Sweet Summer Knitted Dress Pattern for 18-inch Dolls — Top-Down Raglan with Button Back

This easy-to-follow pattern creates a sweet knitted summer dress sized for 18-inch dolls. Worked top-down with raglan increases and a crocheted button band at the back, the dress uses fingering-weight yarn in a main and contrasting color and closes with four small buttons. Suitable for knitters comfortable with basic increases, decreases and working in the round on double-pointed needles.

Hand-knitted top-down raglan summer dress for an 18-inch doll, featuring a contrasting buttoned back band.

Skills Required/Techniques Used:

- Knit & purl, cast on & bind off

- Increasing: knit front and back (kfr&b)

- Decreasing: knit 2 together (k2tog), slip-slip-knit (ssk)

- Working in the round on double pointed needles

- Basic chrocheting

Materials: Plymouth Yarn Sockotta (45% cotton, 40% wool, 15% Nylon) fingering weight yarn, 3 1/2 oz/300 gr 414 yds/379 m - 1/2 ball (Main Color - MC)

Small amount, about 20 yrds of Knit Picks Stroll Fingering weight yarn, 50 gr/ 231 yrd /211 m (75% wool, 25% Nylon), color Barn Red (Contrasting Color - CC)

Notions: yarn needle, 4 stitch markers, 4 red buttons 5-6 mm, sewing needle and thread to attach buttons.

Needles: US 1 (2.25) circular needles OR SIZE NEEDED TO OBTAIN GAUGE

Gauge for stockinette stitch: 28 st x 40 rows = 4" x 4" (10 cm x 10 cm)

Abbreviations:

• K – knit
• P – purl
• St – stitch
• Sts - stitches
• pu&k - pick up and knit
• RS – right side
• WS – wrong side
• MC - main color
• CC - contrast color
• sl - slip
• kfr&b - knit front and back (increase 1)
• m1 - Make 1 increase
• sm - slip marker

Pattern Notes:

Stockinette Stitch in rows:

Row 1 (RS and all RS rows) - knit

Row 2 (WS and all WS rows) - purl

Repeat 2 rows.

Stockinette Stitch in rounds: knit all rounds

Garter Stitch in rows: knit all rows

Garter stitch in rounds:

Round 1 and all odd rounds - knit

Round 2 and all even rounds - purl

Selvedge/edge stitches: knit the first stitch and purl the last stitch in a row.

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. There are 4 raglan lines, that's why the number of sts in every RS row will increase by 8 sts.

Dress

The dress is worked from the top down, with increases at the raglan lines, back and forth with a back seam down to the waist line. From the waist line, it's worked in rounds . The button band is crocheted.

With CC yarn, cast on 46 sts, and purl one, foundation row.

Change to MC yarn.

Row 1 (RS): sl1, k44, p1.

Row 2 (WS): sl1, p45.

Check the sts and place markers:

1 edge st, 5 sts (right back), 1 st (the first raglan line, place a marker before this st), 10 sts (right sleeve), 1 st (the second raglan line, place the second marker before this st), 10 sts (front), 1 st (the third raglan line, place the third marker before this st), 10 sts (left sleeve), 1 st (the forth raglan line, place the forth marker before this st), 5 sts (left back), 1 edge st. = 46 sts

Row 3 (RS and all RS rows): sl 1, *knit all sts till marker, m1, sm, k1, m1 - repeat from * 4 times, knit till the last st, p1. (+8 sts)

Row 4 (WS and all WS rows): sl1, purl to the end.

Repeat rows 3 and 4 nine more times.

After row 3 the number of sts is 54 sts

After row 5 - 62 sts

After row 7 - 70 sts

After row 9 - 78 sts

After row 11 - 86 sts

After row 13 - 94 sts

After row 15 -102 sts

After row 17 - 110 sts

After row 19 - 118 sts

After row 21 - 126 sts

Change to CC yarn and work rows 23 - 26.

Row 23 (RS): sl1, k124, p1.

Row 24 (WS): sl1, p16, bind off the next 30 sts of the sleeve, p32 sts of the front, bind off the next 30 sts of the sleeve, purl 17 sts of the back.

Row 25 (RS): sl1, k16, cast on 6 sts for the underarm, k32, cast on 6 sts for the underarm, k16, p1. = 78 sts

Row 26 (WS): sl1, p77.

Change to MC.

Row 27 (RS, increase row): sl1, kfr&b 76 sts, p1. = 154 sts

Row 28 (WS): sl1, p153.

Row 29 (RS): sl1, k152, p1.

Repeat rows 28 and 29 five more times. After you finish row 39, join into round and continue to work in rounds.

Work 45 rounds in stockinette: all rounds knit.

Change to CC and work 5 more rounds in garter stitch: rounds 46, 48, 50 - knit, rounds 47 and 49 purl.

Bind off. Cut the yarn.

Button Band:

Crochet the button band on the right back: *1 sc in each of the 3 edge st loops, 3 ch, skip 3 edge st.loops - repeat 4 times to the end of the row.

Finishing

Weave in all yarn ends.

Sew 4 buttons on the left edge of the back.

Enjoy!