If I could only keep one handmade piece in my wardrobe, it would be a crochet maxi skirt — the kind that swishes around your ankles, moves when you walk and turns a plain vest top and sandals into an actual outfit. A long crochet skirt is boho without trying too hard, dressed-up without being stiff, and comfortable in a way no pair of jeans will ever be. Tuck in a tee, add a cropped cardigan, throw one over a swimsuit at the beach — it just works, all summer long and well into autumn with boots and a knit.
So I have gathered twenty of my favourite long skirt designs for you here, and every single one is a genuinely free pattern: chevron stripes that fall the full length, pineapple lace, granny squares from waist to ankle, a wrap skirt you crochet to your own perfect maxi, and even a sequinned party number. Where a design lets you choose the finished length, I have said so honestly, and my styling notes always assume the full ankle-skimming version. Pick your favourite, clear a cosy corner, and let's get a maxi on your hook.
1. Chevron Stripes That Fall All the Way to the Ankle
We are starting with a proper full-length classic: the Monte Rio Skirt, designed by Kaz for Lion Brand. It is worked in a bold chevron stitch in DK yarn, and the published finished length is a true maxi measurement — about 34 inches — with an adjustable waist of around 32 inches, so it sits comfortably and stays put. The zigzags do all the talking here, which makes it a wonderful canvas for colour: soft neutrals for everyday, or two or three sunset shades if you want the stripes to sing. The pattern is a $0.00 download on the Lion Brand site; you simply need a free Lion Brand account to grab it. Style it with a fitted white tee and flat sandals and let the chevrons carry the outfit. This is the skirt that convinced me maxis belong in a handmade wardrobe.
Pattern: Monte Rio Skirt (L80019) by Kaz at Lion Brand — Get the free pattern
2. The All-Single-Crochet Maxi With a Side Slit
If complicated stitch charts are not your love language, Leah Gordon's Minimal Maxi Skirt is about to become your best friend. The entire skirt is worked in plain single crochet — that is it — which gives a smooth, modern, almost knitted-looking fabric with a high waist and one elegant side slit for movement. Her instructions simply have you keep working until the skirt reaches one inch above your ankle, so a genuine maxi length is built into the pattern rather than left to guesswork. It is written across a generous size range from XS/S up to 5X, and her colour-blocked sample in Big Twist Vista shows how striking two simple blocks of colour can look. The full pattern is free on her blog, I Play With Fiber, with an optional paid ad-free PDF if you prefer printing. Wear it with a tucked-in camisole and a denim jacket and it reads like something from a boutique rail.
Pattern: Minimal Maxi Skirt by Leah Gordon at I Play With Fiber — Get the free pattern
3. A Bow at the Waist, Maxi All the Way Down
Sarah Rivera's Bow Maxi Skirt has the sweetest finishing touch in this whole collection: a little crocheted bow sitting right on the waistband. It is a free download on Ravelry, written for sizes XS through 3XL in worsted weight yarn with a 5.5 mm hook, and the waist is adjustable, so the fit is forgiving and the length is yours to settle at the ankle. The stitchwork is calm and rhythmic — the sort of project that grows happily in your lap over a week of evenings. I love this one in a soft solid shade, blush or sage or warm cream, where the bow reads as a deliberate detail rather than an afterthought. A free Ravelry account is all you need to download the PDF. Pair it with a plain fitted top and the bow becomes the jewellery of the outfit.
Pattern: Bow Maxi Skirt by Sarah Rivera — Get the free pattern
4. The Megara Maxi, Straight Out of a Fairytale
Some skirts are practical, and some are pure romance — Samantha Casale's Megara Maxi Skirt is firmly the second kind. Published free on the Furls Crochet blog under her Casale Crafts name, it was inspired by Megara from Disney's Hercules, and the plum-toned sport-weight cotton, griddle stitch sections and airy mesh panels give it exactly that Grecian, draped elegance. A drawstring waist keeps the fit easy, and the pattern even includes a matching crop top if you want the full two-piece moment. Because it was designed as a maxi from the start, the proportions are right: smooth through the waist and hips, then falling in one long line to the ankle. This is the skirt for golden-hour photos, garden parties and every compliment that follows. Keep your top simple and let the drape do the drama.
Pattern: Megara Maxi Skirt by Samantha Casale (Casale Crafts) at Furls Crochet — Get the free pattern
5. Ripples in Four Colours With an Elastic Waist
Katerina's Wavy Crocheted Skirt is the ripple stitch at its prettiest — soft waves rolling down the full length of the skirt in four colours she chose beautifully: beige, petrol blue, khaki and a fresh pistachio green. The complete pattern is free on her By Katerina blog, written for sizes S to 5XL, with an elastic waistband that makes it comfortable enough for all-day wear. Her finished sample measures 75 cm, and the instructions simply tell you to keep repeating the rounds until you have the length you want — she has said herself that she set out to make a long maxi skirt, so work those waves right down to your ankles with her blessing. The wave pattern is rhythmic and soothing once you have the repeat in your hands. Try it in tonal blues for a seaside feel, or warm rusts and creams for autumn markets.
