# Lavender Ruffle Baby Dress Free Crochet Pattern
Ruffles make everything better — that’s just science, friends! This lavender baby dress has the sweetest fitted bodice up top and then the skirt just… ruffles. Two tiers of the softest, twirliest ruffles you ever did see, finished with a dainty picot hem. It’s the kind of dress that makes a baby look like she floated straight out of a storybook.
The construction is delightfully simple: a top-down yoke with easy armhole shaping, then the magic happens — you double your stitches and the fabric has no choice but to ruffle! The sleeves get the same treatment with a sweet ruffled edge. If you can half double crochet and double your stitches, you can make this dress. Let’s ruffle!
What You’ll Need
- Approximately 350 yards of DK weight (CYCA 3) yarn in lavender (smooth cotton or cotton blend)
- US size G-6 / 4.0 mm crochet hook (or size needed to obtain gauge)
- 1 small button, 1/2 inch diameter
- Yarn needle, scissors, stitch markers
Finished size:
- Size 6 to 12 months — chest 18 inches (46 cm), length shoulder to hem 14 inches (36 cm)
Gauge:
- 16 hdc and 12 rows = 4 inches (10 cm) in half double crochet. The ruffle tiers are very forgiving, but check gauge for the bodice fit
The Pattern
Abbreviations: ch = chain, sl st = slip stitch, sc = single crochet, hdc = half double crochet, dc = double crochet, st(s) = stitch(es), sk = skip, RS = right side, WS = wrong side, inc = increase, rep = repeat, rnd = round.
Special stitches: Picot: ch 3, sl st into the first chain. Ruffle increase: 2 stitches worked into the same stitch.
Notes: The yoke is worked flat in rows with a button closure at the back. After the armhole shaping row, the piece joins to work in the round. The ruffle tiers come from doubling the stitch count — work them loosely so the fabric can gather naturally.
Yoke (Worked Flat)
Chain 64.
Row 1 (RS): Hdc in 3rd ch from hook and in each ch across. Turn. (62 hdc)
Rows 2–5: Ch 2 (does not count as st), hdc in each st across. Turn. (62 hdc each row)
Row 6 (armhole shaping row): Ch 2, hdc in next 14 sts, ch 8 (armhole bridge — skip 12 sts), hdc in next 24 sts, ch 8 (armhole bridge — skip 12 sts), hdc in next 14 sts. Turn. (68 sts: 14 + 8 + 24 + 8 + 14)
Row 7 (joining row): Ch 2, hdc in each hdc and each ch across. Join with a sl st to the first hdc of the row to form a round — from here the skirt is worked in the round. (68 hdc)
Rows 8–10: Ch 2, hdc in each st around. Join. (68 hdc each round)
Ruffle Skirt
Round 11 (ruffle increase): Ch 2, 2 hdc in each st around. Join. (136 hdc)
Rounds 12–15: Ch 2, hdc in each st around. Join. (136 hdc each round)
Round 16 (second ruffle increase): Ch 2, (hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st) around. Join. (204 hdc)
Rounds 17–20: Ch 2, hdc in each st around. Join. (204 hdc each round)
Round 21 (picot hem): Ch 1. (Sc in next st, ch 2, picot, ch 2, sk 1 st) repeat around, adjusting at the join as needed. Join with sl st to first sc. Fasten off.
Ruffle Sleeves (Make 2)
With RS facing, join yarn at the underarm bridge of one armhole.
Round 1: Ch 3 (counts as dc), work 19 dc evenly around the armhole opening (12 skipped sts + 8 bridge chains = 20 spaces; work 19 dc evenly). Join. (20 dc)
Round 2: Ch 3, 2 dc in each dc around. Join. (40 dc)
Round 3 (ruffle edge): Ch 1. (Sc in next st, sk 2 sts, 5-dc shell in next st, sk 2 sts) repeat around. Join. (5 shells) Fasten off and weave in ends. Repeat for the second armhole.
Finishing
Work a picot edging around the neckline: join yarn at the back neck, ch 1, (sc in next st, picot, sc in next st, sk 1 st) around.
At the center back, chain 6 for the button loop and slip stitch back to the neckline. Sew the button opposite the loop. Weave in all ends and block lightly — let the ruffles fall naturally rather than pinning them flat.
Sophie’s Tips
- Work those ruffle increase rounds LOOSELY, friends! Tight stitches can’t gather, and the whole magic of this dress is the fabric blooming into ruffles. Relax your hands and let the stitches breathe.
- The ruffle tiers look best in a smooth, soft yarn with a little drape. A stiff yarn will make the ruffles stick out like a lampshade — cute, but not the storybook twirl we’re going for!
- Don’t pin the ruffles flat when blocking. Just smooth the bodice, fluff the ruffles with your fingers, and let the skirt dry in its natural cascade.
Twirl, baby, twirl — this little lavender dream was made for spinning!
