Who says that knitted garments are only for winter? Today I propose to make a Knitted Baby Romper made with garter stitch that can be used for those warmer months. The secret is to choose your materials carefully and adapt them to a season, if you decide to make it with cotton yarn you can be sure that your finished garment will be ideal for wearing it without an undershirt, however, if you chose a warmer yarn you can use it for the winter with an undershirt and a leotard to cover the legs. Of course, cotton yarn can be a good option for the fall or winter for those babies that get hot easily since this yarn maintains the body temperature without overheating the body.
Materials to make a Knitted Baby Romper – size 6 – 12 months
- 3 balls of 50 grams of cotton yarn for 4 mm needles. The yarn I chose for this tutorial of Knitted Baby Romper is the Cotton Merino from Drops. As you can see, the yarn is made from a combination of merino wool (50%) and cotton (50%). If you pay close attention to the images of the yarn, you can see how both fibers blend together.
- 4 mm needles.
- 8 wood buttons
Gauge
21 stitches x 47 rows in Garter Stitch
Step by step of How to make the Knitted Baby Romper
1. Knit the front part of the baby romper
We will begin by knitting the front portion of the Summer Knitted Baby Romper, where we need to make buttonholes to be able to close it. The first part of this portion is to cast on 30 stiches and knit two rows in Garter stitch.
The third row is where we make the buttonholes, for this reason we need to pay close attention.
To make a button hole, we slip the first stitch, knit two together (k2tog), bring the yarn to the front of the work (as shown in the images) and we knit the next stitch. As you knit this stich, you may notice that there is an extra stitch formed. This is normal as we brought the yarn to the front of the work (known as a “yarn over”), we have created an extra stitch. Every time you do this, there is going to be a little hole in your work.
How to make the buttonholes?
When there are 4 stitches remaining from the row we need to make the other buttonhole, to do this we knit two stiches together (k2tog), bring the yarn to the front of the work (yarn over) and knit the remaining stiches.
2. Knit the crotch region of the Knitted Baby Romper
At this point, our knitted baby romper will begin to take shape.
We will begin the crotch region by decreasing a stitch on each side every 4 rows, this means decreasing one turn and not decreasing the next turn. Remember that a turn is made up of two rows.
As you can see on the images, the increases and the decreases are 4 stitches from the end of the work. To make a decrease first we must knit 4 stitches, then decrease by knitting two stiches together (k2tog) and continue knitting until there are 5 remaining stiches, to finish the row do a k2tog and knit until the end of the row.
We will continue making a decrease every 4 rows until we have 20 stitches in the needle.
Now we are at the point where we need to start increasing on each side of the work every 2 rows and 4 stitches from the end. As I have said in various occasions there are many ways of making increases, I usually increase using the M1L y M1R technique ( abbreviations of Make 1 Left and Make 1 Right) that allows us to make increases leaning to the left and right of the work. You can learn to make these increases using this video for the left increase and the right leaning increase.
We continue knitting two increases every turn until there are 60 stitches in the needle.
3. Knit the back of the baby romper
To knit the back, first we need to cast on 20 stitches at the end of the work, then turn and knit the casted on stiches along with the other stiches of the work, and finally cast on 20 stitches at the other end of the work. At the end of this row, we should have 100 stiches in our needle (60 from the work and 40 casted on).
Next, we will knit these 100 stiches for 38 turns (76 rows) or the number of rows it takes to get to 18 cm.
4. Reserve stitches for the suspenders
At this point of the work, we must divide the stiches to make the areas of the armhole and the suspenders of the Knitted Baby Romper.
We must knit 20 stitches and reserve them in a stitch holder or other needle, knit the middle 60 stitches of the back and reserve these stitches on a stich holder and finally, the final 20 stitches in the needle will be the stiches we will be working on for to make the first armhole and suspender.
