Of all of the dresses from Frozen, this one was the hardest to replicate in crochet. After all, Elsa has ice powers, where I’m armed only with a crochet hook and a ball of Lily Sugar ‘n’ Cream Denim, which was the only shade of blue I had. After three tries I was finally pleased with the result, which I now present to you for your crocheting pleasure. I would suggest Google-Imaging to select a good color. 🙂
Materials
- Blue worsted-weight yarn (Cotton makes a nice drape, but acrylic is good too. Light blue would be ideal. Like I said, this was the only blue yarn I had in my stash.)
- White worsted-weight yarn (I did I Love This Yarn, actually mine is cream colored. This is for the cape and small bit at the top.)
- Size H (5.00 MM) hook (for dress)
- Size I (5.50 MM) hook (for cape)
- Needle & thread
- 3 large dark-blue crystal-look beads
- 4 medium light-blue crystal-look beads
- Optional: One Elsa Barbie
Abbreviations & Notes
I use US crochet terms in all of my patterns. The below chart should help with that: Until you get to the straps, which are done in white yarn, the entire thing is worked in FRONT LOOPS ONLY. However, there is one thing to remember. When you reach the last stitch of each row or round, work it through BOTH LOOPS. If you don’t do this, then there will be unsightly holes and I’m trying to spare you the grief. 🙂 Some of the skirt is worked joined, some is worked in rows. This makes the slit in the front. I turned between all rounds as well to keep the look consistent. In the top part, you’ll be using single crochet, but the front loop business is the same there. I think that’s all! Now we can move on to the pattern.
Skirt
With blue, loosely chain 20. Dc in the 3rd ch from the hook, in back bumps only, and in each ch across, which should result in 18 stitches. Sl st to first st to join.
Row 2-4: Ch 2, turn, FLP dc across. (Remember to work the last stitch through both loops, as in the notes.) Sl st to 1st st to join.
Row 5: Ch 2, turn. *1 dc, 2 dc in the next st (increase)* around, sl st to join.
Row 6-12: Ch 2, turn, dc across evenly. DO NOT JOIN. This starts the unjoined part which makes the slit in the front. If you examine the pictures like I did, you can see that the dress ruffles out a bit in the back, like a mini-train. Of course, you have the long and dramatic cape, but if you take off the cape there’s still a bit of a train, so what follows is my version of it.
Row 13: Turn, do not chain. Sl st in the front loops of the next 8 sts. Sl st into both loops of next st. Ch 2 (does not count as a stitch), dc in same st through FRONT LOOPS. FLP dc across. You have just decreased by 8 stitches.
Row 14-15: Turn, do not chain. Sl st in the front loops of the next 4 sts. Sl st into both loops of next stitch. Ch 2, dc in same st thru front loops. FLP dc across, leave last 4 sts unworked.. Your row count will go down drastically in each row.
Row 16: Turn, do not chain, sl st in the front loops of the next 3 sts. Sl st into both loops of next st. Ch 2, dc in same st through front loops, FLP dc until you have 3 sts left, leave those ones unworked. Do not fasten off. Now we start on the trim, which will make it sort of ruffly. First we’ll go down the jagged sides of Rows 13-16. Then we single crochet along both sides of the opening. Finally we’ll edge the other jagged sides. Ready?
Edging: (Ch 1, dc in next st, ch 1, sc in next st) along the jagged edges, putting more stitches in the corners to keep it from pulling in. Just work into the gaps between the stitches. When you reach the bottom of the opening, single crochet along it until you reach the end. Slip stitch into the V. Single crochet down the other side. Then repeat the edging pattern on the other jagged edges: (Ch 1, dc in next st, ch 1, sc in next st), until you get back to the beginning, whereupon you will sl st into the first st, f/o, and weave in your ends.)
Top
First up, stitch the gap closed with a yarn needle. By the gap I mean the un-joined part in Row 1 of the skirt.
Find the slit in the skirt and follow it up to the beginning chain edge. Count 3 stitches to the right and join your yarn there, so it’s to the right of the slit. Join with a single crochet in the front loops only, of course. 🙂
Round 1: Sc evenly around. Count to make sure you have 18 stitches since it’s easy to add one by mistake in this round. Sl st to 1st st.
Round 2: Ch 1, turn. Remember, FLPS only! *Sc 1, sc2tog* around, sl st to join.
Round 3: Ch 1, turn, sc evenly around. Sl st to join.
Round 4: Ch 1, turn, *sc 2, 2sc in next st (an increase)* around, sl st to join. Round 5: Ch 1, turn, sc evenly around, sl st to join.
Round 6: (scallops): Turn, do not chain, sk 1, 5dc (a scallop) in next st, sk 1, 8 sc along, sk 1, 5dc in next st, sk 1, sl st into next st. Fasten off blue and weave in ends, or you can crochet over them in the next round like I did.
