American Girl Doll Pleated Lace Dress

Free Doll Dress Knitting Pattern

The skirt of this cute doll dress features a Puff Rib pattern, which gives it a pleated look. A ribbon is used to cinch the waist.

It's definitely an outfit for a more formal occasion, and would work well as a choir girl or bridesmaid dress.

Skills Required/Techniques Used:
-Knit & purl, cast on & bind off
-Increasing: yarn over (YO), make 1 (m1)
-Decreasing: purl 3 together (p3tog)
-Working in the round on double pointed needles
-Working lace patterns
-Picking up stitches

Size: fits 18-inch dolls like American Girl, Our Generation and other dolls with similar body.

Materials: Paton (affiliate link)’s Lace light fingering weight yarn (80% acrylic, 10% mohair, 10% wool) 85g/3 oz 455m/498yds), color Vintage - 1 ball

Needles: circular and double pointed needles (dpn) US # 2 (2.75mm) OR SIZE NEEDED TO OBTAIN GAUGE

Gauge for stockinette stitch: 26 sts x 32 rows = 4" x 4" (10 cm x 10 cm)

Notions: yarn needle, 4 stitch markers, invisible plastic sew-on snaps, sewing needle and thread of matching color, small embellishments of your choice (optional).

Abbreviations:
k - knit
p - purl
st, sts - stitch, stitches
p3tog - purl 3 sts together
pu&k- pick up and knit
yo - yarn over
m1 - make 1 increase - I used the increase described by Elizabeth Zimmerman: make a backward loop over the right-hand needle and in the next row/round purl/knit as a regular stitch.
RS - right side
WS - wrong side
sm - slip marker
pm - place marker
rm - remove marker

Pattern Notes:

Stockinette in rows:
Row 1 (RS): knit
Row 2: purl
Repeat 2 rows.

Reversed stockinette in rows:
Row 1 (RS): purl
Row 2: knit
Repeat 2 rows

Puff Rib pattern in rows:
Number of stitches is multiple of 3 plus 2, the number of stitches increases by 2 per repeat in the first row and returns to the initial number in the fourth row.
Row 1 (RS): p2, *yo, k1, yo, p2 - repeat from *
Row 2 (WS): k2 *p3, k2 - repeat from *
Row 3 (RS): p2, *k3, p2 - repeat from *
Row 4 (WS):k2, *p3tog, k2 - repeat from *
Repeat rows 1-4

Garter stitch in rows: all rows knit.

Raglan increases: in every right side (RS) row, work till 1 st remains before the marker, yo, k1, slip marker (sm), k1, yo. There are 4 raglan lines, repeat on each raglan line, thus the number of sts in each RS row will increase by 8.
The selvedge/edge stitches are worked as follows: knit the first stitch and purl the last one.

Button Bands (bb) are worked in garter stitch on 3 stitches in the beginning and in the end of each row.


Short Overview of the Pattern:

The dress is worked top-down, seamlessly, back and forth with opening on the back. The yoke is worked in stockinette with button bands in garter stitch and raglan increases. The skirt is worked in a puff rib pattern. The A-shape of the dress is achieved by increasing the number of stitches between the puff stitches. The sleeves are worked in rounds on dpn.

Dress

Cast on 50: 1 st edge -3 sts right bb - 4 sts right back – 2 sts raglan (place the first marker between these 2 sts) – 8 sts right sleeve - 2 sts raglan (place the second marker between these 2 sts) - 10 sts front - 2 sts raglan (place the third marker between these 2 sts) - 8 sts left sleeve - 2 sts raglan (place the forth marker between these 2 sts) - 4 sts left back - 3 sts left bb - 1 st edge

Row 1 (RS): *knit till 1 st remains before marker, m1, k1, sm, k1, m1 - repeat from * 3 times, knit till last st, p1. + 8 sts

Row 2 (WS): k4, purl till last 4 sts, k3, p1.

Repeat rows 1-2 nine more times.

The number of stitches after
row 1 = 58
row 3 = 66
row 5 = 74
row 7 = 82
row 9 = 90
row 11 = 98
row 13 = 106
row 15 = 114
row 17 = 122
row 19 = 130


Divide for sleeves and bodice:

Row 21 (RS): k19, rm, transfer the next 30 sts to a piece of waste yarn, rm, co3, k32, rm, transfer the next 30 sts to a piece of waste yarn, rm, co3, k18, p1. = 76 sts

Row 22: k4, p68, k3, p1.

Row 23 (RS): k 4, * p2, yo, k1, yo, - repeat from * 22 times, p2, k3, p1. = 120 sts

Row 24: k4, * k2, p3 - repeat from * 22 times, k5, p1.

Row 25 (RS): k4, *p2, k3 - repeat from * 22 times, p2, k3, p1.

