Sailor Baby Romper – Knitting pattern & tutorial

Also available in: Español

Hello Makers! As you already know, I love a basic pattern that you can adapt and change to your liking giving you an infinite number of combinations. This knitted romper pattern is one of those basic patterns that can be used to make a Knitted Sailor Baby Romper(shown in this tutorial), combine different colors, add ruffles, use the yoke to make a top for a dress or only the bottom to make a diaper cover, the possibilities are endless!

The yarn that you see on this tutorial is Essentials Cotton DK from Rico Design in the color 08 White, 38 Navy Blue and 68 Azalea. It is a very cool cotton, perfect for the summer months, that knits phenomenally, creating an even and structured fabric.

This pattern of Sailor Baby Romper is available in size new born, 1-3 months, 6-12 months, 12-24 months and the one shown in the tutorial is the 3-6 months.

You will find the instructions to knit this romper on the text and images, but if you prefer to download the pattern to get row by row instructions and print it to make notes without relying on the cell phone or internet connection, you are in luck because everything is ready for you!

Required Knitting stitches and techniques 

To knit this Knitted Sailor Baby Romper  it is only necessary to have basic knowledge of knitting, nothing that cannot be learned by watching YouTube videos. Here I leave you a selection of videos in which you can learn the stitches and techniques used:

• Cast on
• Stockinnete stitch
• Garter stitch
• Make increases
• Bind off
• Pick up stitches
• 1×1 rib stitch

Materials to make the Sailor Baby Romper

On this occasion, the materials we will need to make a  3-6 months size  are:

• 1 ball of 50 grams of cotton yarn for 3 mm needles in Navy Blue
• 1 ball of 50 grams of cotton yarn for 3 mm needles in White
• 1 ball of 50 grams of cotton yarn for 3 mm needles in Coral
• 3 mm needles
• 4 buttons or snaps fasteners.  If you chose to add the buttons, you must keep in mind that you must make the eyelets at the time of knitting the crotch region, if on the contrary, like in this tutorial, you chose to add snaps, you will knit as you will normally since you can add them without the necessity of making eyelets.
• A tapestry needle
• 3 stitch holders

The yarn that you see on this tutorial is Essentials Cotton DK from Rico Design in the color 08 White, 38 Navy Blue and 68 Azalea. It is a very cool cotton, perfect for the summer months, that knits phenomenally, creating an even and structured fabric.

How to Knit the Sailor Baby Romper -Navy Baby-

 Size3-6 months 

1. Knit the yoke of the knitted romper

Begin by casting on 70 stitches and knit 6 rows using Garter stitch.

At this point, it is time to start with the increases and to start making what will later become parts of the back, the sleeves and the front.

• Row 7.  Switch color to white. k 11 (back), m1, k2, m1,  k9 (sleeve), m1, k2, m1, k 22  (front), m1, k2, m1, k 9 (sleeve), m1, k2, m1, k 11 (back).
• Row 8. Purl 78 sts.
• Row 9. k 12, m1,  k2, m1,  k 11, m1,  k2, m1,  k 24, m1,  k2, m1, k 11, m1,  k2, m1, k 12.
• Row 10. Purl 86 sts.
• Row 11.  k 13, m1, k2, m1, k 13, m1, k2, m1, k 26, m1, k2, m1, k 13, m1, k2, m1, k 13.
• Row 12. Purl 94 sts.
• Row 13.  Switch color to Navy Blue . k 14, m1, k2, m1, k 15, m1, k2, m1,  k 28, m1, k2, m1, k 15, m1, k2, m1, k 14.
• Row 14. Purl 102 sts.
• Row 15.  k 15, m1, k2, m1, k 17, m1, k2, m1, k 30, m1, k2, m1, k 17, m1, k2, m1, k 15.
• Row 16. Purl 110 sts.
• Row 17. Switch color to white. k 16, m1, k2, m1, k 19, m1, k2, m1, k 32, m1, k2, m1, k 19, m1, k2, m1, k 16.
• Row 18. Purl 118 sts.
• Row 19.  k 17, m1, k2, m1, k 21, m1, k2, m1, k 34, m1, k2, m1, k 21, m1, k2, m1, k 17.
• Row 20. Purl 126 sts.
• Row 21.  k 18, m1, k2, m1, k 23, m1, k2, m1, k 36, m1, k2, m1, k 23, m1, k2, m1, k 18.
• Row 22. Purl 134 sts.
• Row 23.  Switch color to Navy Blue . k 19, m1, k2, m1, k 25, m1, k2, m1, k 38, m1, k2, m1, k 25, m1, k2, m1, k 19.

Remember to alternate navy and white stripes. In this case, the white stripes are made up of 6 rows and the navy ones are 4 rows.

