7
Work on these last 7 stitches for 20 rows in stockinette stitch (approx 5 inches), BO.
Re attach yarn to remaining 7 stitches and work on them for 20 rows (approx 5 inches), BO.
Sew in ends. Join front to back and sew side seams, sew straps to back of dress.
And that's it. I am hoping there are no errors, but it's almost a guarantee that there is, please let me know if you find anything glaring! Thanks for reading!
-Diana, The Ivy Kitchen
