Ken Swim Trunks

There are certain patterns, like the 16 inch Baby Doll shoes that I repeat constantly because they are the best pattern for the job. There are other patterns I repeat because despite the huge supply I have it takes time to go through my options and then figure out what it will take to complete the new option.

I've been making Ken's swimming trunks from an old Crochet world pattern for years. It wasn't so much a favorite as it was something I knew. This year as I started to use the Leisure Arts out of print Honeymoon Wardrobe leaflet 2132 for Barbie and Skipper's swimsuits it seemed a practical idea just to look at Ken's pattern for a change.

The Crochet World pattern is fancier. The waist is ribbed and it has stripes. It also is made with thread and depending on the Ken model of the year it has been a bit challenging to make gauge. It is a good bit of effort for a swim trunks. I'd rather save the detail work and time for something that looks worthy of the effort.

Crochet World 2009 pattern

Notes:

This was made with Baby Bernat Big Ball Sport yarn and a size B hook.

Having looked at the previous pattern I would decrease the waist line before splitting for the legs. The narrower legs look better. There is a short set pattern in this leaflet I may add as well and I'd likely do the same for that pattern as well. This is a 1991 pattern and the doll featured in the pictures has bigger legs than the modern Ken doll I'm using. Just something to keep in mind as I work through more of these patterns.

The only adjustments I made for this outfit were yarn and hook size. The fingering yarn I had was too small and I needed a B hook not the suggested 2.10mm hook. My 2.0 was too small.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Baby Doll Petite Dress Hat and Booties

This is a Petite Creative Designs pattern that can be purchased here.

I believe this is the first time I've made this in the suggested colors. I found some Bernat Baby Big Sport in blue and added it to my stash since the last donation round and it seemed like it would be fun to follow the suggested colors since I had the yarn on hand.

Notes:

Dress:

To get this to fit the Lots to Love 14 inch Baby Doll I needed two hook sizes for the dress. I used a G hook for the upper white bodice section of the dress and an H hook for the skirt. Both sections were made with Big Baby Bernat Sport yarn.

A note for myself I cleared the counter and started from 0 for the 6 repeat rows. I hadn't tried this before but it just made less math to track. I reset the counter when the six repeat row were complete. I did the same thing for the hat repeats.

I often change the number of chain ties as they seem short but 50 was correct for this dress.

Hat:

I realized I hadn't listed hook size for the hat the last time I made this so the hat needs a G hook.

The pattern was worked as written.

Booties:

I still struggle just a bit with the booties. I used a G hook for the booties and chose not to use the tie but instead to bend the tops down. I consider using a smaller hook for the contrast color in the future.

16 Inch Baby Doll Dress, Hat, and Shoes

I love it when a pattern free or paid fits multiple sizes of my doll donations. I previously made this for the Lots to Love 14 inch Doll and I need one more for the other 16 inch baby doll and I think I'm also going to dry to get the dress to fit the Rag Doll.

You can find the free pattern here for the dress and hat. The shoes are my go to free pattern found here.

Notes:

This pattern is written in British crochet terms which I have translated to American terms on my copy just to keep from forgetting. I do need to add a note to myself about working in back loops as this is the second dress of the year and still no back loops. Two more to go so we shall see.

I used Bernat Baby Big Ball Sport in White and Lavender. I know with so many stores closing yarn is harder to find but I still find this quite a bit at Walmart in the odd colors like Lavendar and Yellow. Online I sometimes only find white and pink.

Dress:

I used a G hook for the bodice and skirt. I added 5 additional rows and an additional contrast row to the bodice for length prior to adding the skirt. To help myself keep track I have notes on the pattern regarding the repeats as they are not written out and with multiple repeats and row changes for each repeat I lose track. I finished the neck and the arm holes decreasing both as I found them a bit big this time.

Hat:

I used an e hook to the contrast rows and changed to a g hook at the contrast rows until the end. As with the dress I wrote out the repeats on the sheet to keep track of which row repeated each time.

Shoes:

I've started experimenting using this pattern with the matching lighter weight yarn as I don't often have worsted weight in the same shades. To get the shoes to fit I need a J hook with Bernat Baby Sport weight yarn.

Stacie Nightgown

This is another one of the AG mini patterns I'm adapting for the Barbie dolls. You can purchase the pattern here.

Notes:

In order to get this pattern to fit Stacie I needed a 1.25mm hook and size 10 crochet thread.