Row 26 (WS): k4, *k2, p3tog - repeat from * 22 times, k5, p1. = 76 sts

Row 27 (RS, increase row): k4, *p1, m1, p1, yo, k1, yo, p2, yo, k1, yo - repeat from * 11 times, p1, m1, p1, k3, p1. = 132 sts

Row 28: k4, * k3, p3, k2, p3 - repeat from * 11 times, k6, p1

Row 29 (RS)): k4, *p3, k3, p2, k3 - repeat from * 11 times, p3, k3, p1.

Row 30 (WS): k4, *k3, p3tog, k2, p3tog - repeat from * 11 times, k6, p1.= 88 sts

Row 31: k4, *p3, yo, k1, yo, p2, yo, k1, yo - repeat from * 11 times, p3, k3, p1.

Rows 32-34: repeat rows 28- 30 one more time.

Row 35 (RS, increase row): k4, *p3, yo, k1, yo, p1, m1, p1, yo, k1, yo - repeat from * 11 times, p3, k3, p1 = 143 sts

Row 36: k4,*k3, p3 - repeat from * 22 times, k6, p1.

Row 37: k4, *p3, k3 - repeat from * 22 times, p3, k3, p1.

Row 38: k4, *k3, p3tog - repeat from * 22 times, k6, p1 = 99 sts

Row 39: k4, *p3, yo, k1, yo - rep from * 22 times, p3, k3, p1.

Rows: 40, 41, 42: repeat rows 36-38

Row 43 (RS, increase row): k4, *p2, m1, p1, yo, k1, yo, p3, yo, k1, yo - repeat from * 11 times, p2, m1, p1, k3, p1 = 155 sts

Row 44: k4, * k4, p3, k3, p3 - repeat from * 11 times, k7, p1

Row 45: k4, *p4, k3, p3, k3 - repeat from * 11 times, p4, k3, p1.

Row 46: k4, *k4, p3tog, k3, p3tog - repeat from * 11 times, k7, p1. =111 sts

Row 47 k4, *p4, yo, k1, yo, p3, yo, k1, yo - repeat from * 11 times, p4, k3, p1.

Row 48: k4, *k4, p3, k3, p3 - repeat from* 11 times, k4, k3, p1

Row 49: k4 , *p4,k3, p3, k3 - repeat from * 11 times, p4, k3, p1

Row 50: : k4, *k4, p3tog, k3, p3tog - repeat from * 11 times, k7, p1

Row 51 (RS, increase row): k4, *p4, yo, k1, yo, p2, m1, p1, yo, k1, yo - repeat from * 11 times, p4, k3, p1 = 166 sts

Row 52: k4, *k4, p3 - repeat from * 22 times, k7, p1

Row 53: k4, *p4, k3 - repeat from * 22 times, p4, k3, p1

Row 54: k4, *k4, p3tog - repeat from * 22 times, k4, k3, p1 = 122 sts

Row 55: k4, *p4, yo, k1, yo - repeat from * 22 times, p4, k3, p1

Rows 56, 57, 58: repeat rows 52-54.

Row 59 (RS, increase row): k4, *p2, m1, p2, yo, k1, yo, p4, yo, k1, yo - repeat from * 11 times, p2, m1, p2, k3, p1. = 178 sts

Row 60: k4, *k5, p3, k4, p3 - repeat from * 11 times, k5, k3, p1.

Row 61: k4, *p5, k3, p4, k3 -repeat from * 11 times, p5, k3, p1.

Row 62: k4, *k5, p3tog, k4, p3tog - repeat from * 11 times, k8, p1. = 134 sts

Row 63: k4, *p5, yo, k1, yo, p4, yo, k1, yo - rep 11 times, p5, k3, p1.

Rows 64- 66 - repeat rows 60 - 62

Row 67 (RS, increase row): k4, *p5, yo, k1, yo, p2, m1, p2, yo, k1, yo -repeat from * 11 times, p5, k3, p1 = 189 sts

Row 68: k4, *k5, p3 - repeat from * 22 times, k8, p1.

Row 69: k4, p5, k3 - repeat from * 22 times, p5, k3, p1.

Row 70: k4, *k5, p3 tog - repeat from * 22 times, k8, p1. = 145 sts

Row 71: k4,*p5, yo, k1, yo -rep 22 times, p5, k3, p1. = 189 sts

Rows 72-73 - repeat rows 68-69

Rows 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80: knit. Bind off. Cut yarn.


Sleeves.

Work one sleeve at a time.

Transfer 30 sts from waste yarn on 3 dpn, 10 sts per needle, pu&k 3 underarm sts = 33 sts.

Work 33 rounds, all rounds knit. Bind off, cut yarn.


Finishing:

Weave in all yarn ends. Sew invisible plastic snaps on the button bands.

Have fun!