Jack O Lantern Dishcloth

As I mentioned previously I'm on a quest to update my holiday dishcloths as I finish off this year's doll donation. Since two major holidays arrive before the doll donation ends I can't really wait if I want to use them this year.

While I love a holiday theme to brighten up my kitchen my dishcloths and potholders do get used so I try to find something that will do the job and provide some holiday color. I do have some potholders with some sewn on appliques as stuff just sits on them. However, where possible I try to have the details of my dishcloths be part of the pattern as they are less likely to come off over time.

I've seen some Jack-O-Lanterns with the details sewn on the dishcloth and I have a potholder made that way but until I came back to this one I'd avoided the idea for a dishcloth because I knew it wouldn't last in my house.

This pattern is from an out of print Leisure Art Leaflet 75558 A Dischcloth a Month.

I used the suggested H hook for this pattern with the same colors I used for the pumpkin dishcloth I made previously with the addition of black for the mouth and eyes.

There are a couple of other fall dishcloths I'd like to add to the collection but it will depend on where I have time to squeeze them in between other doll stuff.

16 Inch Baby Doll Sundress

As I mentioned in a previous post I've decided to devote the rest of my donation time to balance between where I still see some needs and projects I want to finish for me. This project for the 16 inch baby doll is about filling in gaps. There are so many accessories that get made at the beginning of the donation year that the number of outfits tends to be less than many of the other dolls. There are also two dolls to rotate through the baby doll crochet project slot creating a disadvantage. It is time to even that out.

This pattern is a free an oldy and one of my first for the larger baby dolls. While out of print it is still available through the Wayback machine here. It has been a few years since I have made this one and I love the dress and the hat but I really need to create straps that join as I go. That is the only part that makes me crazy about the dress. I hope to fix that for the second baby doll.

The shoes are my go to free shoe pattern from Darksi's Peachy Keen set found here.

Notes:

The dress and hat were made with a K hook, the shoes with an I. I found this yarn at my local Walmart and I picked it up thinking it would be perfect for projects like this one and for next year's snuggle sacks. I hope to pick up more as I like how it worked up. This is Red Heart Jumble Speckle Bubble Gum. It's nice to see something I bought get used quickly and not get lost in my stash. I still have quite a bit left to use as I bought the jumbo but it will be useful for the baby doll projects.

I always join after the first row and because of this I often forget to turn the rows. I really prefer the look when I turn. Mark the front. I will be working on a way not to have to sew on the straps. This never ends well for me. Took me several tries to get these lined up and sewn on correctly.

This dress slides on and off the doll easily and no snaps or buttons are required. The designer didn't join but sewed it together later.

Chelsea Cinderella

I picked up Sweet Silver Creations mini AG pattern set last year and I've been using it for Chelsea, Stacie, and in some cases even Skipper. You can purchase the individual Cinderella pattern here or the set here.

Notes:

To be clear these are not Chelsea patterns so I need to adapt them to fit. I've had more luck adapting her AG Mini patterns than the 6 inch Kelly patterns. I've tried both but the AG's were easier to fit.

I use size 20 thread from Creative Yarn Source and a .75mm hook for this dress. It is the smallest hook I need for these outfits. I was playing a little bit of thread chicken as I havne't ordered the Cinderella colors in a bit. I reordered over the weekend and believe I found a lighter blue I couldn't get the first time.

With the .75 mm hook I did not need to increase the number of rows to get the bodice to fit as I had to do for Stacie and Skipper. Like the other two dolls though I did have to decrease at the neck to get the neck to fit the doll. I did a sc 4 than decreased around the neck.

For the skirt I did rows 1-14 as written. I then completed rows 21-22. This gave me the floor length the pattern required.

I would not do the suggested additional chains at the waist as this made it harder to close and I needed an extra snap. I don't believe I did them last time but decided to try the directions to see what would happen.

I suggested adding a row to the headband and the collar and both worked better with an additional row. The snaps are tight even with the additional row for the collar and those are the smallest I have.

This year I followed the overskirt directions as written and liked how it looked. I plan on continuing this for Stacie and Skipper.