5. Knit the suspenders of the baby romper
To make the armhole, we will work the 20 stiches in our needle by making a decrease 4 stitches before the end of the row every 2 rows (remember, when there are 5 stitches left you should knit two together (k2tog) and knit the remaining stitches normally). We will continue this way until we have 8 stitches in our needle.
We will work the remaining 8 stitches for 52 rows (10 cm) then will bind off these stitches leaving a long tail of yarn of about 30 cm. This yarn will help us sew on the suspender to the back later.
Now we will continue knitting using the 20 stitches on the stitch holder to make the other armhole. We should work in the same way as the other armhole, however instead of decreasing at the end of the row, we will decrease the beginning of the row by knitting 4 stitches followed by a k2tog and knitting until the end of the row.
Once we are done with the second suspender, it is time to knit middle section by knitting the remaining 60 stitches in the stitch holder. This section will take shape by making a decrease on each side every two rows (or in other words two decreases every turn). We will knit in this manner until there are 38 stitches remaining in the needle.
As you can see, we are almost done with our knitted romper. The only thing left to do is sew on the suspenders to the back and sew the buttons to their corresponding area.
And just like that, we have our finished Knitted Baby Romper! It is simpler than what it can seem at a first glance, and once you are more comfortable with making increases and decreases, you can knit an infinity of patterns without a difficulty. It is as simple as that!
I tend to make garments with only one color, one reason is because I like things simple and another reason is that it makes it easier to follow along the tutorial. Although, I bet that this Garter stich romper will look amazing if you want to use more colors, stripes, spots…you can get an idea, since it is a basic pattern you can modify it to give it your personal touch. Your imagination is the limit!
If you like this tutorial, do not hesitate to share it or comment below. I love to hear your opinions and I can try to resolve any questions that you may have if you decide to make it.
Kisses!
Tutorial, pattern and images registered under a Creative Commons licence Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 . Como hacer un pelele a dos agujas de bebé tejido a punto musgo -Tutorial DIY paso a paso y patrón gratis – CC by-nc-nd 4.0 – Marta Porcel
This pattern is for personal use only. Please do not claim this pattern as your own, or sell or distribute it. If you would like to share this pattern, please link to this site and do not repost the pattern on your site. You can sell finished items made from this pattern, but please link back and give credit to Creativa Atelier. Please, respect designers and their Intellectual Property. Thanks!
Hi love this pattern do you have a pattern for a smaller one age 0/3months that I can purchase please
Any way we can get a downloadable pdf of this pattern? It is SO cute!!
Hi Nanette! I’m so excited to let you know that I am working on a PDF pattern in different sizes. It won’t be available right away, but stay tuned for more updates!
How do I work this pattern for a size 3-6 months
Hi Fay! I suggest you use thinner yarn and needles 😉
Should the decrease for the crotch be k4, k2tog, knit till SIX stitches left, kn2tog, k4? Otherwise it’s uneven from the other side?
do you think plastic snaps would work instead of buttons?
Yes! I use snaps in a lot of my knitted creations and I love how they perform! 😉
i am new in knitting did you have video for this pl help me
Thank you, Marta, for your work. I love your plain and clear patterns! Thank you so much.
I am lucky because I found your website…..You have such a nice patterns….will try all of them….
Love from India..
I found this pattern by chance and am busy on my second one. I enjoyed knitting it up, easy pattern, good instructions. I’ve done it in different yarns and the second one is bigger due to thicker yarn, which is perfect as our baby has grown!!
i love your work . you are wonderful thanks for the nice description i will make it definitely
How do I knit the second suspender since there’s no tail? Do I add a new yarn?
YES!!! 😉
How do I know the second suspender once there’s no tail? Do I join a new yarn? Thank you
beautiful! i’ll try to make one as a gift for a 12 months toddler
wonder where is important to make more fabric?
i have already done a cardigan from your ideas, and it looked great
( the pink lady turn into blue)
thank you!
muchas gracias!