Once you have 142 stitches on your needle, knit the end of the sleeve in garter stitch to avoid the sides from curling once we bind off the stitches.

• Row 24. p22, k27, p44, k 27, p22
• Row 25.  k 20, m1, k2, m1, k 27, m1, k2, m1, k 40, m1, k2, m1, k 27, m1, k2, m1, k 20. (150 sts)
• Row 26. p23, bind off 29 sts. of one of the sleeves, p46, that belong to the front bind off 29 sts. of the other sleeve, p23. Cut the yarn.

Do not be afraid of cutting the yarn at this point. Once we are done making our knitted Sailor Baby Romper  we will weave in those ends so that the result is perfect!.

It is time to divide back and front stitches and start knitting them separate. For this part, it will be useful to have a stitch holder.

Place the back stitches on a stitch holder, knit the front stitches (using a strand of yarn from the ball we were using earlier) and place the other back stitches to a stitch holder. You could also place all of the back stitches together in a circular needle as another option.

If you prefer to continue following the instructions row by row, remember that you have at your disposal a downloadable and printable PDF with the detailed pattern row by row so that you do not miss a single detail!

2. Knit the front of the Sailor Baby Romper 

Continue knitting the front area of our knitted baby romper. Remember that you must continue alternating navy blue and white stripes, and most importantly   continue making increases two stitches from the end of the row. .

In each right side row, knit two stitches, make an increase, knit the row as usual until there are two stitches left, make another increase and knit the last two stitches.

Knit in this way making increases in the right places until you have 64 stitches

The last navy blue stripe will serve as the division between the body and the diaper cover will be knitted in garter stitch meaning the last 6 rows in knit stitch.

Change the color to coral and and knit 18 rows. Once you knit these 18 rows, cast of 6 stitches, knit the row as usual and at the beginning of the next row cast of another 6 stitches. This leaves us with 6 stitches casted of on each side.

To give the diaper cover its shape, continue casting off 2 stitches at the beginning of each row until only 14 stitches remain on your needle.

To finish the front of our knitted romper, knit 6 more rows in garter stitch and cut the yarn.

2. Knit it the back of the Sailor Baby Romper

Now it is time to use the back stitches from the stitch holder. Place all of the back stitches onto the working needle and knit in the same way as the front.

First, making an increase on each side to two stitches of the edge to get 64 stitches and then knitting 3 white stripes and 3 blue.

The only difference when knitting the back in respect to the front is that on the first decreases of the diaper cover. In respect to the back, start by casting off two stitches at the beginning of each row from the beginning until there are 14 stitches left. Remember that in the front there were 6 stitches casted off on each side followed by two.

3. Sew the sides and finish the legs

Fold the knitted romper in half and with the help of a tapestry needle seam the sides from the armhole to the leg.

To finish the edges of the leg areas, pick up 74 stitches and knit 4 row in 1×1 rib stitch. Do not worry if instead 74 stitches you pick up more or less stitches, the important thing is that you pick up the same number of stitches for both legs.

4. Add the finishing touches to our knitted romper

To finish our project, sew the buttons or snaps. Lately I been using this type of closure because I find it very easy to put on the garment and to use when wearing the garment. To learn how to put snaps without a specific tool you can see this tutorial in which I explain it step by step.

You can buy this snap buttons on the following links. I use Amazon to get them because it is where I find the most variety and better price.

• Metal ring buttons
• Plastic Snaps buttons

Remember that if you choose to add traditional buttons, you must make a buttonhole in the neck area and three more buttonholes on the crotch area.

If you want, you can leave it as is or add more details. After much thought, I decided to add a little bow in coral, the same color as the diaper cover, which give it a feminine touch. Since I always wanted a girl I am getting tired of putting bows on everything!

As I said earlier, if you need a downloadable and printable PDF to not rely on your cell phone or the computer to knit the Sailor Baby Romper (of course easier) and with the row by row instructions, so you don’t miss a stripe! you can get it by following this link:

Sailor Romper Pattern- Size 3-6 months 

If you what you need, is to knit this beautiful romper in another size and you want to get started right away without having to calculate the number of stitches for your measurements, this time I’ve also made it very easy for you!

Sailor Romper Pattern- Size New Born

Sailor Romper Pattern- Size 1-3 months

Sailor Romper Pattern- Size 6-12 months

Sailor Romper Pattern- Size 12-24 months

As I mentioned at the beginning, it is a basic pattern that you can make in an infinite number of combinations of stitches and colors, either for a girl (as in this case) or for a boy. If you like the sailor option, you can combine it with a lemon yellow for a boy and it look amazing.

If  you have enjoyed this Sailor Baby Romper Knitting pattern & tutorial, do not forget to share and comment, I will love to hear your opinion and I will try to solve any questions you have if you decide to make it.

Kisses!