I Crochet it My Way

Since my last project, I have been very busy crochet dresses and more dresses. The one I would like to share with, is what I called Raspberry Ripple Dress. Initially it was a challenge I was really looking forward to. Than, it became a nightmare. Only passion drove me to complete this pattern and hopefully I made a little girl happy.

This dress was made from the neck (yoke) down. I love to use this style. Seamless is the way to go if you would like to attempt to crochet a dress. I used DMC Babylo yarn in white, pink and purple. Total balls were five. I wanted to use DMC Petra but I couldn't get the colours I wanted. The thing with thin yarn is that you end up doing more stitches to make up for the required size. Which means I had to spend more time working on this dress compared to using a thicker yarn. But I was willing to invest my time and the end result was satisfying.

The bodice.

The bodice was made using trebble (or the American term is double crochet) increasing at the corners to make up the arm hole. It took awhile to complete this section because of the skinny yarn I mentioned above. I have to say that I was bored and I could't wait till I reach the desired length.

Then the excitement began. I found a pattern on www.ravelry.com by Nell Armstrong called Crochet Baby set #106 which used a ripple effect. I thought it would be excellent to make the skirt. It turned out to be a disaster! Who knew that by choosing a skinny yarn would give me a headache. 

So, I stripped of the idea off and instead applied my own. At the end of the bodice, I made shells and between the shells I made chain space. For the next row, I increase stitches in these chain spaces.

The making of the skirt.

Then it was a matter of increasing stitches and changing colour until I reached the desired length. It got pretty monotonous, really. While making these ripple effects, I was thinking about the border. What can I do to this dress that will give it a distinct look? Something me, possibly.

Border at the bottom of the skirt.

Border at the sleeve.

I thought about my favourite stitch which is shell. It was not difficult to make it into a border. I used same stitches for the sleeves and skirt but the effects were different. Of all the stitches I used to make this dress I love this one the best. This was done my way. What can I say about the rest of the pattern? It's the repetition that I didn't like. It was also not being able to start off using the yarn of my choice. At the end of this project, I wish I had done more to make it outstanding, intricate, delicate. Yes, I found it. This dress lack detail.

I'm on another project. Will keep you posted. This will be a lesson learned for me. I'm not a designer, yet. And I don't know how to write my own pattern. I can use symbol but it will have to be on a large paper. I can only share with you images and hopefully you gain inspiration from them.

Buttons were sewed at the back of the bodice.

 

Finished product.