Hi I’m wanting to knit this romper but I’m new to knitting so quite confused
I’m up to the point where you make decreases in the work
I like to write the pattern down
So should my pattern read
K4 k2tog knit to last 5 k2tog knit to end
Next row knit
K4 k2tog knit to last 5 k2tog knit to end
Do I do this until I have 20 loops left
Could you explain the increase row too please
Thank you in advance
Should be K4, K2tog, knit across to last 6, K2tog, K4
Yes, follow that until you have 20 stitches left 🙂
Lovely pattern, thank you. If I want to knit it smaller, for a younger baby do I just use smaller needles?
Id like to have smaller pattern too
Me gustarian las idicaciones para recien nacido
Thank you for this lovely romper pattern. The instructions given are so easy to follow and finished result is perfect x
Can i download this pattern? How?
Thank you SO MUCH for this free romper pattern!! You have done a beautiful job with your directions and the pictures add great help and ease. Thank you mucho for allowing the English translation! God bless you!
How do you know on which side weather to do ml1 or m1r??
I’m a beginner and I’m wondering the same. I tried knitting M1R on the right side and M1L on the left side, but it looks weird (I don’t know why).
In order to make it go inwards the M1L has to be on the right side and the M1R has to go on the left side. To make something that flares out it’d be the opposite, hope this helps! (:
Yes! Thank you so much.
Beautiful patterns, have fallen in love with the baby romber
Hi, just wondering the diameter of the buttons you used? My buttonholes are looking very small.
love the patterns thank you for the step by step. i need that.
Please, tell me, first 100 row Is 22 sm? My knitting is bigger more then twice. I use number 4 needles(4 mm), maybe your needles are smaller?(we are from different countries).
Right! 100 rows = 22 cm. My needles are 4 mm as well (US 6 or UK 8). Are you using a different yarn?
I have the same problem…
I finished knitting it all, haven’t sewn it together yet, but even with the error in the crotch section above, my buttonholes do NOT line up with the body. The front is longer than the middle section.
I used US 6 (4mm), #4 weight 100% cotton.
Kinda bummed right now.
HI. Has anyone else this problem:
When you do the increase after the crutch – to knit the back – should I increase on every 2 row og every 4 row? The text says 4, but the image says 2.
What have you guys done?
Regarding the size issue – I already see my work getting bigger than expeceted. It looks like this tutorial is knitted VERY firmly. My work is noticeably much looser…
/Laerke
i have the same problem. If i increase on every 4 row, the size is very big.The text says 4, but the image says 2.
I don’t know , I tried increasing every 2 rows and looks ok but I would like to have the right pattern ! Can you answer our question please?
Hi girls! There was a mistake, you should increase on each side of the work every 2 rows. Sorry about that!
Beautiful tutorial! Thanks ?
Would like to know the gauge, please! Wanting to make this for a larger one than 3 mos.
never mind – 🙂 went back and re-read. 6 months should do it – IF it isn’t “massively oversized” as the previous comment stated.
Hi Jeanine, even though this pattern was first thought for a baby of 3-6 months it will be ok for an older one. My daughter is 11 months old and she is still using this romper. It is growing somehow with her! ? In my Instagram you can find pictures of her using it when she was 3 months old and some recent ones.
Here with 9 months https://www.instagram.com/p/BZMGXbLB-r_/?taken-by=creativaatelier
Here with 3 months https://www.instagram.com/p/BURkOUil7OK/?taken-by=creativaatelier
I tried this using 70%viscose 30% cotton. Massively oversized. Is this yarn the reason?
wondering when she plans to answer this???
Hi Jeannie! I’ve been on holidays but I’m back again! ?
Hi Charissa, this pattern has been knitted a lot of times and nobody reported this problem…
https://www.facebook.com/CreativaAtelier/photos/a.135046206663545.28975.106867699481396/814409878727171/?type=3&theater
Maybe you are using the wrong yarn weigth or needle size… Please make sure your yarn is DK and your needles are U.S.6 or U.K. 8. I hope this helps!