I chose yellow and a Thread Art variegated yellow for this outfit.

The pattern includes arms, I chose to leave them off for Stacie as getting the outfit on and off would be rather hard with her bent arm and the opening created for the neckline.

I also did not include the bunny slippers. I find shoe patterns for the fashion dolls to be challenging when written for the doll. Trying to tackle them for a pattern not written for the doll seems not worth the challenge at this point.

16 Inch Baby Doll Shell Stitch Dress

While I've revisted old favorites this year I've been pleased to venture into new territory for the JC 16 Inch Baby Doll this year. It keeps it interesting to try new things each year.

This outfit is mostly from the Shell Stitch pattern and cap

pattern found in the out of print House of White Birches black and white newsprint leaflet Baby Doll Fashions to Crochet. It was published in 1981 for anyone who might wish to find a copy.

One thing I've learned with making clothes for baby dolls is the size of the doll is only a starting point when looking at patterns as the pattern rarely tells you more than the length of the doll. This is actually a pattern for an 18 inch baby doll but I had to add to the pattern to get it to fit this doll likely because it is a padded baby doll. I tried it on the Lots to Love 14 inch doll and because it is so chubby it might actually work for the original pattern I changed but not for the changes I needed to make for this doll.

The shoes for this pattern are my go to free pattern you can find here..

Notes:.

Dress:

I used the suggested D hook for this project with Bernat Baby Sport Baby Baby yarn.

Rows 2-4 teach you a pattern for increases for this outfit. The original pattern keeps this going through row 8 I need to go to row 10 before doing the original row 9 to create the arms to have enough length in the bodice..

The shell pattern for this dress is 2dc ch1 2dc. I tried this and the dress was huge. Not at all as pictured. I pulled it out and tried a shell dc ch1 dc and had a better fit.

To cover the white onesie this doll is constructed with I needed to add rows to the skirt. The skirt ends at row 23. I went to row 29 which when you change the row counts becomes row 30 for the whole pattern.

I finished the back up to the neck before doing the trim this allowed for a cleaner back and made putting the snaps on easier. I also did the trim for the arms.

The original dress has a higher waist which I tried when making this outfit for this doll but I found it was harder to fit with the doll's construction so I lengthened the bodice. It is a different look than the original but I rather like it for this doll.

Cap:

The cap is another pattern in this book that I decided needed a rework if I wanted it to fit this doll. The original has dc increases around twice and I found the hat was unshapable afterwards. For my own records this is the cap pattern on page 46. There are directions for multiple dolls.

I used a G hook and used a magic circle and 12 DC. From there I increased by an additional stitch each row until row 9. Row 9 I did a DC 1 decrease 1 around to make a tight fit. Row 10 I turned and dc in the back loops so cap would turn upwards and did one more dc row in this direction and finished off.

Shoes:

I've been trying the shoes with lighter yarn this year and it seems to be working out OK. They still look better with the worsted 4 yarn but they look odd when the shoes tend not to match. I need a J hook with the lighter yarn to get them to fit.

Skipper Swimsuit

As I mentioned in my post about Barbie's swimsuit I was on a hunt for a different swimsuit pattern and settled on one from an out of print Leisure Arts Leaflet 2132 Hawaiian Honeymoon.

Skipper was fortunate to benefit from all my attempts at making this for Barbie as I believe my final attempt for her will be the template for future swimsuit projects for these two dolls.

Notes:

For this project I used size 5 Bernat Cotton thread which has sadly been discontinued. For my own notes Hobby Lobby Artiste has a limited number of colors which will also work for this project when my current supply runs out.

I used a size B crochet hook for this project. I tried it on Barbie when I was done to see if it would work for next year and it will work for her as well.

For myself I will add the note I put in Barbie's project about making sure the crotch is even on both sides to avoid having a lopsided project.

Barbie Sweetheart Dress

I promise myself each donation year that I will try to use some of my older patterns that are appropriate for the donation. This is another offering from the out of print leaflet Leisure Arts Hawaiian Honeymoon Wardrobe 2132.

Notes:

This is made with size 10 crochet although I'm not sure of the brand. I needed my 2mm Tulip Etimo hook to make guage. However, I would consider using the suggested 1.8mm in the future.

I measured the suggested 3 inches for skirt length but this is much longer than the skirt in the picture. Not a huge issue for me as I try to avoid short skirts for my donation projects.

