Spotty Dress in BC Garn Alba - 5106BC - Downloadable PDF

Spotty Dress in BC Garn Alba – Pattern Summary (Design 5106BC by Emilie Fauerskov)

The Spotty Dress is a charming children's knitted dress designed by Emilie Fauerskov and published by BC Garn as pattern number 5106BC. Available as a free downloadable PDF, this intermediate-level knitting pattern is sized for children aged 4, 6, 8, and 10 years, with half-chest measurements ranging from 30 to 37 cm and approximate lengths of 49 to 63 cm. The design is playful and distinctive, featuring embroidered spots and a decorative I-cord border that give it a whimsical, handcrafted finish.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a knitted children's dress worked in the round from the bottom up. The dress features a clean, classic silhouette with a decorative lower border and charming embroidered spot details. It is designed to be a wearable, everyday garment for young children, combining simple shaping with decorative embroidery and finishing techniques to create a visually appealing result.

Construction Method

The dress is constructed bottom up and knitted in the round on circular needles, which minimises seaming and creates a smooth, seamless fabric through the body. Once the armhole opening is reached, the work is divided and the front and back are worked separately on straight or circular needles, allowing for neat armhole shaping. This combination of in-the-round and flat knitting is a hallmark of intermediate-level garment construction and gives knitters experience with both approaches in a single project.

Techniques Used

• Knitting in the round – the body of the dress is worked seamlessly on circular needles until the armhole division
• Flat knitting – the front and back yoke sections are worked separately after armhole cast-off
• Eyelet creation – yarn-over (YO) increases are used to form decorative eyelets throughout the fabric, which serve as anchor points for the embroidered spots
• Embroidery – the signature spots of the dress are created by embroidering around the eyelets after knitting is complete; eyelets can be placed randomly for a freeform look or positioned following the pattern's specific placement instructions
• Attached I-cord border – a decorative I-cord is worked and simultaneously attached along the lower edge of the dress using a technique that picks up stitches from the dress edge as the cord is knitted
• Provisional cast-on – a crochet provisional cast-on using waste yarn is recommended for the I-cord, enabling a seamless join at the end
• Kitchener stitch grafting – the two ends of the I-cord are joined invisibly using Kitchener stitch, creating a seamless, professional finish at the lower border
• Increases and decreases – standard shaping techniques including k2tog, ssk, and lifted increases are used for garment shaping

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch (St st) – knit on the right side, purl on the wrong side; forms the main fabric of the dress
• Yarn over (YO) – creates the decorative eyelets that form the base of the embroidered spots
• K2tog – a right-leaning decrease used for shaping
• Ssk (slip, slip, knit) – a left-leaning decrease used for symmetrical shaping
• I-cord – a small tubular cord knitted on double-pointed needles, worked as an attached edging along the lower dress border
• Kitchener stitch – a grafting technique worked with a tapestry needle to join live stitches invisibly

Materials

The pattern calls for BC Garn Alba, a 4-ply weight yarn, used in two colourways: the main colour eb11 and a contrast colour eb17