Pattern: Wavy Crocheted Skirt by By Katerina — Get the free pattern
6. Eight Floral Motifs and a Whole Lot of Lace
Jane Green's Crochet Maxi Skirt on Beautiful Crochet Stuff is built the heirloom way: eight floral motifs are crocheted first, then joined and finished with lace sections that carry the skirt to a full 90 cm — about 34.5 inches, a true floor-skimming length. It is worked in fine Alize Forever lace yarn with a tiny 2 mm hook, so this is a slow, meditative make rather than a weekend project, and the result looks like vintage lace that took a grandmother all winter. A fine elastic thread worked into the waistband keeps everything secure despite the fabric's delicacy. The full pattern is free on her blog, diagrams and all. Because the motif lace is the whole story, style it over a simple slip with a plain top and let people lean in to admire the flowers. Patient crocheters, this is your showpiece.
Pattern: Crochet Maxi Skirt by Jane Green at Beautiful Crochet Stuff — Get the free pattern
7. Granny Squares From Waist to Ankle
If you believe a granny square can go anywhere, Rosely Biolada's Granny Square Set for Circulo Yarns is your proof: neat, colourful squares joined into a full maxi skirt, with a matching granny crop top to complete the set. The free pattern lives on the Circulo blog and uses their Anne yarn in off-white as the base, with fingering-weight scraps worked in for the squares — which makes it the happiest stash-busting project in this entire roundup. Circulo includes instructions for an optional sewn fabric lining, which I do recommend for a long skirt; it keeps the drape smooth and the squares sitting flat. Every square is a tiny portable project, so the skirt grows square by square in your bag, on the bus, everywhere. Wear the set together for full retro joy, or split the pieces and wear the skirt with a plain white tee all summer.
Pattern: Granny Square Set by Rosely Biolada at Circulo Yarns — Get the free pattern
8. The Wrap Skirt You Crochet to Maxi Length
Brianna Iaropoli's Granny Stitch Wrap Skirt, free in full on her Life + Yarn blog, is the most adaptable design here: it is a top-down wrap skirt in soft Lion Brand Coboo DK, and Brianna says plainly that you can customise the length to a mini, a midi or a maxi — so we are, of course, making the maxi. The wrap construction means no fighting with elastic or zips, and the sizes run in generous groupings from XS/M up to 3/5XL. Granny stitch works up quickly and has that open, breezy texture that suits a long skirt perfectly, especially over a lining slip or swimwear. The tie waist makes it adjustable after big lunches, which is a feature I refuse to underestimate. In a warm terracotta or classic black it goes from beach cover-up to dinner skirt with one change of top.
Pattern: Granny Stitch Wrap Skirt by Brianna Iaropoli at Life + Yarn — Get the free pattern
9. Mesh, a Dramatic Slit and Total Length Freedom
Adel de Abreu gave her skirt the best name in crochet: It's About to Get MESHy. It is a free download on Ravelry, worked in DK yarn with a 3.5 mm hook in an open mesh stitch, and it is a true measure-and-make pattern — there is no fixed finished length, because you simply keep going for as long or as short as you like. For our purposes that means one thing: keep crocheting until it pools at your ankles, and let that enormous side slit do its work — as you walk, the skirt flashes a leg and a lot of attitude. Mesh fabric is featherlight and fast-growing, which makes this one of the quickest maxis on the list despite its size. You will want a slip, shorts or a swimsuit underneath depending on your bravery. A free Ravelry account gets you the download, and a plain black version might be the most wearable party skirt you ever make.
Pattern: It’s About to Get MESHy — a Skirt by Adel de Abreu — Get the free pattern
10. Two-Colour Ripples, Worked as Long as You Like
Jessie Rayot's Rippled skirt, free on her Jessie At Home blog, takes the classic ripple stitch in two alternating colours and turns it into a skirt with real swing. The pattern is wonderfully democratic — sizes run from toddler right up to adult 5/6X — and the length is entirely in your hands: Jessie simply has you repeat the ripple row until the skirt is the length you want, finished off with an elastic waistband for a comfy, pull-on fit. Two alternating colours make the waves ripple visually as well as physically; try deep teal with cream, or charcoal with a pop of mustard. Worked to full maxi length it has that swishy, seventies-boho movement that photographs beautifully. Because the same pattern fits the whole family, matching mum-and-mini maxis are absolutely on the table.
