Free Barbie Doll Dress Circular Knitting Pattern (Knit in the Round)

Knit a cute doll’s dress in the round with this free pattern. There’s no fiddly seams to stitch and it’s a great way to use up yarn scraps. It fits modern Barbie & other 11.5 inch dolls too.

This doll’s dress pattern is also available for straight needles, knit flat and seamed at the back.
Or if you crochet, try my shell stitch Barbie dress pattern.

What you Need

• Set of 3.25mm (size 3 US) DPNs or a long circular needle (for magic loop)
• 35m, 38 yds or 10 grams approx of sport or 4 ply yarn
  I used Drops Baby Merino wool in shade 2 off white
• Scrap of sport or 4 ply yarn in 2nd colour for belt (optional)
• Tapestry needle for weaving in ends & (optionally) reinforcing the armholes.

Finished dress measurements: 12-13 cm (5 in) long approx & 5 cm (2 in) across waist (front)

Tension/gauge is 26 stitches and 39 rows to 10 cm (4 inches) approx, but since doll’s clothes are so small, the best way to judge the size is to hold the dress up to (or try it on) the doll as you knit.

Abbreviations

• Rx – round number x
• kx – knit x stitches
• px – purl x stitches
• m1 – make 1 stitch (increase a stitch) using your preferred increase method
  I used M1L: Put your left needle under the bar between the previous & next stitch from front to back, lift it up and place it on the left needle. Then knit into the back of it to make a new stitch.
• k2tog – knit 2 stitches together to decrease by 1 stitch
• st – stitches

Barbie Doll Dress Circular Knitting Pattern

This doll dress is knit in the round from the top down so it’s easy to try it on as you knit and there’s no seaming up at the end. There are a lot of increases & decreases for shaping, but if you miss the odd one or put it in the wrong place, it’s no big deal. Barbie won’t mind! 😊

Neckline

Option 1: For a tighter firm neckline, use the long tail cast on (guide + video). As usual, split your stitches on your circular needle or DPNs to join in the round before knitting round 1.

Option 2: For a wide, stretchy neckline that can be worn off the shoulder, use the knitted cast on (video) instead, where you use 2 needles and go into the previous stitch when casting on each stitch.

NOTE: With the knitted cast on, knit the 1st row flat on 2 needles before joining to knit in the round from round 2 onwards.

The wide neck option (pink top below) also makes the dress easier for small children to get on & off.

Cast on 24 stitches.
R1: knit
R2 and all even rounds unless stated: knit (no increases or decreases)

Increase at sides and front for shoulders:
R3: k5, m1, k2, m1, k2, m1, k6, m1, k2, m1, k2, m1, k5 [30 st]
R5: k5, m1, k4, m1, k2, m1, k8, m1, k2, m1, k4, m1, k5 [36 st]

Armholes

R7: k5. Cast off the next 6 stitches. Start by knitting stitches 7 & 8 and pass stitch 7 over 8 to cast it off.
Knit 13 more stitches, so that you have 6 stitches, the cast off gap and 14 more stitches.
Now cast off the next 6 stitches. Again, start by knitting the next 2 stitches, and passing the 1st over the 2nd.
Finally knit the last 4 stitches.
So you have 5 stitches, a cast off gap, 14 stitches, a cast off gap & 5 stitches [24 st]

R8: k5, cast on 2 stitches using the backwards loop method with your thumb (video), k14, cast on another 2 stitches, k5 [28 st]

Rest of Top

Front increases for bust:
R9: k9, m1, k10, m1, k9 [30 st]
R11: k9, m1, k12, m1, k9 [32 st]

Back & side decreases for waist:
R13: k2, k2tog, k2, k2tog, k16, k2tog, k2, k2tog, k2 [28 stitches]
R15: k2, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k14, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k2 [24 stitches]
R16-18: knit 3 rounds even

Switch to belt colour for next 2 rounds (optional):
R19: knit in belt colour

R20: you can make the stripe colour change look neater at the back by knitting the 1st stitch differently as follows, but just knit another round if you prefer.
Put your right needle into the right leg of the stitch below the 1st stitch (in the main colour) from right to left and lift it on to the left needle. Then knit this main colour “stitch” together with the 1st belt colour stitch. Knit the rest of the round as usual.

Switch back to main colour for rest of pattern
R21: knit in main colour
R22: as per R20, for a neater stripe at the centre back, lift the right leg of the stitch below the 1st stitch (belt colour) on to the left needle and knit it together with the 1st main colour stitch. Knit the rest of the round as usual.

Skirt

Back increases for rear:
R23: k2, m1, k2, m1, k16, m1, k2, m1, k2 [28 st]
R24-25: knit 2 rounds
R26: k2, m1, k4, m1, k16, m1, k4, m1, k2 [32 st]
R27-28: knit 2 rounds
R29: k2, m1, k4, m1, k20, m1, k4, m1, k2 [36 st]
R30-32: knit 3 rounds

Skirt increases at side & front:
R33: k6, m1, k7, m1, k10, m1, k7, m1, k6 [40 st]
R34-36: knit 3 rounds
R37: k6, m1, k8, m1, k12, m1, k8, m1, k6 [44 st]
R38-42: knit 5 rounds

Final side increases:
Note: skip to R48 for a shorter skirt.
R43: k10, m1, k2, m1, k20, m1, k2, m1, k10 [48 st]
R44-48: knit 5 rounds
Knit more rounds for a longer skirt.

Skirt border:
R49: purl (the only purl round in the pattern!)
R50: knit

Cast off in k1,p1 rib or your preferred method.
To cast off in rib, start by knitting the 1st stitch, purling the 2nd, and passing the 1st stitch over the 2nd. Then knit the 3rd stitch & pass the previous stitch over it, purl the 4th stitch etc.

Finishing

Weave in yarn ends using a tapestry needle.

Reinforce Armholes (optional)

The underside of the armholes is a bit delicate and sharp doll fingers can get caught there.

You can make the armholes more robust by threading your tapestry needle with a length of yarn and adding a few vertical stitches over the bottom side of the armhole (overstitching).

I’ve shown this overstitching in a contrast pink colour on the left below so you can see the stitches made. When you use matching yarn (right) you won’t see it at all:

Washing & Blocking

It’s nice to block your dress so Barbie looks her best:

• Step 1: Soak it in a bowl of cool water for about half an hour (add a drop of wool wash if you like)
• Step 2: Gently squeeze out the excess water (pressing it inside a towel helps)
• Step 3: Lay the dress out neatly on a baking rack or similar and when you’re happy with the shape, leave it to dry

I hope you enjoy knitting this cute doll’s dress and find the pattern easy to follow.
Got any questions or feedback? Please leave a comment below.

This 11.5 inch doll’s dress pattern is for personal, non-commercial use only. It may not be copied, sold, translated or distributed in any way, nor any finished items made using it sold, without permission. While it’s also designed to fit Barbie dolls, it’s not associated with Mattel in any way – I’m just a big Barbie fan. 😊