A note on sleeves: At this point I ran into trouble – how in the world was I going to crochet those somewhat-see-through sleeves? You must remember I only had one color of blue, and I don’t think they make see-through yarn (if anybody knows of some, please let me know.) I should mention that I hate crocheted sleeves on Barbie outfits, because they’re SO HARD to put on the Barbie – there’s so much for their hand to get stuck on. So, I ended up doing it sleeveless, with cream colored yarn. You could do blue or white or whatever you like. If you do want sleeves, please visit Elsa’s Coronation Dress Pattern, which has black sleeves, you can make them in your desired color and follow the assembly directions there. It should turn out the same. 🙂
Round 7: Join sleeve color (see notes above) into middle (third) dc of left shell. Sc in same space, sc in next st. Hdc in next. 8 dc along. Now you should be almost back at the right shell. Hdc. 3 sc along. Hdc in next st. Dc 2 rows below (this is a spike dc and makes it look more like a V-neck. Not entirely sure about the clothing term here. 🙂 ) Sc in next st. Sl st to 1st sc. Straps: Do not fasten off. Chain 5. Skip 2 sc, 1 hdc, and 4 dc (so 7 sts in total.) Sl st into next dc. Chain 5. Skip 4 dc, 1 hdc, and 2 sc (7 sts again.) Sl st to next st. Fasten off, weave in ends. If desired, make and attach the sleeves from the Coronation Dress at this point in time.
Cape
Use whatever color you like ~ I did cream. You will need your I (5.50 MM) hook now. This whole thing is worked in triple crochet and chains. (I’m doing triple = tr because I don’t know the exact American term.) Also, increase = 2 triple crochets in the same stitch.
Row 1: Leaving a longish tail for sewing later, ch 12. In fifth chain from hook, tr. Tr in each ch across. Increase (inc) in last stitch. The turning chain counts as a stitch now and throughout. (9)
Row 2: Ch 4, turn, tr in first st (this is an increase at the beginning of the row.) *Ch 1, sk next st, tr in next 2 st* across until you get to the very last stitch, which is the turning chain. Inc in that st.
Row 3: Ch 4, turn. Tr in first st. Tr in next 2 sts. *ch 2, skip chain space, tr in each of next 2 tr* across to last stitch. Increase in that stitch.
Rows 4-9: Work evenly across as follows. Chain 4, turn. Skip first stitch. Tr in each of next 2 sts. *Ch 2, skip chain space, tr in each of next 2 tr* across to last 3 sts, tr in all 3.
Row 10: Increasing again: Chain 4, turn. Tr in first st and in each of next 3 sts. *Ch 2, skip chain space, tr in next tr, inc in second tr* across to last 3 sts, tr in first 2, inc in last.
Row 11: Chain 4, turn. Skip first st. Tr in next 3 sts. *ch 2, skip chain space, tr in next 2 tr, inc in third tr* across to last 4 sts, tr in all 4.
Row 12: Work evenly across as follows. Chain 4, turn. Skip first st. Tr in each of next 3 sts. *Ch 2, skip chain space, tr in next 3 tr* across to last 4 sts, tr in all 4.
Row 13: Ch 4, turn. Sk first st. Tr in next 3 sts. *Ch 2, skip chain space, tr in next 4 tr* 2x. Ch 2, sk next chain space, tr in next st, STOP row here. To form the jagged edge, we’re going to work some short rows from now until the end.
Row 14: Ch 4, turn. Sk first st. Tr in next 2 chains (not into the space but into the chains themselves.) Tr in next 4 sts. Ch 2, skip chain space, tr in next 4 tr. Ch 2, skip chain space, tr in next tr, stop row here.
Row 15: Ch 4, turn. Sk first st. Tr in next 2 chains and into next 4 tr. Ch 2, skip chain space, tr into next 3 sts. Stop row here.
Row 16: Ch 4, turn. Sk 1st st. Tr in next 2 sts. Ch 2, skip chain space, tr into next 3 sts. Stop row here, fasten off, weave in this end.
Use the long tail from the beginning to sew the cape to Elsa’s dress. Please refer to the pictures for reference. Basically, you want to sew it right where the blue stops and the white begins. Now you can sew the beads on for decoration. Actually it makes the cape drape better, too, and bling is always a good thing. 🙂
I hope you enjoy this pattern – let me know if you need any help, and as always, I would love to see pictures of your finished dresses! 🙂
My real name is Elsa. I think this dress is adorable and I hereby give it Queen Elsa’s approval.
Thank you so much, Queen Elsa! You just made my day. 🙂
————<@ A beautiful frozen rose for an artist of our craft crochet.
Claire, this dress is awesome. You certainly have a talent for design! Keep up the beautiful creations!