Skipper Bella Dress

I took the lessons I learned from making Barbie's version of this dress into making Skipper's dress.

Notes:

This was made using a Mel Garcia Tello pattern I purchased here.

This time I waited until I had the Knit Picks Pallete yarn in both colors to complete the outfit. While I was able to complete Barbie's outfit with yarn on hand having the same fiber made for a better fit.

I did read my notes on the Barbie outfit before starting so I used a C hook for the whole outfit. I need to try this on Barbie to see if it fits as well as I expect it will when I make this for next year.

I also followed my note about waiting to add snap until contrast yarn was added to the bodice. I also waited to finish the back until adding the contrast. When both were completed I added the closing snap.

Note to self I need to order more mini buttons. This was my last yellow one.

Barbie Prairie Rose

I've been collecting Annie's Fashion Doll Crochet Club Patterns from second hand sites for years as I missed out buying them new. However, finding an actual binder of the pattern renewed my interest in focusing on using the patterns for the donation. If I was going to invest in finding a collection of the patterns I needed to commit to using as many as would work for this type of donation.

One of the ones I pulled out and put in my to do pile for this Spring was Pretty in Pink FC30-02 which has 2 different patterns that I hope to complete. As you may guess from the title of the blog this is the Prairie Rose pattern. The second is called English Tea Rose.

Notes:

A reminder to myself to read the pattern completely before beginning.

I'm constantly adapting patterns because often the older Barbie patterns don't fit the modern Barbies. They can be too big or too small depending on the year Barbie I happen to purchase for the donation. I generally can tell if there are arm holes or if not when the bodice is complete and you can see even without arm holes if the fit will work.

I generally start with the suggested fiber and try for gauge. In this case it was size 10 thread with a B hook. I tried the dress on Barbie and Skipper and the back wouldn't close on either doll. Not having size 5 in pink I tried size 3 but it was incredibly bulky. That's when a note on the pattern caught my eye right and left plackets. I googled the word as I was not familiar with it and then I had my answer to closing the back. These were panels for the back of the dress to close it so I could use the size 10 thread and the B hook.

I chose to use thread instead of ribbon for the ties. When I make this again I would reduce the number of rows for the apron as it is slightly long as written.

The dress fits Skipper rather well and I'm thinking of making it without the accessories as I don't think they would fit her as well as the dress alone does.

Barbie Swimsuit

I don't have a favorite swimsuit pattern for Barbie and Skipper so I decided it was time to keep looking through my binders to find another option. I looked at my records and the last time I used this leaflet was before I started this donation so its good to see it getting used again.

Notes:

This pattern comes from Leisure Arts out of print Leaflet 2132 Hawaiian Honeymoon Fashion Doll Wardrobe published in 1991 for those who might be trying to find a copy. I'm not sure how I've overlooked this one but I'm thinking of coming back and trying some of the other patterns for Barbie, Ken, and Skipper.

I originally tried this with fingering yarn but it didn't fit well at all. I moved to size 3 cotton thread thinking it might hold the shape better and it did but it is still a bit bulky. A note for future projects since I'd make this again for both Barbie and Skipper that Size 5 thread with a B hook will work for both dolls.

This picture is a note for myself to remember the crotch needs to be balanced or the swimsuit top will be off center and the legs will fit awkwardly in the suit. It is one of the more unique ways I've seen an outfit started and it took me a bit to realize why it was off but I left myself this reminder for future projects.

I finished the sides, back of suit in addition to the directions for finishing the legs. It just gave the suit a more finished look.

16 Inch Baby Doll I Feel Pretty 2

This is the last of the I Feel Pretty Outfits I need for the 2025 donation. You can find the free dress pattern here and the shoe pattern here.

I chose Herrschners Worsted 8 Celebration Easter Yarn for the second JCA 16 inch baby doll outfit. The contrast yarns were also Herrschenrs Worsted 8 Posty and another unknown shade as I don't have the wrapper but it is in my Herrschners box.

Notes:

The hook sized varied on this project. I used an H for the dress. The hat required a G and F hook. I needed 25 chains for the hat. I followed the directions I wrote for the previous outfit and had no trouble finding the directions to split the legs for the panties this time around. It also requires an H hook.

Using the lighter Herrschners yarn I've found a J hook will allow the shoes to fit. I add an extra row to finish the shoes.

