This dress was inspired by a picture I’d seen on Pinterest, although it ended up being very different – because of the fit and possibly because I used a heavy and rather stretchy yarn.
This is the challenge with making garments out of motifs – the size flexibility is very limited. I tried adding two more flowers to the body width – actually, this is how I started. But this didn’t work as you can see.
But the dress was then way too large. I actually love how it came out – despite the very different look.
I called it Joanie because I was watching one TV show while working on this dress, and the look of dress reminds me somehow one of the main characters, Joan. Can you guess which show I’m talking about? I think the green would go amazingly well with her red hair…
Thank you, Carolyn, for featuring this dress in your linky party!
Anyways, I am sharing my notes on this dress here. I would love to have the charts for you, as it would be so much easier to explain everything, but I’d spend ages making them and they’d still be horrible. I haven’t yet found a good software for creating crochet charts. If there’s interest, I may do a couple of videos, so please let me know if that’s something that would be of help.
Materials used
3 skeins of Alize Diva yarn ( 100% microfiber, 350m/100g)
3.25mm (D), 3.5mm (E), 3.75 (F) and 4mm (G) hooks – I used different hook sizes to add a little shaping to the dress, while keeping the same number of motifs per horizontal row.
Finished measurements and gauge
This yarn is quite stretchy, so there is quite a bit of negative ease. The motive crocheted with 3.75 hook is about 14cm (5 in) measured across from the middle of a side to the middle of the opposite side (not point to point)
My dress fits over my 87 cm (34in) chest and 93cm (36.5 in) hips. It has stretched quite a bit lengthwise with wear.
Making the motifs
These are made in rounds. I am using the US crochet terminology throughout.
Rd. 1: working in magic loop, ch5, (dc, ch2)x5, join the round with sl st.
Rd. 2: ch3, 2dc in the same st, ch 2, (3 dc in the next dc, ch2)x5 join the round with sl st.
Rd. 3: ch3, dc in the same stitch as sl st, dc in the next dc, 2dc in the next dc, ch5, ( 2dc in the next dc, dc in the next dc, 2dc in the next dc, ch5)x5, join the round with sl st.
Rd. 4: ch3, dc in each of the next 4 dcs, ch5, sc in the ch5-sp, ch5, (dc in each of the next 5 dcs, ch5, sc in the ch5-sp, ch5)x5, join the round with sl st.
Rd. 5: ch 3, sk next dc, working in the 3rd and 5th dc, dc2tog, (ch5, sc in the next ch5-sp, dc in the next sc, ch2, dc in the same sc, sc in the next ch5-sp, ch5, working in the 1st, 3rd and the 5th dcs of the next group of 5 dcs, dc3tog)x5, ch5, sc in the next ch5-sp, dc in the next sc, ch2, dc in the same sc, sc in the next ch5-sp, ch2, dc in the 3rd ch of the beginning of the round).
Rd. 6: ch1, sc in the same space, ch7, sc in the next ch5-sp, ch7, sc in the next ch2-sp, (ch7, sc in the next ch5-sp, ch7, sc in the next ch5-sp, ch7, sc in the next ch2-sp)x5, ch7, sl st in the first sc.
Joining the motifs.
The motifs are joined as you go in the last round – instead of ch7 you make ch3 , slip stich in the corresponding arch of the other motive, ch 3. The motifs are joined alongside the sides of the hexagons. Each side is made up of three arches – they are the stitch repeat in the brackets of the last round.
Join the motifs as per the chart below. The number in each hexagone is the hook size I used.
The black lines are the sides that you join, the dotted line show a “fold”, so this hexagone is part of both the front and the back of the dress. The blue lines are the sides that remain free for bottom, neckline and sleeve openings. I joined the motifs along the red line for the front, and did not for the back, to create a wider opening for the head to pass through.
Edging
I added edging to the sleeves and bottom, but not the neckline.
Rd. 1: Join yarn in the slip stitch between two motives. Ch3, dc in the next ch3 sp (half of the arch), [ch3, sc in the sc, (ch7, sc in the next sc)X6, ch3, dc in the next ch3-sp, dc in the the slip stitch between two motives, ch3, dc in the next ch3 sp]. Repeat the instructions between the square brackets until the end of the round.
Rd. 2: ch 1, sc in the same dc,[sk 1 dc ch4, sc in the next sc,( ch7, sc in the next sc)x6, ch 4, skip 1st dc, sc in the next dc].
Rd. 3: ch1, sc in the same sc, [ch3picot, ch3, sc in the next sc, (ch3picot, ch6, sc in the next sc)x6, ch3picot, ch3, sc in the next sc].
Final notes
I know this description is still quite raw and maybe not very clear. If anyone would like to try this dress but it feels dauting, I’d be happy to guide you through the process – we could even do a crochet-along if there were a few people interested. So please don’t be shy and comment if this is your case!