Heureuse Barbie Dress (PDF File)

Hi there! I wrote this post over two years ago and it’s past time for an update. I originally uploaded a PDF, but during my picture catastrophe it disappeared. So I thought I would use this opportunity to rewrite it in my usual format!

Pictures of the finished dress are forthcoming.

I’m changing a few things to make it more user-friendly: first of all, the pipe cleaners I used at first kept poking out and were definitely not child-friendly, so I’m removing them. That meant I had to change the starting method, so there are a couple modifications in this “new” pattern. I hope it will make it easier. 🙂

Materials

• Worsted weight yarn in two colors: one for the main dress, one for the ruffle and belt.
• Small amount of crochet thread if you’d like to add a strap (this is optional)
• G (4.00 MM) crochet hook (for the belt)
• H (5.00 MM) crochet hook
• I (5.50 MM) crochet hook
• J (6.00 MM) crochet hook (If you don’t have all of these crochet hooks, feel free to try and ‘wing it’ by crocheting looser for the larger hooks and tighter for the smaller ones. 🙂 )
• 2.1 MM crochet hook if you’d like to add a strap (or similar size – it really doesn’t matter since you’re just doing some chains and single crochets.)

Notes

• The chain 3 counts as your first dc for each round. So if you have a ch-4, that will count as one double crochet and one chain.
• Join = Slip stitch to the 3rd ch of your beginning chain.
• Standing double crochet = Start with a slipknot on your hook and tighten it as much as possible. Yarn over, insert hook into stitch, yarn over, pull up a loop. *Yarn over, pull through 2 loops* 2 times.

Dress

Ch 60, join with a sl st to form a ring, being careful not to twist the chain. (I prefer to work under the back loops & back bumps when working into a chain, it seems sturdier to me, but use your preferred method.)

Rnd 1: Using J hook, ch 4 (counts as dc + ch 1), sk next st, *dc in next ch, ch 1, sk 1* around, join.

Rnd 2: Switch to I hook. Ch 3, dc in each of the next 4 chain spaces. *Dc in next dc, dc in each of the next chain 4 spaces* around, join. (40)

Rnd 3-5: Switch to H hook. Ch 3, dc in each st around, join.

Rnd 6: Ch 3, dc in next 3 sts, dc2tog. *Dc in next 4 sts, dc2tog* around until 4 sts remain, dc in next 2 sts, dc2tog, join. (33)

Rnd 7-8: Ch 3, dc in each st around, join.

Rnd 9: Ch 3, dc in next 2 sts, dc2tog. *Dc in next 3 sts, dc2tog* around, join. (27)

Rnd 10: Ch 3, dc in each st around, join.

Rnd 11: Ch 3, dc in next st, dc2tog. *Dc in next 2 sts, dc2tog* until 3 sts remain, dc in next 3 sts, join. (21)

Rnd 12: Ch 3, dc in each st around, join.

Rnd 13: Ch 3, dc2tog. *Dc in next st, dc2tog* around, join.

Switch to J hook.

Rnd 14-19: Ch 1 (does not count as a st), sc in each st around, sl st to 1st sc to join. You can work these rounds in a continuous spiral if you like, which will eliminate the seam.

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Ruffle

Flip the dress upside down. There are 30 gaps around the edge that look like chain spaces. We’ll be working into those for the ruffle.

Rnd 1: Join the yarn to one of the gaps with a standing double crochet (see notes.) Work 2 more dc in the same space. *3 dc in next space* around, sl st to 1st dc.

Rnd 2: Ch 3, 2 dc in same space. 3 dc in each st around. (Brace yourself, this takes forever, and it guzzles yarn too, so start with at least half a skein!) Sl st to 1st dc and fasten off. Weave in ends.

Belt

Because this part is a little more confusing, I’m including some pics from the original pattern. They were taken in PhotoBooth, but a blurry picture is better than no picture, right? 🙂 Just in case they don’t load or something, I’ll still write out the steps below each picture.

^^^ With a G hook, start by chaining 2 and making 8 sc in the 2nd ch from the hook.

 

^^^ Sl st to 1st sc to join. *Ch 3, and make 4 sc in the 2nd ch from hook.

^^^ Bring the first circle up and over the working yarn. Then make 4 more sc into the same space. The unworked chain of the ch-3 will be caught in between the stitches and help hold the belt together. Sl st to 1st chain to join.*

Repeat from * to * until you have 4 little circles. Now we’re going to make a larger one with dc, which is the center of the belt.

Ch 7. 6 dc in 4th ch from hk.

Do the yarn switchover (shown in the 3rd picture set) and sl st into the “hidden” chain.

Now work 7 more dc into the center hole. Join to the beginning chain-3.

Sl st into the next 2 sts on this larger circle (I did it through the back loop and back bar, for added stability.)

Next, make 5 more little circles like you did at the beginning, and sl st into the opposite side of the larger circle. Fasten off and weave in ends.

~

I hope you like this pattern! Let me know if you need any help with anything…or if you have requests for future patterns!