I finally finished my first official written crochet pattern. The Just Cruising Ripples and Ruffles Skirt is a form fitting pencil skirt with a half double crochet ripple pattern for the body and a ruffle edging.

This FREE pattern is available on Ravelry as a downloadable PDF. I don’t really like filming videos, so I’ve included step by step photo instructions for as much of the skirt construction as I could. I also have included a pattern chart for the skirt body rows. (Boy, did that take me days to figure out how to create).

The skirt is constructed in one piece. You will begin by creating a ribbed waistband using single crochet back loop only (BLO) stitches. The body is crocheted right onto the completed waistband. The main pattern consist of an 8 stitch repeat ripple pattern using half double crochets in the back loop or front loop only (FLO), alternating each row. Once your skirt is at your desired length, a ruffle edging is added with simple double crochet stitches. Finally, you’ll create a drawstring for the waistband.

This pattern is made to measure – meaning you’ll measure on your own body as you work the pattern. There are no standard sizes included and no gauge swatch. You can use your preferred yarn and hook size. The only real important thing you need to know is that the body pattern repeat uses a stitch multiple of 8, so once you finish your waistband and begin your body, you’ll want to be sure that first row finishes with a multiple of 8 by adding or subtracting stitches from the row count of the waistband.

While I wouldn’t call this a beginner friendly pattern, it isn’t overly complicated. It does help if you have some experience with BLO or FLO stitching and creating decrease stitches (2 stitches together).

Creating this pattern PDF was definitely a learning process for me. I first made the skirt above in I Love This Cotton yarn from Hobby Lobby for our cruise we took a few weeks ago. Just designing the pattern involved a lot of trial and error to see what would work, but I love how it turned out.

To make the written pattern, I created a second skirt out of Big Twist Living acrylic yarn. Those are the photos you’ll see in the pattern PDF.

I am so glad I’ve finally finished this project and published the PDF. Please go check it out for FREE on Ravelry, and be sure to share your finished projects if you make this skirt.

I also would like to note once again that this is my first time creating a written pattern PDF, and I did not have anyone else test this. So if you have any suggestions or if you notice an error in the pattern, PLEASE let me know. You can send me a message on Ravelry.

Get the pattern here.