How to crochet a dress: the Nina shell dress.

In this Tutorial, I will show you how to create the Nina shell dress. This crochet project requires
two stitches to know which is the Solid shell stitch that will be used for the top of the dress and the connecting straps. The skirt of the dress requires a basic double crochet. The Solid shell stitch is a beautiful and elegant design that consists of a double crochet, a chain, and a single crochet stitch. This makes it popular for making blankets, shawls, and skirts. tops, etc.

The instructions in my tutorial are beginner-friendly and easy to follow. I will teach you how to crochet the solid shell and make an elegant shell strap to match the top of the dress. The bottom section calls for an increasing double crochet stitch to create a ruffle effect, how to do this will be shown in the tutorial. This article contains affiliate links, purchasing through gives me a small commission, that will be at no extra cost to you.

Materials needed:

• Materials you will need: Yarn- I used Lion Brand’s Caboo yarn "Steel Blue" 232 yds, 100g, 8 skeins.View Price

• 4.5mm hook, 3.5mm for the dress straps View Price

• Stitch Markers, View Price

• Sewing needle and thread,

• Yarn needle,

• Measuring tape (You will need this for your bust measurement)

• 6 buttons (You can add more buttons to the dress if you like)View Price

Abbreviations used in this video:

ch- chain

sc-single crochet

dc-double crochet

sl st- slip stitch

sts-stitches

st- stitch

You can watch the tutorial on the Nina shell dress. Please give a like and subscribe to my channel.https://youtu.be/2UW4RvblmAA

How to crochet the Nina Shell Stich Dress

The shell stitch consists of a multiple of 8 +2 chains. In this tutorial, you will need to chain to the measurement of your bust, but keep it in the multiple of 8 and ensure the chains close in front of your bust. For a size small I chained 144+ 2 =146 chains.

Start with a chain of 8+2 (In the video I chained 144 +2 for a bust size of 34)

Row 1 1 Sc into the 2nd ch from the hook, 1sc into each chain across. Turn yarn.

Row 2 1 Sc into the 2nd ch from the hook, *skip 2 ch, 5dc into ch, skip 2 ch, 1 sc into ch. Repeat * across chains. Turn yarn.

Row 3: Ch 3 (counts as 1 dc) 2 dc into the first st, *skip 2 dc, 1 sc into next dc, skip 2 dc, 5 dc into the next sc. Repeat * across row, end with 3dc into sc, skip tch turn yarn.

Row: 4 Ch1, 1sc into the first st, *skip 2 dc, 5dc into the next sc, skip 2dc, 1sc into next dc. Repeat * across row. End with 1sc into the top of the tch. Turn yarn

For Rows 5-38, repeat rows 3-4

Making the skirt of the dress

Row 1 Ch 3 skip the first stitch * Add 1dc into the next 5 stitches. Add 2dc into the 6th stitch. Repeat * across. Turn yarn

Row 2 Ch 3 skip the first stitch * Add 1dc into the next 5 stitches. Add 2dc into the 6th stitch. Repeat * across. Turn yarn

Repeat row 2 for the next 10 rows. You will have 12 rows of increasing double crochet stitches, this will create a ruffle effect for the skirt.

Row 13 Ch 3. Skip the first stitch add 1sc into each stitch, and repeat this across. Turn yarn.

Repeat Row 13 until you get your desired length.

Making the straps

Row 1 Ch 14, add 3 dc into the 3rd chain from the hook, * skip 2 chains add 1 sc into the 3rd chain, 3 dc into the next chain. Skip 2 chains add 1 sc into the 3rd chain, and 3dc into the next chain. Repeat* until 1 sc into the last chain. Ch 2, Turn yarn,

Row 2 3 dc into the 1st stitch * Skip 1dc, 1sc into the next dc, skip 1dc, 3dc into sc. Repeat * until the end of chain 2 Turn the yarn.

Repeat row 2 until your desired length. I measured mine to 5.5 inches. Continue with the other strap.

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