Pattern: Rippled by Jessie Rayot at Jessie At Home — Get the free pattern
11. Jacob's Ladder Loops on a Flared Maxi
Jessie Rayot appears twice in this collection and she has earned it — her Looped in Love Skirt uses the Jacob's Ladder stitch to create vertical looped ladders running down a gently flared skirt, a texture I have never seen anywhere else. The full pattern is free on Jessie At Home, worked from the top down, and the instruction at its heart is an invitation: repeat the rounds to your desired length before the bottom border, so a full ankle-length version is very much the designer's intention. The finishing touch is elastic threaded through the waistband, which keeps all that flare sitting exactly where you want it. The ladders give the skirt structure and movement at once, and they look especially striking in a yarn with long, slow colour changes. If you have only ever used Jacob's Ladder in blankets and shawls, seeing it become a swirly maxi skirt is a delight.
Pattern: Looped in Love Skirt by Jessie Rayot at Jessie At Home — Get the free pattern
12. The Lined Lace Set With a Matching Top
From Brazil, with the finest thread and a lot of patience: Mariane Machado's Long Skirt & Top Set, free on the Circulo Yarns blog. The long skirt and its matching top are worked in Circulo's Anne, a fine mercerised cotton with a gentle sheen, and the pattern includes instructions for a sewn fabric lining — essential for a lace skirt you actually want to wear out of the house, and the reason this set looks so polished and boutique-bought. As published it is written in one size, Brazilian 16, so confident crocheters may want to adjust stitch counts to their own measurements, but the construction is classic and the guidance is all there. Worn together it is a full occasion outfit; worn separately, the skirt with a simple silk camisole is quietly stunning. This is the set to make when you want your crochet to look like couture.
Pattern: Long Skirt & Top Set by Mariane Machado at Circulo Yarns — Get the free pattern
13. Fine-Thread Lace, All Ten Balls of It
The Julie Skirt & Top Set from Circulo Yarns is a labour of love and the materials list tells you so: ten balls of Anne thread plus fine Cléa, worked on a tiny 1.75 mm hook. The skirt is designed by Maria S Barreto and the matching top by Angelica Schmitt, and all that yardage becomes a long, fine lace skirt with the kind of drape you simply cannot get from thicker yarn — it falls in soft folds and moves like water. The pattern is free on the Circulo blog, and yes, it is a commitment project; it is also the one people will stop you in the street to ask about. A project like this deserves a calm colour — ivory, sand or the softest grey — so the lace pattern can breathe. Make it once, wear it for twenty summers, and hand it down.
Pattern: Julie Skirt & Top Set by Maria S Barreto and Angelica Schmitt at Circulo Yarns — Get the free pattern
14. Pineapple Lace That Keeps Going to the Floor
Pineapple stitch is the crown jewel of crochet lace, and Jane Green's Pineapple Crochet Skirt shows it off in one long, glorious sweep. Jane calls it her best maxi pineapple skirt, and the design is genuinely flexible: her sample is made in size S–M at 75 cm in Alize Cotton Gold with a 3 mm hook, and the pattern has you repeat the pineapple rounds until you reach your desired length — so take it all the way to the ankle, where those pineapples can really fan out. The full pattern is free on Beautiful Crochet Stuff. Pineapple lace is more rhythmic than it looks once the repeat settles, and the motifs grow satisfyingly quickly in rounds. Over a nude or white slip with a simple top, this skirt is wedding-guest, christening and holiday-evening perfection.
Pattern: Pineapple Crochet Skirt by Jane Green at Beautiful Crochet Stuff — Get the free pattern
15. Fan Stitches in Self-Striping Mandala Cakes
Krissy's Crochet Lace Skirt, free in full on her Over The Mountain Crochet blog, is worked in a pretty fan stitch using Lion Brand Mandala cakes — so the colour changes melt from one shade to the next all by themselves while you just keep crocheting fans. It is written for sizes XS to 5X, and Krissy is cheerfully honest that you can add or eliminate rounds to suit your style: her written lengths run from 22 inches up to 29, and she notes the finished skirt falls longer than a normal fabric skirt, so simply keep adding fan rounds until yours brushes your ankles for the full maxi effect. The fan stitch gives a scalloped, lacy texture that looks far more complicated than it is. One cake flowing into the next makes this a deeply relaxing project with a spectacular reveal at the end. A plain vest top and bare feet on warm grass — that is the whole styling brief.
Pattern: Crochet Lace Skirt by Krissy Over The Mountain Crochet — Get the free pattern
16. Amalfi Chevrons in Easy-Care DK
Teresa Chorzepa's Amalfi Skirt for Lion Brand is the Monte Rio's elegant cousin: the same satisfying chevron rhythm and the same true-maxi finished length of about 34 inches, but worked in an easy-care DK acrylic that shrugs off washing and wears hard. The waist is adjustable at around 32 inches, so it sits neatly without gaping, and the pattern is a $0.00 download on the Lion Brand site with a free account. Chevrons in a single sophisticated shade — deep navy, bottle green, warm rust — read almost like a woven designer skirt, while alternating colours give you cheerful retro stripes. This is the maxi I reach for when a skirt needs to survive real life: markets, travel days, sitting on picnic blankets. A tucked-in blouse and ankle boots take it straight into autumn.
