This will be pretty sketchy, so only attempt if you have done a fair bit of knitting before... Feather & Fan pattern: I did several swatches and made a variation of the usual pattern. This is the basic pattern, there were 6 repeats of this in each row, plus 8 sts plain at each end: Row A) K2tog twice; [YO, K1] 4 times; k2tog twice Row B) Purl Row C) Knit Row D) Purl Row E) K2tog twice; [YO, K1] 4 times; k2tog twice Row F) Purl Row G) Knit Row H) Knit (this will make a wavy ridge on the right side - for closer ridges, knit Row D as well.)
Pattern - see diagram photo. Cast on 88 stitches.
Row 1: K8, work six lots of feather&fan pattern {K2tog twice; [YO, K1] 4 times; k2tog twice}, K8 Row 2: Purl
...continue for 12 rows, using feather&fan pattern and leaving 8sts in plain stocking stitch at each end...
remember: Rows 5: feather&fan pattern row Row 8: knit instead of purl Row 9: feather& fan pattern row Row 10 (buttonhole): P2, cast off 4, turn work around, cast on 4, turn back & continue across row. (Note that to place the buttonhole in the right spot, you are passing stitch#3 over #4 - leave the first 2 you knit alone!) Row 12: Cast off 12, P8, Cast off 8, purl to end. Row 13: Cast off 12, K8, Cast off 8, K4, work 2 repeats of feather&fan, k4.
You now have 2 sets of 8 sts (for the straps) and one set of 28 (for the front bodice) - you can do them in any order - I worked the bodice first, then cut the yarn off, made 2 balls and worked both straps at the same time. You could do the straps first, or make 3 balls and do all three parts at the same time.
You are now going to decrease the sides of the bodice by 4 stitches each side over the next 16 rows, while continuing to work feather&fan over the middle 24 sts. I suggest doing the decreases as k2tog and p2tog at the start of 2 non-pattern rows so you don't have to think about it at the same time as the feather&fan!
You also need to work 2 4-stitch buttonholes, 2 stitches in from each end, on the second-last row before you cast off.
The straps are 56 rows long, I did each 8th row knit instead of purl to make a ridge and make it tie in with the rest. You could do your favourite anti-roll edges if you want.
Once finished, weave in the yarn ends, wash & block.
Prepare your fabric skirt - I put an inverted pleat at each side for freedom of movement. I finished all 4 sides of the fabric and sewed the pleats down with a sewing machine, then carefully pinned the skirt to the bodice and handstitched them together - one pass across the straight edge of the fabric, then longer stitches to tack the waves down.
I then marked & handstitched buttonholes at even intervals down the skirt back and sewed on the buttons. I also put a few stitches in the edges of the knitted buttonholes to make them just the right size for my buttons.This will be pretty sketchy, so only attempt if you have done a fair bit of knitting before... Feather & Fan pattern: I did several swatches and made a variation of the usual pattern. This is the basic pattern, there were 6 repeats of this in each row, plus 8 sts plain at each end: Row A) K2tog twice; [YO, K1] 4 times; k2tog twice Row B) Purl Row C) Knit Row D) Purl
I've seen cute dresses with knitted bodices a few times and wanted to make one. The yellow fabric has been in my stash - I originally bought it to go with something else that I've since used, so finding the blue yarn in my stash made it the ideal skirt.
What are you most proud of?
My first try at hand-sewn buttonholes - I think they came out pretty good (and much better than my sewing machine will do - it's sadly unwilling to do any reverse stitches at all these days). I used this buttonhole stitch: http://www.ushist.com/general-information/hand-stitch_buttonholes.shtml
What advice would you give someone starting this project?
The feather&fan pattern uses 12 stitches for each repeat - you could easily size this up by adding another repeat or more, and more rows.
Do at least one large swatch in the feather&fan pattern so you know how it is going to turn out - I did 4 in different patterns & needle sizes before I was happy!
On mine, the finished waist measurement is 55cm, strap length about 20cm. It fits my average-but-round 1y.o.
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