"Eva Dress" - Dress Knitting Pattern For Girls in MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino

Eva Dress – Girls' Knitting Pattern by MillaMia

The Eva Dress is a charming girls' knitted dress pattern from MillaMia, designed in a bold colour-block style that makes it a striking winter wardrobe staple. Rated at beginner to improving skill level, this pattern is an excellent choice for knitters who are building their confidence and want to create a fully fashioned, wearable garment with professional results. The pattern is available as a downloadable PDF and covers six sizes to fit girls aged 1–2 through to 6–7 years, with chest measurements ranging from 51 cm (20 in) up to 75 cm (29½ in) and lengths to back neck from 45 cm to 70 cm.

What Is Being Made

The Eva Dress is a classic, straight-silhouette knitted dress for girls, featuring strong colour-block panels and a neat ribbed hem. The dress includes set-in sleeves and a button fastening at the back neck, giving it a tidy, polished finish. The colour-block design uses three carefully chosen shades to create a bold, graphic visual effect — the pattern notes that choosing strong colour combinations is key to achieving the desired look. The ribbed hem is designed to be blocked wide and flat for a sleek, straight appearance. Four buttons approximately 12 mm / ½ in in diameter complete the back opening.

Construction Techniques

The Eva Dress is worked using a seamed, flat construction method, meaning the individual pieces — front, back, and sleeves — are knitted separately and then sewn together. This is a traditional approach well suited to beginner and improving knitters, as it allows each section to be worked and checked independently before assembly. The garment is constructed bottom up, beginning at the hem and working upward toward the shoulders and neck.

• Bottom-up construction: Knitting begins at the lower edge of the dress and progresses upward, which is a familiar and intuitive direction for those learning garment knitting.
• Worked flat: All pieces are knitted back and forth in rows on straight needles, rather than in the round, making this accessible for knitters not yet comfortable with circular techniques.
• Seamed finishing: The completed flat pieces are joined using seaming techniques, which adds structure and durability to the finished dress.
• Buttonhole construction: The back opening incorporates worked buttonholes to accommodate the four buttons, introducing this useful technique in a manageable context.

Stitches Used

The Eva Dress uses a small, approachable selection of stitches, making it ideal for those progressing beyond the very basics of knitting:

• Stocking stitch (stockinette stitch): The main fabric of the dress is worked in stocking stitch — knit on the right side, purl on the wrong side — creating a smooth, flat surface that showcases the colour-block design beautifully. The tension/gauge is set at 25 stitches and 34 rows to 10 cm / 4 in over stocking stitch using 3.25 mm (US 3) needles.
• Garter stitch (g-st): Referenced in the pattern abbreviations, garter stitch (knit every row) may be used for edging or detail sections.
• Rib stitch: The hem is worked in rib, providing stretch and a neat lower edge that is designed to be blocked wide for a straight, elegant look.
• Decreases: Several decrease methods are used for shaping, including k2tog (knit two stitches together), skpo (slip one, knit one, pass slipped stitch over), ssk (slip, slip, knit), k3tog (knit three together), and s2kpo (a double decrease), allowing for precise, directional shaping at armholes and neckline.
• Increases: The m1 (make one) increase is used to add stitches where needed during construction.

Materials

The Eva Dress is knitted in MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino, a sport weight yarn celebrated for its softness, stitch definition, and suitability for children's garments. The yarn is used in three colours to create the colour-block effect: