itty bitty dress free pattern

February 8, 2013October 17, 2025 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)8 Comments

This is a pattern to make a dress for a very tiny toy (see here).

It can be made from scraps of yarn, sock yarn or 4ply is best. In order to make it fit, please use the same needle size that you used to make your mini bunny. For instance, the mini bunnies above were knitted from Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran yarn on 3.25mm needles and so I’ve used 3.25mm needles for the dresses.

Abbreviations:

K: Knit

P: Purl

K2tog: Knit 2 stitches together.

YFON: Yarn forward over needle – makes a stitch. Start with the working yarn at the back of the work, bring it over the top of the right hand needle to the front and back under the right hand needle again to the back so making a loop them work the next stitch as indicated in the pattern.

SSK: Slip, Slip, Knit. Slip a stitch (as if to knit it) to the right-hand needle, slip a second stitch in the same way, slip both stitches back to the left-hand needle and knit them together through the back loops.

Pattern:

Cable cast on 28 stitches, leaving a long tail for seaming the back of the dress with later.

row 1: Knit

row 2: Knit

row 3: Knit

rows 4-8: Beginning and ending with Purl rows, work 5 rows of stocking stitch (alternate purl and knit rows)

row 9: K2, (k2tog) 12 times, K2 (16 stitches)

row 10: Purl

row 11: K4, yfon, ssk, K4, K2tog, yfon, K4

row 12: P4, purl into back of next stitch (leaving an eyelet for the arm hole), P6, purl into back of next stitch (leaving another eyelet for the arm hole), P4

row 13: Cast off knit wise

Cut the work from the ball leaving a long tail. Using a fine crochet hook (around 2mm) make a chain of 5 stitches with this tail and join it back to the start point with a slip stitch to make a small loop. Sew a tiny button on the opposite side as a fastening for the dress.

I use micro buttons like these:

Weave the remainder of the cast off end along the edge to the point of the row 9 decreases and leave the end hanging for now. Re-thread the needle with the cast on edge and use it to close the seam at the back of the dress with mattress stitch. When you reach the shaping on row 9 tie both ends together and weave along the inside of the seam before trimming off excess.

And there you have a teeny tiny dress for a bunny or a bear.

crafts & knitting

a visitor

January 31, 2013April 30, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)31 Comments

Firstly I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has voted for Saving Rare Breeds or made a donation, I know that they are hugely grateful. There is still time to vote for them (until the end of today) so if you’ve not already done so please pop over and lend your support, it’s free, just takes a few moments and would make a great deal of difference to the animals that Stephen and Tracy are caring for, especially if we could vote them into second place.

edited Feb 1st: It’s now closed.

A few posts ago I mentioned a special crafty project that I am involved with. It was dreamt up by Emma from Silverpebble and Ros Badger in order to raise money for Red Nose Day and involves lots of other crafty and creative people making 4 little dolls, each with a collection of clothes, playthings, blankets, jewellery and all sorts of other delights. I can’t wait to see all of the wonderful things that are being made for them and when they are finished each one will be auctioned off.

My involvement began last week when a special visitor arrived in the post. Her name is Lily, she was designed and made by Jodie At Ric Rac and she normally lives with the small Silverpebbles but she has come to stay with me for a while and fulfil the important task of modelling. I have measured her up and she’s been very helpful in trying things on as I go along and so with her help I am making a dress and a cardigan for one of the Red Nose Day Dollies. I’m also making some teeny tiny teddies for each of them.

The Red Nose Day Dolls have their own blog where you can read all about the project, how it came about and who else is involved and they’re also tweeting updates and news and are on facebook too.

It’s lovely to be involved and hopefully they will help raise lots of money and spread some goodness to those in need.

crafts & knitting · winter

Tiled blanket

January 20, 2013April 30, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)42 Comments

Isn’t it strange how things sometimes go? I have been coveting the blanket that I mentioned in the previous post for a few months now, but it was on a site that at the time had no link to the source – it does now 🙂

Then coincidence (in the form of a special joint project with some other lovely crafty people, Ros Badger included, which I’ll tell you about another day) led me to her blog where I found the original picture. And now thanks to mentioning it in the last post I’ve discovered that the pattern has just been published in the latest issue of Mollie Makes
magazine (thanks to everyone who left a comment or emailed to let me
know) and I’ve also been told it is in Ros’s latest book Homemade: knit, sew and crochet. I do love coincidence and it makes me certain that I was supposed to make this blanket (that’s what I’m telling H anyway)

I began working on this at the beginning of December before finding out there was a pattern and I’ve therefore used the original design as an inspiration rather than replicating it exactly. The main design elements that I admire most in the original are the ‘oriental carpetish’ colours and the lighter surround to each square that makes it look like a little tile. Those are the two elements that I’m incorporating into this blanket and here’s where I am so far …

I’ve been playing around with colour combinations and have ruled out using the deeper indigo (pictured in the basket at the end of the previous post) which seems to overpower the other colours. I’m also not quite sure yet whether to randomly order the squares or whether to be more structured. I’m leaning towards structure at the moment, but am keeping my options open (having learned my lesson with ‘the old china blanket’ when I had to unpick a load of squares because one of the colours didn’t make me happy).

This time I’m being un-characteristically patient and won’t start sewing the squares together until I’ve got a plan.

Unlike my previous blanket projects I’m not going to commit to one square a day – more ‘one when I feel like it’ and will just go with the flow and see how big it grows. Though I have a feeling that this will end up being a big blanket 🙂

Some blankety details:

Based on the Granny Square Blanket originally published in Homemade: Gorgeous things to make with love by Ros Badger and Elspeth Thompson (April 2009, republished May 2010).

using a 3.25mm hook

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers yarn in:

2425 provence, 2427 Glamour, 2431 chocolate, 2435 Japanese maple, 2437 kansas, 2440 vinci, 2442 fog hatt, 2444 flame, 2453 pumpkin spice, 4010 straw, 8013 walnut, 9332 sapphire, 9491 greystone, 9562 coffee bean, plus some oddments of yarn from my stash

and Cascade 220 8011 aspen heather as the surround for each square.

Meanwhile it has been snowing here all day today and we now have quite a covering.

H cleared the driveway earlier but it’s covered over again. If it continues to snow overnight we will no doubt have a snow day tomorrow and the children
will be off from school. The perfect excuse for a day of cosy cuddling and crochet!