Storybook Overalls

Super easy to knit, our Storybook Overalls pattern has the vintage charm of a classic picture book. And our new Daily Wool Sport is the ideal yarn for a day in the life of a baby, soft and light in the hand, yet hardworking and resilient—an eagerly anticipated sibling to our beloved Daily Wool Worsted. You need just two skeins for any size, from tiny newborns to busy toddlers!

Start this tale at the back cover, cast on all the stitches for the garter stitch back bib and straps (knit lengthwise!) at the same time. Increases shape the corners where the straps and bibs meet, and once your straps are wide enough, you bind off the stitches along their outer edges and continue working the back bib flat. Knitting the straps lengthwise creates clean edges, keeps the straps from stretching out, and is far less fiddly than working lots of tiny rows.

After knitting the back bib, you’ll cast on for the front bib and then switch to stockinette to join front to back and work the body in the round. Shaping at the hips and a generous gusset ensure there’s plenty of room to wear the overalls over a diaper. Finally, you knit each leg in the round and graft the gusset closed with Kitchener Stitch.

The very last step is sewing the buttons onto the straps for just the right fit… If you need to move them as your little one gets a little less little, you can!

Daily Wool Sport is a sport-weight yarn with a tidy 4-ply spin, clear stitch definition, and a lively bounce to its step. This 100% superwash wool yarn is soft enough for baby to wear from good morning to good night, yet durable enough for crawling, rolling, and toddling. It’s helpfully machine wash- and dry-able, too, so you can always toss your overalls in the wash, ready for tomorrow’s adventure.

Pick from 24 artfully heathered colors that give even the simplest stitches an expressive, illustrated quality. Each color feels warm and familiar, perfectly suited to babies and toddlers and the stories they’re just beginning to live.

Cast on with a beautiful yarn built for long-term love and enjoy a pattern that’s clever in its construction and thoughtful in every detail. Choose your favorite color of Daily Wool Sport and watch the Storybook Overalls leap off the page and into a baby’s everyday world!

Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 45 thoughtfully designed yarns in nearly every natural fiber and in every spectacular color you can imagine. Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn store, where every skein is created with care and your creativity in mind!

Pattern designed and written by Purl Soho designer, Hiromi Glover. See even more of Hiromi’s work on her Instagram!

Story written by Andrea Lotz for Purl Soho.

Materials

• 2 skeins of Purl Soho’s Daily Wool Sport, 100% superwash wool yarn. Each skein of this sport-weight yarn is 300 yards/ 100 grams; approximately 340 (385, 430, 510) total yards required. We used the colors Dew Blue and Lake Blue.
• US 3 (3.25 mm), 16-inch circular knitting needles OR US 3, 32-inch circular needles for Magic Loop
• A set of US 3 double pointed needles OR same US 3, 32-inch circular needles for Magic Loop
• A set of US 1½ (2.75 mm) double pointed needles OR US 1½, 32-inch circular needles for Magic Loop
• Stitch markers, including one unique
• Stitch holders or scrap yarn
• Two ½-, ⅝-, or ¾-inch buttons. We used Purl Soho’s ½-inch Medium Corozo Buttons in Gray Denim with the Dew Blue overalls and in Kiln Red with the Lake Blue overalls.
• A Storybook Overalls Pattern PDF

GAUGE

26 stitches and 52 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch on larger needles

26 stitches and 36 rounds = 4 inches in stockinette stitch on larger needles

SIZES

Newborn (3–6 months, 6–12 months, 12–18 months)

To fit actual chest circumference of approximately 15 (17, 18, 19) inches with approximately 1–2 inches of ease

• Finished Strap Length: 7½ (7¾, 8¼, 8½) inches
• Finished Chest Circumference: 16½ (18½, 19¾, 21) inches
• Finished Hip Circumference: 22½ (24, 25, 25¾) inches
• Finished Front Bib Width: 5½ (5¾, 6¼, 6¾) inches
• Finished Length from Underarm to Gusset: 7 (7¼, 7¾, 8½) inches
• Finished Ankle Circumference: 7 (7¾, 8, 8¼) inches
• Finished Inseam: 5½ (6, 6½, 7) inches

Samples: The Dew Blue overalls are the 6–12 months size, and the Lake Blue overalls are the 12–18 months size, worn by a 12-month-old baby.

PATTERN

The Storybook Overalls Pattern is available as a PDF download.

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Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our knitting patterns (including tons of free knitting patterns) and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!