Party Frock Pattern #546

Size 2 Years

Materials: Clark's O.N.T. (18 balls), or J. & P. Coats (12 balls) of Mercerized Crochet, size 30. Milward's steel crochet hook No. 12. 3½ yds. ribbon 1 inch wide.

Gauge: 5 d c-groups make 1 inch; 6 rows make 1 inch.

Bodice and skirt are worked separately, and then sewed together at waistline.

SKIRT

Back. Starting at bottom, ch 347 (to measure about 25 inches), turn. 1st row: D c in 5th ch from hook, * ch 4, d c in same place as last d c working off 2 loops only, skip 2 ch, d c in next ch working off 2 loops only, thread over hook, draw through all loops on hook (thus a d c-group is made). Repeat from * across, ending row with ch 4, d c in same place as last d c (115 d c-groups). Ch 3, turn. 2nd row: Tr in tip of d c-group, ch 4, d c in same place as tr working off 2 loops only, * d c in tip of next d c-group working off 2 loops only, thread over hook, draw through all loops on hook (thus a d c-group is made between 2 d c-groups of previous row), ch 4, d c in same place as last d c made working off 2 loops only. Repeat from * across, ending row with ch 4, d c in same place as last d c. Ch 3, turn. Hereafter repeat 2nd row until work measures 9½ inches. Break off.

Front. Starting at bottom, ch 377 (to measure about 27 inches) and work as far back (125 d c-groups) until work measures 9½ inches. Break off. Sew up side seams.

BODICE

Back. Starting at bottom, ch 194 (to measure about 13½ inches) and work as for back until work measures 1½ inches (64 d c-groups).

To Shape Armholes: Decrease 3 d c-groups at end of each of next 2 rows (to decrease omit the last 3 d c-groups and ch-4 then, make a d c at tip of next d c-group). Hereafter work in pattern decreasing 1 d c-group at end of each row until 36 groups remain. Work straight until work measures 6 inches in all. On next row work in pattern across 1st 15 d c-groups, turn. 2nd row: Sl st across first 3 d c-groups (3 d c-groups decreased). Ch 3, and continue in pattern across. Continue in this manner decreasing 3 d c-groups at neck edge each row until 3 d c-groups remain. Then decrease 1 d c-group at neck edge each row until 1 d c-group remains. Break off. Skip 6 d c-groups at center, attach thread to tip of next d c-group and work other side to correspond.

Front. Starting at bottom, ch 62 (to measure about 4½ inches), turn. Work in pattern across (20 d c-groups). Then ch 34, turn. Work 11 d c-groups over chain and continue in pattern across. Hereafter continue in this manner increasing 11 d c-groups at beginning of each row until there are 64 d c-groups in a row. Work straight for 1½ inches.

To Shape Armholes: Decrease 1 d c-group at both ends of each row until 40 d c-groups remain. Work straight until work measures 4 inches from 1st row of armhole shaping. On next row work across 1st 13 d c-groups, turn. Work over these 13 groups decreasing 2 groups at neck edge each row, until 1 group remains. Break off. Skip 14 d c-groups at center, attach thread to tip of next d c-group and work other side to correspond.

Insertion. Starting at one end, ch 17, turn. 1st row: D c in 4th ch from hook, d c in each of next 2 ch, ch 7, skip 7 ch, d c in each of next 4 ch. Ch 3, turn. 2nd row: Skip 1 d c, d c in each of 3 d c, ch 7, d c in each of next 4 d c. Ch 3, turn. 3rd row: Skip 1 d c, d c in each of 3 d c, ch 5, s c under the previous 2 rows of ch-7, ch 5, d c in each of next 4 d c. Ch 3, turn. 4th row: Skip 1 d c, d c in each of 3 d c, ch 7, d c in each of next 4 d c. Ch 3, turn. Repeat the last 3 rows until insertion measures the width of bodice. Break off.

Sew up underarm seams. Sew insertion to waistline. Sew skirt to insertion easing in the fullness of skirt evenly around.

Ruffle. Make a chain tightly (to measure about 1 inch longer than the measurement of both armholes and across front and back neckline), turn. 1st row: S c in 9th ch from hook, ch 3, * skip 2 ch, d c in next ch, ch 3, skip 2 ch, s c in next ch, ch 3. Repeat from * across, ending row with d c in last ch. Ch 7, turn.

2nd row: * D c in next s c, ch 4, s c in next d c, ch 4, repeat from * across, ending with s c in 4th of turning ch. Ch 7, turn. 3rd row: * S c in next d c, ch 5, d c in next s c, ch 5, repeat from * across, ending row with d c in 4th st of turning ch. Ch 8, turn. 4th and 5th rows: Repeat 2nd and 3rd rows increasing 1 ch on each row between each s c and each d c (ch 7 in last row). Ch 1, turn. 6th row: Into each ch-7 loop work 9 s c. Break off. Sew ruffle around armholes and front and back neck edges. Run ribbon through insertion and tie into a bow. Sew a piece of ribbon to back and front at shoulders and tie.