Beach Dress Crochet Along

What you're making this week

By the end of Week 1, you'll have one finished panel for the front of your dress: a flat crocheted rectangle. It will be roughly half your hip measurement wide, and as long as you want the dress to be. Next week we'll start the back panel.

You'll be working a textured stitch called the Boxed Shell: small fans of double crochet sitting between vertical bars, which are also made of double crochets and chains. Looks fancy; it's actually just three rows on repeat.

Before you start: a note on sizing

This dress is made to your measurements, so it'll fit you no matter what size you'd usually wear. The most important number is your hip width since it's the widest part of your body. Your foundation chain is the width of the panel and it must match your hip measurements. Don't worry if your number is between two standard sizes; you're not following a pattern, you're following your own body.

1. Take your measurements

💡 Why half? You're making two panels, front and back. Joined at the sides, each one covers half the way around your body.

2. Make a gauge swatch (Optional)

The pattern assumes you're getting 22 stitches and 8 rows in a 4" × 4" square with a 4.5mm hook. The reason why the gauge swatch is optional is because when you move on to the panel itself, you will notice the foundation chain is made against your body measurements. This gauge swatch is just for reference of what my stitches are looking like, but if you are using different yarn/hook or your tension is different than mine, this should not impact your panel as long as you follow the instructions of the video.

💡 Off by a lot? Go down a hook size if you have fewer stitches than 22 (your stitches are too big), or up a size if you have more (too small). Re-swatch until you match. It saves ripping out the whole dress later.

3. Make your foundation chain

The Boxed Shell stitch works in a multiple of 5 + 4. This is where it can get a bit tricky but if you follow these steps you should be okay:

💡 Always loose chains! A tight foundation row drags the whole panel in and you'll fight it for the rest of the dress.

4. Row 1: Foundation Row

💡 What you'll see: pairs of double crochet ("posts") separated by 3 little chain arches. Those arches are where the shells will land in Row 2.

5. Row 2: the shells

💡 You're placing all 5 DC into a single chain, not spread across the arch. They naturally fan out into a little shell.

6. Row 3: back to the chain bars

💡 This row mirrors Row 1. Pairs of DC with arches between, sitting above the shells from Row 2.