I finished the back and for this outfit chose to close the back with a snap rather than a button.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Baby Doll Dress, Hat, and Booties

I've been trying to keep track of which dolls have been falling behind on filling their donation bags and I noticed the Lots to Love 14 inch Doll needed some attention.

Notes:

This outfit is made using a free Linmary Knits pattern found here for the dress and hat and what is becoming my go to bootie pattern for this doll from an Amy Carrico pattern Spring Set which I believe can still be purchased on Ravelry here.

This doll requires an E hook for the bodice and a G for the skirt. The main color for this outfit was Bernat Softee Baby Soft Red. I don't believe I've used this yarn often. It is a 3 weight yarn but has the feel of Caron Simply Soft. The contrast color is Bernat Big Baby Sport Yarn yellow.

I need to adapt this pattern just a little bit as the Lots to Love doll is a pretty chubby baby doll.

One note to myself that I always forget and already have forgotten as I've begun a second outfit for the larger baby doll the bodice should be done in back loops. I still have two more outfits to complete after these two so a chance to redeem myself.

After reading my notes from my last project I chose not to join until I reached the waist as this makes getting the dress on and off easier. I closed with a snap.

WHat was not in my previous notes was I needed 6 additional rows followed by two contrast rows for bodice length before starting wasit after completing original bodice pattern. In the past I've done this as one solid bodice color. I like the contrast split. I would consider splitting the rows more evenly between the contrast colors as I reached the waist before completing another set of directions. It would be more balanced if I split the two sections evenly.

The directions for the hat should also be followed in back rows until you reach the shell rows which I clearly did not do. For this doll I would stick to the e hook for the entire hat not switching to the g hook as suggested. The hat is a little large.

The booties fit as written with the same yarn I used for the main project and an e hook.

Skipper Red Riding Hood

I failed to include the link for Mel Garcia Tello's pattern to purchase in my previous post about making this for Barbie so I'm starting with it so I don't forget to include it. The pattern can be purchased here.

I've been so pleased to find so many of Barbie's outfits either fit or with minimal changes can be made to fit Skipper since there are limited patterns for Barbie's sisters available to crochet.

Notes:

I didn't need to make many changes from Barbie to Skipper for the outfit to fit but I did fix the mistake I made on the Barbie dress section.

I used the same Knit Picks Pallete colors for both Barbie and Skipper. Skipper's Bodice is smaller so I used a D hook for the bodice and a C hook for the skirt. While making Barbie's dress I had made the decision not to join the dress until I reached the skirt closing the top with a snap.

This did require me to go back to my notes about the straps I made for Barbie. The pattern for the straps comes after the bodice is written and there are two rows. You can do them without finishing off if the top is joined. However since I made rows I needed to stop after the first row finish off and start row 2 from where row 1 started. I actually read my notes this time and the straps look much better with this change.

After making Barbie's hood I tried it on Skipper and found it fit well so I used a G hook for Skipper's hood as well. I had experimented with the suggested smaller hook but it was too small for both dolls.

Skipper's bent arm is a bit challenging when anything covers her arm. I did find the hood didn't sit as well on it as I'd have liked but overall I'm pleased with her latest outfit.

Stacie Swimsuit

Continuing with my annual swimsuit challenge I move on to Stacie adapting Char Caywood's Chelsea pattern that you can purchase here.

Notes:

I use size 10 crochet thread and a 1.25mm thread hook to get this to fit Stacie.

I need to repeat rows 4 and 5 in the front panel before starting row six to get the length required for this outfit. I made a note after making this previously about needing a longer crotch but I didn't find that to be the case this time.

I haven't decided if I will try this pattern without the ruffle for Skipper or try to adapt a Barbie pattern for Skipper. I wasn't crazy about my previous attempt so I'm tempted to see if this will work before trying one of the Barbie options.

Barbie Cinderella

This is the last of the three Mel Garcia Tello patterns I purchased and you can buy this one here.

Since I already adapted another Cinderella pattern for Skipper I plan on using different colors and making this as a ball gown to add to Skipper's donation at a later date.

Notes:

I used a D hook for the bodice, sleeves and the waist trim. I changed to an E hook for the skirt.

As with her other patterns I chose not to join the dress until I reached the skirt using a snap to close the top. This version did not require any changes for the sleeves because of this choice.

I finished the back with sc to make a clean closing and to make it easier to add the snap.

I played with the sleeves and the trim at the waist and it required the smaller D hook as to not make them too buly.

This dress is made with Knit Picks Pallette yarn.