Crochet Gingerbread Girl Dress

Inspiration hits when I least expect it. Just when I’m in the middle of another project my husband comes home with the cutest little gingerbread sandals for our daughter. One look at these cute shoes and I knew I had to crochet a matching gingerbread dress! The vision of the final piece was in my head the entire time and in less than 24 hours I was so excited that I was able to pull it off! The pattern is actually very simple, using the V-stitch and Single Crochets for the entire piece. But before we get to the pattern lets talk about the sizing.

I only crocheted one dress. I fitted it to my daughter as I crocheted. She is 2 years old and wears a size 2T-3T. I wrote down the pattern and stitch count as I went but I did not double check my work. Doing so would have meant I would need to constantly go back and re-count or re-crochet rows. Here is the good news, I am 100% confident that you don’t need exact counts to successfully make this dress! It really is forgiving. I am going to mark the areas in the pattern below where you can increase. You can also begin with a longer/shorter chain to adjust sizing as well. The skirt is actually very wide and will fit a variety of sizes. You can make it as long/short as you want by crocheting more/less rows. The bodice is where most of you will want to adjust sizing to fit

Materials:
– Size H Crochet Hook
– Worsted Weight yarn in brown and white. I used 3 skeins of Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice in Toffee, and one skein of white. You will want to use a yarn with some stretch!
– Tapestry Needle
– Two red buttons and one green button (about 1 inch in diameter)
– Red yarn and alligator clip if you want make the bow

Abbreviations:
V-Stitch = DC + chain 1 + DC all in same stitch
SC = single crochet

Gingerbread Dress Pattern
Size: Toddler/Preschooler
Dress is worked from the bottom up.

Starting with brown yarn…
Chain 171, join (careful not to twist the chain)
Round 2: Chain 4 +DC in first stitch, *skip 2 stitches, V-stitch in next, repeat from * around and slip stitch to join to the 3rd chain. (57 V-stitches – the chain 4 +DC counts as your first V)
Round 3-21: Slip stitch over one so you are working in the middle of the v-stitch from previous row. Chain 4 + DC in first v-stitch, v-stitch in each v-stitch all the way around, slip stitch to join to the 3rd chain.
NOTE: change to white yarn for round 4 ONLY.
At this point you can continue making rounds of v-stitchs to make the skirt longer.
Round 22: chain 1, SC in each v-stitch, join to first SC, chain 1 (approx 58 stitches)
Here is another place you will want to increase to the make the bodice wider. Make 2 SC in first v-stitch and then one SC in next, or 2 SC each v-stitch or 3 SC in each v-stitch, etc.
Round 23: SC decrease, SC in next 2, repeat around, join, chain 1
Round 24: SC in each stitch around, join
Round 25: Attach white yarn, chain 4 + DC in first stitch, skip 1, v-stitch in next, repeat around (22 v-stitches)
Change back to brown, join, chain 1
Round 26: 2 SC in each v-stitch (at this point I had approx 44 SC)
Round 27-28: SC in each around (approx 44 SC)
You can make the bodice taller by adding in more rounds of SC stitches 
Round 29: SC in first 6 stitches, chain 24, skip 10, join, SC in next 12, chain 24, join, SC in last 6, join, chain 1
You can make the sleeves/straps larger by adding in chains.
If you are adjusting sizing, the counts from Round 29 will change. Just make sure you chain 24 (or more) and skip 10 stitches on either side of bodice to make arm holes. 
Round 30: SC in first 6, v-stitch, skip 2, along chain (9 v-stitches), SC in next 12, v-stitch, skip 2 along next chain, SC in last 6, join, chain 1
Round 31: SC in first 6, change to white, v-stitch in previous v-stitches (9 white v’s), change to brown, SC in next 12, change to white, make v-stitches in previous v-stitches, change back to brown, SC in last 6, join, ch 1
Round 32:  SC in first 6, v-stitch in previous v-stitches, SC in next 12, v-stitch in previous v-stitches, SC in last 6, join, chain 1
Round 33: Slip stitch in first 6, SC in each v stitch space, slip stitch in next 12, SC in each v stitch, slip stitch in last 6, join, fasten off and weave in ends.
Sew buttons onto front of dress.

Bow Pattern:
(same pattern as my Minnie Mouse Bow!)
With red yarn
Chain 16, HDC in second chain from hook, HDC in next 14, chain 1, turn
Row 2-5: HDC across (15 HDC)
At the end of row 5, do not turn, continue to SC around edges, join to first SC in row 5. Faston off, weave in ends.
Scrunch the middle of the bow accordion style  and with a tapestry needle, sew yarn through the middle. – With long tail, wrap yarn the middle approx. 10-15 times. Tie off, weave in ends. Attach alligator clip to the back of bow.

How cute are these shoes?! They are called Girl’s Gingerbread Man Sandals by Mini Melissa and they come in white and pink color. I’ve seen them on a couple different websites for purchase and all have varying prices: AMAZON, SAKS Off 5th, Melissa Shoes website, ShoeBeDo0.

Sorry for the photobomb but my daughter was loving her new dress and let me take a million photos 🙂
The one below is my favorite! It might be going on our holiday card!

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