Stash Buster: Infant Dress and Diaper Cover

If you have children, work with children, or have been around children in the last few months then you no doubt have heard all about Frozen. Frozen was even quite the hit with many adults. I personally have not seen Frozen, but one of my coworkers is a huge fan of Frozen. This coworker is pregnant with her first child, a girl, and I have been wondering how to incorporate Frozen into her baby gift. Then as I was working on another project, the crochet rug from last week's stash buster post, I noticed some white tulle and became inspired. This was the first time I made an infant dress with tulle and yarn as the primary materials. I was a bit hesitant with the outcome, but was pleasantly surprised with the result. This project ended up using several of my crating materials, including all of my white tulle, much of my Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Turqua, and almost all of my snowflake rhinestones. 

I haven't had the time to turn this project into a written pattern, but I can give you a general idea of how I created this infant dress. First, obtain a pattern for the size bodice you want to make. I used my own basic pattern for sweaters and bodices, but there are several great patterns available. I then used a size G crochet hook and the Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in Turqua to crochet the bodice, but stopped before achieving the finished length. I stopped an inch under the armpits of the bodice. I then cut strips of the tulle to form the skirt. I didn't measure the tulle length, but just estimated the desire length of the skirt, and then cut all of the strips of tulle the same size. A helpful hint is to double the length of the skirt when cutting the strips of tulle. Doubling the length allows you to create the skirt without sewing. To attach the tulle strips to the crochet bodice I used a crochet hook and the no-sew method for creating tutus. Fold the tulle strip in half and pull the loop through one of the crochet loops on the bottom of the bodice and then pull the tulle ends through the tulle loop. Pull the ends tight and adjust the tulle so it lays flat against the bodice. Continue in this method until each crochet stitch along the bottom of the bodice has a strip of tulle attached.

Once the tulle skirt was finished I then took fabric glue and attached rhinestone snowflakes in various shades of blue to the strips of tulle. Alternatively you can use sequins. If your strips of tulle are uneven you can trim the tulle, but I recommend steaming the skirt before trimming. Another way to steam tulle is to hang it in the bathroom while you take a shower. The steam from the shower will  cause the tulle to straighten, allowing you an accurate depiction of skirt length. I chose to add rhinestone buttons to the bodice, but this might not be necessary depending on the bodice pattern you used. 

Since I used white tulle that is transparent I decided it was important to make a matching diaper cover. Using the same yarn and crochet hook used in the dress I made a diaper cover. Once again I have not had the time to write a pattern for the diaper cover, but diaper covers are very easy to make. Once the diaper cover was finished I cut pieces of Velcro and attached the Velcro to the diaper cover. I didn't add any embellishments to the diaper cover because it will be covered by the tulle skirt, but if the diaper cover were to be shown I would add a snowflake to the back of the cover.

If you are interested in the pattern for this Frozen-inspired tutu infant dress, please leave a comment below. I was really happy with how this dress came out and look forward to making more tutu dresses. If there are any other tutu dresses you want to see, let me know and I will give them a try.