156 Sunrise Camisole - Free Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns Southwick

156 Sunrise Camisole – Free Knitting Pattern for Women in Valley Yarns Southwick

The 156 Sunrise Camisole is an elegant, feminine knitting pattern designed by Kirsten Hipsky and offered as a free downloadable PDF. This women's camisole-style top is worked in Valley Yarns Southwick, a yarn celebrated for its soft hand and sensuous drape, making it an ideal choice for a lightweight warm-weather garment. The design is inspired by the quiet beauty of early summer mornings, and that peaceful, unhurried feeling is reflected in the camisole's graceful silhouette, delicate lace panel, and flattering shaping.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a women's knitted camisole — a sleeveless, close-fitting top with narrow shoulder straps, a decorative lace panel on the front bodice, and thoughtful waist shaping. The finished garment is designed to be worn as a standalone top or layered, and it has a relaxed yet refined aesthetic suited to warmer seasons. Finished sizes range from 32 to 40 inches in five increments (32, 34, 36, 38, and 40 inches), offering a good range of fit for a variety of body types.

Construction and Techniques

The Sunrise Camisole is constructed using a combination of techniques that make it an engaging project for an intermediate-level knitter. Key construction details include:

• Bottom-up construction: The camisole is begun at the hem and worked upward toward the shoulders, a classic approach that allows the knitter to try the piece on as they go and adjust length easily.
• Seamless and worked flat: The body is worked seamlessly in the round for the lower portion, then transitioned to flat knitting for the upper front bodice and shoulder straps, eliminating the need for side seams and reducing finishing work.
• Waist shaping: Elegant hourglass shaping is achieved through a series of decrease rounds and increase rounds worked every 10th round. Decreases are placed at two side markers using k2tog and ssk pairings, creating smooth, symmetrical waist definition before increases restore the hip and bust width.
• Lace panel: A central lace pattern is introduced on the front bodice after the transition to flat knitting. The lace is worked between two markers and integrated into the armhole shaping rows, giving the neckline area a decorative, airy quality that contrasts beautifully with the surrounding stockinette fabric.
• Shoulder straps: After the front bodice is shaped and the center stitches are bound off, the remaining stitches on each side form narrow shoulder straps that are worked back and forth separately, giving the camisole its characteristic delicate silhouette.

Stitches Used

The Sunrise Camisole relies on a focused set of stitches and techniques that are well within reach for a knitter with intermediate experience:

• Stockinette stitch (St st): The primary fabric of the body, worked in the round as knit every round, and worked flat as alternating knit and purl rows. Stockinette allows the drape of Valley Yarns Southwick to show to its best advantage.
• Lace pattern: A repeating lace motif is worked across the center front panel. The lace rows alternate with plain purl rows on the wrong side, creating a rhythmic, easy-to-memorize pattern sequence.
• k2tog (knit two together): A right-leaning decrease used throughout the waist shaping and armhole/neckline shaping.
• ssk (slip, slip, knit): A left-leaning decrease paired with k2tog to create mirrored, symmetrical shaping at the sides and edges.
• m1 (make one): An increase stitch used during the hip increase section to smoothly restore stitch count after waist shaping.
• Bind off (BO): Used at the top of the front to separate the front panel from the back and to create the center neckline opening.

Materials and Yarn

The pattern calls for Valley Yarns Southwick in color 07 Flamingo, a warm, ro