Free Barbie Doll Ruffles Dress, Skirt & Top Pattern (Knit in the Round)

What you Need

• Set of 3.25mm (size 3 US) DPNs or a long circular needle (for magic loop)
• Sport or 4 ply yarn. Lighter baby DK yarns should work too, but ideally use 3mm needles instead.
  I used Drops Baby Merino sport for most samples & Sirdar Snuggly DK (with a 3mm needle) for the pink 3 ruffle dress.
• Tapestry needle for weaving in ends & (optionally) reinforcing armholes.

Yarn amounts (approx): 17m / 5g for crop top, 45m / 13g for bottom ruffle dress, 52m / 15g for 3 ruffle skirt, 81m / 23g for 3 ruffle dress.

Finished measurements: Dress is 12-13 cm (5 in) long approx & 5 cm (2 in) across waist (front)

Tension/gauge is 26 stitches and 39 rows to 10 cm (4 inches) approx, but since doll’s clothes are so small, the best way to judge the size is to try it on the doll as you knit, or knit the short crop top first as a test.

All clothes are knit in the round from the top down so there’s no seaming up at the end. The beginning of the round is at the centre back.

Abbreviations

• Rx – round number x
• kx – knit x stitches
• px – purl x stitches
• m1 – make 1 stitch (increase a stitch) using your preferred increase method
  I used M1L: Put your left needle under the bar between the previous & next stitch from front to back, lift it up and place it on the left needle. Then knit into the back of it to make a new stitch.
• kfb – increase a stitch by knitting into both the front and back of the next stitch.
• k2tog – knit 2 stitches together to decrease by 1 stitch
• k2tog tbl – knit 2 stitches together through the back loop (only used for binding off ruffles)
• () repeat around – repeat the instructions inside () all the way around 
• st – stitches

Barbie Ruffle Crop Top & Dress Circular Knitting Pattern

Ruffle Neckline

Cast on 63 stitches. I used the long tail cast on (guide + video).
As usual, split your stitches on your circular needle or DPNs to join in the round before knitting round 1.

Knit the odd rounds & purl the even rounds to knit the ruffle in garter stitch.
R1: knit
R2 & all even rounds: purl
Optional: skip R3 & 4 for a narrower ruffle (see white top picture)
R3: knit
R5: (k2tog, k1) repeat around [42 st]
R7: (k2tog, k1) repeat around [28 st]

Armholes

From R9 on, knit every round to knit stockinette stitch.

R9: K5. Bind off the next 4 stitches. Start by knitting stitches 6 & 7 and pass stitch 6 over 7 to cast it off.
Then knit 9 more stitches, so that you have 5 stitches, the bind off gap and 10 more stitches.
Now bind off the next 4 stitches. Again, start by knitting the next 2 stitches, and passing the 1st over the 2nd.
Finally knit the last 4 stitches.
So you have 5 stitches, a bind off gap, 10 stitches, a bind off gap & 5 stitches [20 st]

R10: k5, cast on 2 stitches using the backwards loop method with your thumb (video), k10, cast on another 2 stitches, k5 [24 st]

Rest of Top

Front increases for bust:
R11: k8, m1, k2, m1, k4, m1, k2, m1, k8 [28 st]
R12 & all even rounds: knit every stitch
R13: k8, m1, k3, m1, k6, m1, k3, m1, k8 [32 st]

Back decreases for waist:
R15, 17, 19: k4, k2tog, knit until last 6 stitches, k2tog, k4 [26 stitches after R19]

Crop Top Only: Finish with Rib

R21 & R22: (k1,p1) repeat around to finish crop top with 2 rounds of 1×1 rib. Bind off in rib stitch or your chosen method.
To bind off in rib, start by knitting the 1st stitch, purling the 2nd, and passing the 1st stitch over the 2nd. Then knit the 3rd stitch & pass the previous stitch over it, purl the 4th stitch etc.

Dress Only: Rest of Pattern

R21: k4, k2tog, knit until last 6 stitches, k2tog, k4 [24 stitches]
R22-26: knit 5 rounds at 24 stitches for waist.

Then follow skirt pattern from R3 onwards (starting with kfb increases) to knit the skirt.

Cast on 24 stitches. I used the long tail cast on (guide + video).
As usual, split your stitches on your circular needle or DPNs to join in the round before knitting round 1.

R1 & R2: (k1,p1) repeat around to start the skirt with 2 rounds of 1×1 rib

R3: (kfb, k1) repeat around [36 st]

Option 1: Plain Skirt with Bottom Ruffle

R4-24: knit 21 rounds.
Knit fewer or more rounds here to adjust the skirt length. The bottom ruffle will add about half an inch.

Proceed to Bottom Ruffle instructions.

Option 2: Multi Ruffle Skirt

The purl rounds are where the ruffles will go, so you can alter the placement by simply knitting more or fewer rounds between the purl rounds. You can also add more ruffles by just knitting more repeats.

R4-12: knit 9 rounds.

R13: purl 1 round.
R14-20: knit 7 rounds.

R21-28: repeat R13-20 once more for a 3 ruffle skirt (including bottom ruffle) or more times for more ruffles.

Bottom Ruffle (Knit for Both Options)

Ruffle R1: (kfb) repeat around to double your stitches [72 st]
Starting with a purl round, knit 6 rounds of garter stitch, alternating between purl & knit rounds:
R2, 4 & 6: purl
R3, 5 & 7: knit

Bind off using the stretchy k2tog tbl method (video). Start by knitting the 1st 2 stitches. Then put your left tip into the front of those 2 stitches on the right tip & knit them together through the back loop. *Knit the next stitch and put your left tip into the front of the first 2 stitches on your right tip and knit those together through the back loop*. Repeat from * until all your stitches are cast off.

Note: there will be a noticeable height difference or jog between the start and end of the ruffle round after binding off, but you can easily fix this when weaving in your end by threading through under both loops in the first chain (v shape) at the start of the bind off (to the right on the shorter side of the ruffle) and then bringing your thread back down through both loops in the chain (v shape) on the left where you finished binding off.
See pictures below and video clip coming soon to demo this:

Option 2 Only: Add Other Ruffles

With the skirt upside down (bottom ruffle at top) and starting at the centre back of the skirt, pick up and knit stitches in the purl round below the last ruffle. Video demo coming soon!

Purl stitches are made up of u and n shapes (aka smiles and frowns). Put your needle into each u shape, and wrap your yarn around to pick up and knit a stitch in every purl stitch all the way around. [36 st]

Split your stitches and join to start knitting in the round as usual and then simply follow the Bottom Ruffle instructions above to add another ruffle. So you start by kfb into every st to double your stitch count to 72, then knit 6 rounds of garter stitch (starting with a purl round) & finally bind off using the k2tog tbl method.

Repeat this process again for the top ruffle (and any extra ruffles you added).

Reinforce Armholes (optional)

The underside of the armholes is a bit delicate and sharp doll fingers can get caught there.

You can make the armholes more robust by threading your tapestry needle with a length of yarn and adding a few vertical stitches over the bottom side of the armhole (overstitching).

I’ve shown this overstitching in a contrast pink colour on the left below so you can see the stitches made. When you use matching yarn (right) you won’t see it at all: