Simply Spring Baby Dress: 6 – 18 Months Free Crochet Pattern

The Simply Spring Baby Dress free crochet pattern is designed to make the little girl in you life look adorable while not making you lose your hair with an overly complex crochet pattern. I made this pattern as simple as I could so everyone with a baby girl, be it a daughter, granddaughter, niece or someone at your church’s baby, you will be able to create this little number for them. I kept the design simple, but adorable and can be worked up in an evening. It can be made with or without the ruffly sleeves. The waistband and bow are also optional.  It makes a perfect last minute baby shower gift! I have provided size newborn through 18 months. You will find a bonus pattern for the headband below as well!

I made this dress with Red Heart Baby Hugs yarn. This yarn’s huggable soft feel is perfect to wrap your baby up in. The worsted weight thickness helps make this project work up quickly for a last minute holiday dress or baby shower. The skirt is full and falls to right above the baby’s knee. This makes it a little airy and easier to buckle our little bundles into their carseat! I made my dress a solid color, but it would look just as nice with a self striping yarn or with one color for the bodice and another color for the skirt.

This pattern is designed with beginner crocheters in mind and only uses a chain stitch, slip stitch and half double crochet. If you decide to put the sleeves on this pattern you will use four single crochet stitches. The pattern for 6 months through 18 months is listed below, while the pattern for Newborn through 6 months is here. I separated the two patterns to keep the patterns simple.

I have provided instructions for the headband, waistband and bow. You will also find the head, chest and length measurements I used to create the different sizes. I would default to matching the measurements to the stated baby size and treat the head measurement as the most important measurement because your starting chain will not stretch as much as the stitches in the chest area.

Materials:

Red Heart Baby Hugs 1 skein in main color
Red Heart Baby Hugs 1 skein in accent color
US – H 5 mm Hook
Needle or smaller hook to weave in ends
Scissors
Stitch Marker or different color piece of yarn

Stitches and Abbreviations:

Ch – Chain
Sc – Single Crochet
Hdc- Half Double Crochet
St(s) – Stitch(es)
Slst- Slip stitch

Gauge, Dimensions:

Gauge:

7 hdc = 2″
4 rows of hdc = 2″

Dimensions:

Please keep in mind that the following measurements are unstretched measurements and the crocheted piece will have some stretch in most areas, except for the head dimensions. I use head dimensions to determine how wide I need my neckline to be to fit around the baby’s head. This are has the starting chain and will have a lot less stretch. I would use the head dimension as your primary dimension.

Newborn: Head – 14.5″ Chest – 14.5″ Length from waist to knee – 5.5″

0-3 Months: Head – 16″ Chest – 16″ Length from waist to knee – 6″

3-6 Months: Head – 17″ Chest – 17″ Length from waist to knee – 6.5″

6-9 Months: Head – 18″ Chest – 18″ Length from waist to knee – 7″

9-12 Months: Head – 19″ Chest – 19″ Length from waist to knee – 7.5″

12-18 Months: Head – 20″ Chest – 20″ Length from waist to knee – 8″

Simply Spring Baby Dress Pattern:

6-9 Months (9-12, 12-18)

Pattern is written for 6-9 Months with 9-12 months and 12-18 months stitch count in parenthesis. The pattern for newborn through 6 months can be found here.

Dress

Using Main color.

Ch 64 (68, 72) slst to the first ch

Row 1: Ch2, turn. Hdc in the next 7(8,8) ch, [hdc, ch, hdc] in the next ch, *hdc in the next 15 (16, 17) ch, [hdc, ch, hdc] in the next ch* repeat from *to* 3 times. Hdc in the next 8(8,9) ch, slst to the first hdc. Place stitch markers in each ch space.

Row 2: Ch 2, turn. Hdc in the next 9(9,10) sts, [hdc, ch, hdc] in the ch space. *Hdc in the next 17 (18, 19) sts, [hdc, ch, hdc] in the ch space* repeat from *to* 3 times. Hdc in the next 8 (9,9) sts, slst to first hdc. Move your stitch markers to the ch space of this row.