Love You, Nana
Sent from my iPad
>
Thank you, Nana! Very sweet of you to stop by. <3
Great design. My daughter loves Frozen and has requested I make her an Elsa dress, however I plan to sew it not crochet it as that would be insanely time consuming.
Crocheting a person-sized Elsa dress would take forever! I wish I could sew, there are so many pretty dress patterns that could work well for Elsa’s. I wish you the best of luck with yours. 🙂 Thank you for commenting!
I love how you did the cape. I never would have thought to do it like that!
Sorry Starfish, I seem to have missed your comment! Thank you, I just started crocheting and it looked okay so I kept going (which is how I do all of my patterns…) I’m glad you approve. 🙂
OMG this is awesome thank you so much…..my granddaughter wants this done in red sparkle though….so that is what we are doing but i l,ove the blue and i told her we would make one now, i am working on the red as I write this and this sweet little granddaughter is sitting here waiting patiently…..:) thank you so much i so appreciate patterns like this and cannot say thanks enough!!!!
Thank you very much, Melissa! Your granddaughter is lucky to have a crocheting grandma at her bidding. I think it will look great in red sparkle, you’ve inspired me to try it again in a different color (Elsa does seem to love her blue, it should be mixed up a bit!) You’re very welcome and thanks. 🙂
I Absolutely Love your Blog and I Definitely think it deserves the Very Inspiring Blogger award. Here are the details:
http://www.annoocrochet.com/p/award.html
Thank you and keep up the awesome posts!
Thank you so much for the nomination, Annoo! I’m honored and flattered. I posted about it here and linked to you. Thank you so much!
Omg, i just started crocheting again and i’m loving it. I just stumbled onto your Frozen patterns and I was doing a happy dance. My granddaughters are over the top with the frozen movie and are gonna flip when I present these to them. Thank you for sharing you have made i my day.
Thank you, Anonymous! I’m so glad you’ve started crocheting again, and that you like the dress patterns. I’m sure your granddaughters will be super grateful to have you crochet some for them! (The ‘over the top’ description fits me as well!) 🙂
This dress was working up very nicely until I came to the decrease rows of the top and tried to put it on the doll for a “fitting”. I had to tug to get it over the head, and then the arms were pinned down to the sides. I hate to scrap the project as my sweet granddaughters are SO into Frozen – what am I missing??? Would appreciate any feedback, thank you!
Sorry you’re having trouble with the fitting! It can be hard to put the dresses on Barbies because I like it to fit snugly around their waist, but then it has to stretch to go around their hips. So I usually put them in the dresses feet-first instead of pulling it over their head. Maybe you could try that and see if it works. It also works best if you put their arms through the armholes before pulling the dress on all the way. I hope that helps!
By ‘decrease rounds’, can you tell me which round you mean? Would it be Round 16 of the top? Then I might be able to suggest some modifications.
If your granddaughters are very young, this might not be the best dress for them because it is kind of hard to get on. You could try leaving out the straps, and sew a ponytail holder around the top of the bodice to hold it up.
Good luck! Let me know if that works!
I SO appreciate your feedback so timely! Will try and let you know. The dress really worked up beautifully in my first attempt.
I really wanted to make the Elsa snow queen dress for my daughter I got really lost when it came to the decrease it was so uneven and made me sense to me, also it would be helpful if you posted the actual size of the yarn that you use on all your pattern because it looks like you used thread and not yarn, I’m not trying to be mean and I know this really isn’t a conventional pattern. I don’t know maybe I’m just dumb and didn’t know what i was doing. ?
Hi Angela! No, you’re not dumb – I’m sorry the pattern’s giving you trouble. I’ll do my best to help!
I don’t know which decrease you mean – but I think you might be talking about the short rows? At the end of the skirt, you have to slip stitch into the first four stitches, then crochet across normally but leave the last four stitches unworked. That makes a sort of staircase-shaped decrease and makes the train. The only other decreases are just single crochet 2 together, which you can google for a tutorial. (The ‘train’ decreases are like the short rows at the end of the skirt.)
I always write what kind of yarn I used in the ‘Materials’ list in each pattern – for this dress it was Lily Sugar and Cream cotton, which is a worsted-weight. I’m happy you think it looks like thread, though; I was going for a drapey fabric! 🙂
As noted in my sidebar, I’m going on vacation until August 13, and I won’t have internet access. So I won’t be able to respond to any other questions until then – I won’t be ignoring you! Sorry for the confusion, but I hope this helped. Good luck! 🙂
Hi! I am not quite getting the straps part, am I doing 1 side, attaching to the back then bringing the second chain 5 back to the front?
Hi Shannon, sorry for the delay in response! You’ve got the idea, the straps are joined at one point in the back and two points in the front. Best of luck!