Learn how to modify the beautiful Ensley Rose Lace Top into a mermaid-style dress! Top designed by Anastasia of Journey Chanel Designs. Crochet Pattern Review & Hack by Emily of Crochet Aweigh for Cre8tion Crochet.
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Find the crochet pattern review below, or click here to purchase the Top pattern from Journey Chanel Designs!
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It’s me, Emily with Crochet Aweigh.
With February being the month of love and all, I thought I would share with you my modified “wedding dress” version of the Ensley Rose Lace Top designed by Journey Chanel Designs. When I was selected as a pattern tester for this beautiful make, I got a vision to turn the top into a mermaid style dress. I emailed Anastasia asking her permission to tweak her original design a little to fit the vision, and she said yes! So a big thank you to Anastasia for allowing me to bring this vision to life!
Visit with me on Instagram @Crochet.Aweigh for all kinds of awesome crochet makes and inspiration.
Photos above feature my top only, before continuing on to make the dress. See the full pattern review for the top only here.
If you love this top, you’ll also love the ones in the Journey Chanel Designs Designer Showcase featuring 10 beautiful, modern, boho crochet wearable designs!
What Materials Do You Need to Crochet an Ensley Rose Lace Dress?
- 500-2100 Yards of Lightweight #3 Yarn for the Top depending on the size you choose, but I used approximately 2750 to convert it into a Dress (more on that in the Material Notes section)
- E4/3.5mm Crochet Hook – We love Clover Amour Ergonomic hooks!
- Optional for Dress Modification: F5/3.75mm and G6/4mm Crochet Hooks
- Soft tape measure as gauge is essential
- Scissors and yarn needle for weaving ends
- The Ensley Rose Lace Top, Paid Crochet Pattern from Journey Chanel Designs
Material Notes:
Anastasia chose Lion Brand Coboo for her top. This is a wonderful DK cotton & bamboo blend. I think this yarn would be excellent for the drape that you want to achieve here. I ended up using another cotton/bamboo called Bamboo Jazz from Hobbii Yarn. This yarn has been replaced by Cewec Jazz. I made a size Medium and used approximately 1,377 yards for my top. The overall dress used approximately 2,750 yards, but would require more or less depending on the size you are making. The Bamboo Jazz worked up exactly how I wanted, but it was kind of “splitty”. I think the Coboo is the better choice for sure. I have used it for other projects and doesn’t split as much as the Bamboo Jazz does.
If you are in need of an undergarment that would work with a dress like this or other crocheted dresses I recommend this one. I am wearing the white one with my Ensley Rose Lace Dress, but it comes in several other colors too. It is soft, and a little on the thin side which is perfect for under a crocheted item.
How Long Does it Take to Crochet an Ensley Rose Lace Dress?
I timed myself on this one and it took 26.05 hours for the bell sleeved top, and 44.75 for the dress overall. Not 44.75 after finishing the top, but 44.75 including the top. Honestly not too bad considering how much fabric there is.
Gauge:
The gauge is 17 stitches by 9 rows. Anastasia gives instructions on how to make the gauge swatch to properly measure it. I did get gauge with the E/3.5mm hook.
Pattern Notes:
The Ensley Rose Lace Top is written for sizes XXS – 6XL. To begin, you start at the belt just under the bust, then make the top panels on the fronts and back. I did have to add 3 extra rows to the front panels and the back panel to get the fit I wanted. Anastasia has instructions and measurements if you need to do this as well. The only sewing in this entire pattern is to seam the shoulders together so that is a huge relief!
Next I chose to do the sleeves because I don’t like leaving those for last. I had to add one extra pattern repeat before doing the bell section – I have long arms it seems! Once I finished the sleeves I realized that the weight of them was pulling the sweater down off my shoulders. To fix this I did 1 row of single crochet decrease across the back panel from shoulder to shoulder. This fixed the problem, although I seemed to be the only one having that issue. The other testers didn’t seem to have that problem.
After the sleeves were done it was time to do the skirt. I completed the rows for the top as directed with the 3.5mm hook. Once I was at my hips with the length I needed to increase. This is where it got interesting. Due to the lace type pattern repeat I didn’t want to increase any stitches that would mess up the look of the pattern, so I went up a hook size to F5/3.75mm. I did 2 pattern repeats with the F5/3.75mm, and 2 more pattern repeats with G6/4mm. By this time I was past my hips and it was time to decrease. I wanted to go with a mermaid fit and flare. To decrease towards my knees I did 2 repeats in the F5/3.75mm, 2 repeats in the E4/3.5mm, and then 2 repeats with a 3mm hook, but had to make an adjustment in the last row of the last repeat. By then I was at my knees and it was time to increase a lot for the flared mermaid look. To do this I used the same increase that was indicated for the bell sleeves (row 15 of the sleeves section) as the last row with the 3mm hook. At this point I had 16 full pattern repeats from the belt. Now we can finish the skirt. I switched back to the E4/3.5mm hook and did 2 repeats. went up to the F5/3.75mm hook and did 4 repeats. To finish I did 3 repeats with the G6/4mm hook for a total of 9 pattern repeats since the mermaid skirt increase row.
If you choose to make this modification your pattern repeats will be different than mine depending on your body. Go up a hook size or down a hook size when you need to. I would recommend a more experience crocheter who is familiar with full body shaping try this, even though the top is perfect for an ambitious beginner.
The Ensley Rose Lace Top is an incredibly flexible, customizable, and a fun project to make! I would highly recommend checking out the different projects on Ravelry to determine which sleeve style and options you want to make. Comment below to let me know if you are going to give the Ensley Rose Lace Dress modification a try!
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