Row 3: Ch 2, turn. Hdc in the next 9(10,10) sts, [hdc, ch, hdc] in the ch space. *Hdc in the next 19 (20, 21) sts, [hdc, ch, hdc] in the ch space* repeat from *to* 3 times. Hdc in the next 10 (10,11) sts, slst to first hdc. Move your stitch markers to the ch space of this row.

Row 4: Ch2, turn. Hdc in the next 11(11,12) sts. Ch 12(12,13), skip the first ch space, skip the next 18(19,20)hdc sts, and the second ch space. Hdc into the next stitch 21(22,23)  until you reach the third ch space. Ch 12(12,13), skip the third ch space, skip the next 18(19,20) sts, and the fourth ch space. Hdc in the next 10(10,11) sts. Slst to the first hdc. At this point you can remove your stitch markers. The collar will fold in half and create the arm holes. Moving forward you will be working the waist of the dress. 

Here is a photo of row 4 half worked.

Here is the completed row 4.

Row 5: Ch 2, turn. Hdc in the next 10(11,11) sts, hdc in the next 12(12,13) ch, hdc in the next 21(22,23) sts, hdc in the next 12(12,13) ch, hdc in the last 11(11,12) sts. Slst to the first hdc.

Row 6-7: Ch 2, turn. Hdc in the next 66(68,72) sts. Slst to the first hdc.

Row 8: Ch 2, turn. 2Hdc in each of the next 66(68,72) sts. Slst to the first hdc.

Row 9-30: Ch 2, turn. Hdc in the next 132(136,144) sts. Slst to the first hdc.

This is where I finished the 6-9 months skirt. For the 9-12 months skirt I would add one more row. For the 12-18 months skirt I would add to more rows to reach the dimensions listed above. Of course you can always add as many rows as you like to reach the desired length. Just remember that most baby girl dresses reach night below the baby’s knee so that it does not become a problem when buckling the baby into the carseat.

Sleeves (optional)

Row 1: Working in the shoulder area, slst to the fifth chain from the chain space. Sc in the next stitch, 2hdc in the next 9(10,11) sts, sc in the next st. slst in the next st. Turn.

Row 2: Slst to the top os the previous rows sc, sc in the next st. Hdc in the next 16(18,20) sts. Sc in the next st. Slst in the next st. Fasten off. Repeat on the other arm hole and weave in ends.

Waistband

Using Accent Color.

Ch 70(74,78), slst to first ch.

Row 1: Ch2, turn. Hdc in each ch, slst to first hdc.

Row 2-3: Ch 2, turn. Hdc in each st, slst to first hdc. Fasten off.

Bow

Using Accent Color.

Ch 34, slst to first ch.

Row 1: Ch2, turn. Hdc in each ch, slst to first hdc.

Row 2-5: Ch 2, turn. Hdc in each st, slst to first hdc. Fasten off leaving 12″ tail.

Place the waistband around the dress, cinch the bow in the middle and use the yarn tail to wrap around the center several times. Place the bow on the waistband and use the yarn to wrap around the bow and sew to the dress. Once it is very secure, tie off the yarn and weave in all ends.

Continue down for a bonus pattern. The daisy headband!

BONUS PATTERN!

Daisy Headband:

With main color:

Ch 63 (66,70). Slst to first ch.

Row 1: Ch2, turn. Hdc in each ch, slst to first hdc. Fasten off. Leave a long tail to use to sew flower to headband.

Flower:

With main color:

Ch 3, hdc 9 into 3rd ch from hook, slst to first hdc. Fasten off.

With accent color:

Slst to any st, ch2, *hdc in next st, ch2, slst to same st* repeat from *to* 9 times. Slst to first st and fasten off. Weave end all ends and use the ends from the headband to sew flower to headband.

Now you have a cute little headband to match your pretty little dress, to put on your adorable little girl.

Let me know how you like this pattern and if there is anything I can do to improve my pattern writing.  Constructive criticism is very welcomed. If you have any questions leave a comment below and I will try and help the best I can. If you decide to make a Simply Spring Baby Dress of your own, I would LOVE to see a photo! If you share it on social media be sure to tag me @windingroadcrochet or #windingroadcrochet.

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