Pattern: Amalfi Skirt (L60250) by Teresa Chorzepa at Lion Brand — Get the free pattern
17. Self-Striping Shawl Yarn in One Long, Swishy Skirt
Vladimir Teriokhin's Solveig Skirt for Lion Brand performs a small magic trick: it is worked in Shawl in a Ball, a self-striping yarn with long, painterly colour runs, so a simple repeated stitch pattern comes out looking like a hand-dyed ombré waterfall. It is an easy level-two pattern with a drawstring waist, sizes from S to 3X, and a gloriously full lower edge — up to 82 inches of sweep on the largest size. The published length is about 28.5 inches below the waistband, a long, swishy line that skims the ankle on petite frames and falls to an elegant low-calf maxi on taller ones, especially worn low on the hips the boho way. The pattern is a $0.00 download at Lion Brand with a free account. Wear it with a fitted long-sleeve top and let the colour gradient be the entire outfit.
Pattern: Solveig Skirt (Contrast) (L80239) by Vladimir Teriokhin at Lion Brand — Get the free pattern
18. The Easy Cotton Long Skirt for Every Day
The Winder Skirt is Lion Brand's answer to the everyday long skirt: an easy level-two pattern in light DK cotton, cool against the skin, with an elastic waist you adjust as you add the elastic, and sizes from S through 3X. Like the Solveig it finishes at about 28.5 inches below the waistband with a big, swirly hem circumference — worn at the natural waist it is a long midi-maxi, and dropped low on the hips it brushes the ankle in true boho maxi style. Cotton gives it enough body to keep its shape through a day of wear, and the simple stitch pattern means you can make it in a goes-with-everything solid and actually finish it. It is a $0.00 download on the Lion Brand site with a free account. This is the one to live in: school runs, farmers' markets, long lunches, repeat forever.
Pattern: Winder Skirt by Lion Brand — Get the free pattern
19. A Flower-Lace Hem in Silky Bamboo
Premier Yarns' Budding Hem Skirt saves its party trick for the very bottom: a long, elegant skirt body in linen stitch and single crochet that finishes in a border of flower lace, like a garden blooming around your ankles. The pattern is free on the Premier Yarns site and written for a genuinely inclusive nine sizes, from XS all the way to 5X, in their Bamboo Fair yarn — a bamboo blend with a silky drape and a soft sheen that suits the floral hem beautifully. An elastic waistband keeps the fit smooth and comfortable, and the two-hook construction (a 4 mm and a 4.5 mm) is a clever way the designer keeps the body neat and the lace open. Because bamboo drapes rather than clings, the long line falls in soft, swishy folds. Dress it up with a silky camisole and wedges and nobody will believe it was free.
Pattern: Budding Hem Skirt by Premier Yarns — Get the free pattern
20. Sequins All the Way Down — the Party Maxi
We are finishing with sparkle. Jane Green's Crochet Sequins Skirt, free in full on Beautiful Crochet Stuff, is worked top-down in plain double crochet rounds in a sequinned cotton yarn — hers is Cosmo by Lana Grossa — held together with a plain cotton like DROPS Safran, and Jane's clever technique keeps all the sequins sitting on one side of the fabric where they belong. The pattern is written to your own hip measurement rather than fixed sizes, and the instruction is beautifully simple: repeat the plain rounds until you reach the desired length. Her sample stops short, but we are not stopping — keep those rounds coming until the sequins pool at your ankles and you have the most joyful party maxi in this entire collection. It needs nothing but a plain black top, simple heels and somewhere to be after dark. Handmade, full-length and glittering: what a way to end.
Pattern: Crochet Sequins Skirt by Jane Green at Beautiful Crochet Stuff — Get the free pattern
Conclusion
And that is twenty long skirts, my friend — chevrons and ripples, pineapple lace and granny squares, fine thread heirlooms and one glorious waterfall of sequins, every single one free and every single one falling to that flattering, ankle-skimming maxi length. If you are new to garments, the Minimal Maxi, the Winder or the wrap skirt will treat you gently; if you are ready for a legacy project, the motif lace and the Circulo thread sets are calling. Whichever you choose, my golden tip is the same: sew or slip a simple lining underneath, and your crochet maxi will drape beautifully and go absolutely everywhere with you.
Now tell me — are you team breezy boho maxi or team elegant lace maxi, and which of these twenty is going on your hook first? I read every comment, and I cannot wait to see your swishing makes!
