Bunty Dress in Ella Rae Phoenix DK Prints - ER21-02 - Downloadable PDF

Bunty Dress in Ella Rae Phoenix DK Prints (ER21-02) – Knitting Pattern Summary

The Bunty Dress is a charming knitted baby and toddler dress worked in Ella Rae Phoenix DK Prints, a variegated DK-weight yarn that brings built-in colour interest to the finished garment. The pattern is available as a downloadable PDF and is designed to fit six sizes ranging from 0–3 months through to 5–6 years, with chest measurements spanning 41 cm (16 in) to 66 cm (26 in). It is an ideal project for knitters who enjoy making handcrafted children's clothing with a classic, polished finish.

What Is Being Made

The Bunty Dress is a sweet, structured dress for babies and young children. It features a folded hem at the lower edge, a fitted bodice with armhole shaping, a shaped front neckline, and shoulder shaping for a neat, tailored look. A small button is incorporated as a finishing detail. The dress is constructed in separate back and front pieces that are seamed together, making it approachable for knitters comfortable with flat knitting and basic garment construction.

Techniques Used

• Flat knitting – both the back and front are worked flat on straight needles, row by row, then seamed.
• Folded hem – the lower edge begins with a section of Stockinette stitch followed by a purl foldline row on the right side, creating a clean, self-finishing hem when folded and sewn in place.
• Decreasing for skirt shaping – a structured decrease row transitions the skirt from a wider cast-on to the narrower bodice stitch count, using a combination of k2tog decreases placed at regular intervals across the row.
• Armhole shaping – stitches are cast off at the beginning of right-side and wrong-side rows to create neat, angled armhole edges.
• Front neck shaping – stitches are cast off at the centre front on a wrong-side row, then further decreases are worked on both edges to shape the neckline.
• Shoulder shaping – stitches are cast off in stages at the beginning of rows to form sloped shoulders that align front and back pieces cleanly.
• Seaming and finishing – the completed pieces are joined, and a button is attached as a closure detail.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette Stitch (St st) – the primary stitch used throughout the skirt section of the dress, worked by knitting on right-side rows and purling on wrong-side rows. It creates a smooth, flat fabric that showcases the colour variation of Ella Rae Phoenix DK Prints beautifully.
• Moss Stitch (also known as Seed Stitch) – used for the bodice section after the skirt decrease row. Moss stitch is formed by alternating knit and purl stitches and then reversing them on subsequent rows, so that a knit stitch is always worked over a purl stitch and vice versa. This creates a textured, non-curling fabric that adds visual interest and a professional finish to the bodice.
• K2tog (knit two together) – the primary decrease stitch used both in the skirt-to-bodice transition row and in the neckline shaping, leaning the decrease to the right.
• Purl foldline – a single purl row worked on the right side to create a crisp turning ridge for the folded hem.

Materials Required

• Yarn: Ella Rae Phoenix DK Prints, shade #01. Quantities required are 100 g for sizes 0–3 months and 3–6 months, 200 g for sizes 6–12 months and 1–2 years, and 300 g for sizes 5–6 years. This yarn is a DK-weight print yarn that delivers multicolour patterning without the need for colour changes.
• Needles: One pair of 3.75