16 Inch Baby Doll

At a certain point in the year I start to focus on the deadline for completing the doll donations and I start picking some projects that I know can be completed quickly and thus add to the total number of outfits for the dolls. I still will grab a project of interst but overall my goal is on numbers. You may see patterns repeated in the coming weeks.

This is actually a free pattern for the 18" doll that I've been adapting for the 16" doll for several years. You can find it here.

As I mentioned in a previous post guage has been odd so I started with an I hook until I passed the arm holes and then moved to an H hook and the fit was good. The dress was easy to take on and off. I used a snap at the back to close the dress.

The yarn for this project was one I picked up on impulse a while back as I was looking for options for variegated yarn for doll projects. It was a "house" brand but I don't remember where I bought it. I am determined to finish off these purchases and this seemed like a good place to start.

While there is no pattern for the hat, it is something I keep experimenting with hoping to find a version I like before writing down the pattern there is a free pattern for the doll shoes you can find here. This has been my go to shoe pattern for this doll as they are easy to make and they don't fall of the doll once you put them on as some of the others I've tried have done.

16 Inch Baby Doll Dress

I'm continuing on my stash busting quest. Both of these are old skeins that need to leave the house and are slowly getting there as they crochet into doll outfits.

This is a free pattern from Recycle Cindy that I've been adapting to the larger baby dolls for years. You can find the pattern here.

Notes:

I used an I hook for the top switching to an H hook for the skirt. I might be able to try an H hook for the second doll as the top might fit better with the smaller hook. I join after chaining as this style of dress is easily slid on and off the doll without requiring buttons or snaps. The pattern suggests velcro but I hate sewing velcro so I never use it.

I used an H hook for the hat and added a row of front post dc and finished with a row of front post sc. I rather like this look and will think about continuing with this look.

The shoes are my go to free baby shoe pattern for this doll size and can be found in Darski's Peachy Keen pattern set here.

I Feel Pretty 16 Inch Baby Doll Crochet Dress

I know I said I was done with the 16 inch doll for this donation season and I was or so I thought. A dear friend who designs doll clothes posted she had a free baby doll pattern she wanted me to try out and how could I resist. I checked my stash and got to work. This is the first one. I will be making a second as I'm trying to keep the baby doll donation even this year. You can find the free pattern here.

I used the Nicole Sport weight yarn I purchased from AC Moore before they departed. Yes I do have quite a large stash as it was the only local yarn I could find to use on the 8 and 10 inch dolls. Now that I'm stuck indoors I'm more glad then ever I bought what I did.

The pattern called for a mixture of a 4.5 and 5 hook. With this yarn and my odd gauge I needed the H hook to get the bodice to fit, I also added rows to the skirt as it ended up not covering the legs. This doll looks like it's wearing a white onsie so I try to cover it up when I make doll clothes. The doll in the pattern was fully covered so it could be that it was a 15 inch doll, it could be the yarn I used, or again I often have a funky gauge that requires me to alter things to make them fit.

I'm looking forward to making the second one after I finish my first 18 inch doll project of the season. I'm working on a dress pattern I've not tried before for an Our Generation Doll. I've moved on from the Springfield dolls this year and from here on I've decided it will be the Walmart or the Target dolls depending on which dolls are on sale first. This year it was the Our Generation dolls. If I find the Walmart dolls any time this year I will pick them up as I really do like working with the dolls. They are a bit more flexible than the Our Generation dolls for sizing clothes.

Baby Doll Parrot Stripe

In the grey days of winter I love the chance to work with bright colors. I needed to make a second version of this pattern so I went looking in my stash for another striped yarn and came out with Red Hear Super Savor Parrot Stripe. While the Fruity Stripe continues to be my favorite color for this pattern, Parrot Stripe is becoming a close second.

What pattern you may ask? This is actually a free 18" doll pattern available on Ravelry here. With an H hook this pattern fits the JC Toys, La Baby 16-inch Pink as long as you check that it doesn't go too long. I used a snap to close the back.

The shoes are my go to free pattern Peachy Keen found here. I'm still playing with the hat pattern so I have nothing to post yet.

Baby Doll Yellow Daisy Dress

I'm continuing on my mission to use up orphan skeins of yarn in my stash. This yellow is part of one of those huge balls of sport baby yarn. This is the second doll dress I've made from it and I swear you can barely notice a dent in it. I'm determined not to surrender though. I will eventually finish it off.

This is a fun easy free doll pattern found here. In order to make this fit the JC Toys, La Baby 16-inch Pink Dollusing sport yarn instead of worsted weight I used an I hook.

This pattern does not include shoes. It's taken me a while to find a pattern that fits and I keep going back to the shoes from the free pattern Peachy Keen found here.

The pattern uses velcro to join the back. It had been a while since I'd made this particular pattern and I never use Velcro because I find it hard to sew. I used a snap closure for dress but when I make the second one the dress is loose enough I believe I will just close the seem, add the staps and not worry about creating a closure. It should slide on easily and save me the hassle of buttons or snaps.

I'm writing this at the end of January and I feel like I'm making a good start to getting these dolls dressed for the donation due at the end of November beginning of December. The baby dolls tend to get neglected as I find the 18 inch doll clothes a bit more fun and creative to make. However, this year I'm sticking to my promise to focus on getting the baby dolls dressed before moving on to the 18 inch dolls.

Baby Doll Sunset Dress

Well technically I can't claim this is part of my plan to destash my orphan yarn. The truth is as soon as my supply of Red Heart Super Saver Fruity Stripe is close to being finished it will be replaced in my stash. I love the colors in this yarn and and constantly finding ways to use it. It will only disappear from my stash when it is discontinued and that will be after I hit all the local stores to stock up on it before I can't get it any longer. But enough about my yarn obsession.

I found myself wanting to work with some bright vibrant colors and this yarn has been calling to me for some weeks. Generally I use this yarn and this pattern for the 18 Inch doll but it seemed like a good time to expand the options for baby doll outfits. You can find this free pattern here.

I use an H hook for both the baby doll and the 18" dolls or I find with my gauge the dress is too tight with the suggested g hook.

At some point I will write down the pattern for this hat, but I'm still playing with it.

The shoes are from the free Peachy Keen pattern found here. I don't see myself changing at this point the shoes are easy to make and don't fall off the doll's feet. I do need an I hook to get them to fit the JC Toys, La Baby 16-inch Pink Soft Baby Doll but that is a small change to make if they stay on the feet.

Sunny Days Baby Doll Dress

I'm not sure how I missed Darski posting this free pattern at Crochetvile. You can find the pattern here. I've recently started going through the pattern list there to download and print patterns that I seem to have missed or misplaced. When I reorganized my pattern stash some went missing. On the upside it is now easier to find patterns I need and to put them away when I'm done using them. There was just that period when...

I finished this donation outfit up the week before Thanksgiving as I was rushing around trying to balance finishing Christmas gifts and make sure I finished off donation items, too.

The pattern works up quickly, another benefit when you are crunched for time. I used buttons as my decorative flowers. Darski is much more creative with making flowers to decorate her outfits.

16 Inch Doll Sundress and Hat

As I've mentioned before there aren't tons of patterns that fit the soft bodied 16 inch baby dolls although I do keep finding new ones all the time. Since I donate two dolls a year I do often make multiple outfits from the same patterns. This was the second dress I made from this pattern here.

Notes to myself:

I played with the hat by reducing the increases and I like the look of it much better.