Celebs in Crochet! - Taylor Swift

On This Day

June 23rd, 2024 - critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Taylor Swift wore a 60s-themed shift dress, crocheted in the granny stitch. The dress features a three-section repeat of orange, lavender, brown, and white. It has long sleeves and stops about mid-thigh. The artist was spotted in this dress after an Eras tour performance, heading to Chiltern Firehouse, a local hotspot in London.

The Internet Almost Broke

As soon as pictures surfaced, Swifties and fiber artists went crazy for this dress! My feed was flooded with tutorials of everyone making their own dress. Obviously, this dress is trending and everyone wants to show off. I even saw some fiber artists use the pattern to make versions as cup sleeves and planter pot covers. Seeing the alternative ways to participate in the growing trend, I decided to make one too. My version is a shirt; and instead of for me, it's for my son.

Lauren's Version :)

I used neutral colors so that the shirt will match other pieces of his wardrobe. It's summertime, so this shirt would need to be breezy and lightweight. I used fingering weight yarn, 100% cotton, by Hobbii. The colors I used are from the Rainbow Classic 8/4 and Rainbow Deluxe 8/4 lines:

• light brown (006)

• rust (101)

• mahogany (07)

• chestnut (08)

• mocha latte (06)

My Stitches

I started within the first two weeks after seeing the dress. Instead of the standard granny stitch, I used the mock granny stitch. To accomplish the mock granny stitch, you will need to make two half double crochet in the same stitch. Click here for a quick tutorial to get this stitch started.

The Construction

I worked one panel for the back and one panel for the front. I laid these together and placed stitch markers at the joins for the armholes and the meeting points of the collar. After seaming these together, I added a crew neck collar and trim around the bottom. Then I began to create the sleeves by joining the color mocha latte to the sleeve opening. The sleeves are also created using the mock granny stitch.

My Tips & Tricks

I used a 4mm hook size throughout. In my version, I used a chain 2 at the beginning of each row after turning, which counts as a stitch. I crochet over the ends as the colors change. My ends are weaved through a couple of stitches and then knotted together three times for added security before I snip them. For the sleeves, I joined color at the midpoints to better obscure the join lines.

Parting Thoughts

Between my office job and caring for the family, I was determined to finish this before the trend was over; I even put my gaming on hold for a bit. I enjoyed participating in this re-creation. The stitch I chose ended up with enough stretch after blocking so it's not a struggle for my toddler to put on by himself. I had some trouble with the frequent color changes, so I doubt I will recreate this as a pattern.

Seeing celebs wearing crochet pieces continues to bring to the forefront that clothing made with yarn is not relegated to only the wintertime.