One of the advantages of working on this holiday donation project is I can do seasonal projects to add to the donation. It puts me in the mood for the changing seasons and it will give the child receiving the toys outfits for the dolls that fit that changing time period too. It also allows them to have their dolls travel to a warmer climates during a cold winter day or send them skiing as my sister and I did year round.
I found this July Fourth Picnic pattern in the August 2005 Crochet World. However, while looking for another pattern I also came across the pattern at Annie's free pattern site here.
The original pants pattern had 26 chains for Barbie's waist and this made the pants small. I experimented with hooks and went up to fine weight yarn and finally decided to chain around Barbie's waist and work the pattern from there. If I do this again I'd go a couple of chains smaller but with the snap to close the back it works. Decreasing by a couple of chains would make the pants fit better.
The pattern crochets the bodice to the pants. Since my pants were now larger than the original pattern I chose to make the shirt separate from the pants. This worked for a couple of reasons. First it allowed me to experiment with the size of the shirt without pulling stitches out of the top of the pants and potentially damaging them. Second by making separates it allows the child who will receive the doll to be able to mix and match outfits more easily. The pants can be used with any number of outfits and the shirt will actually fit nicely under some of the jackets I'm hoping to finish.
Notes:
I used a 1.25mm hook for the hat but I'd try a slightly smaller hook. The bottom was tight in the beginning but stretched over time especially as I added weight to the top.
I crocheted the thumb to the mitt on row 5 rather than sew it on after I made the mitts. It worked out fine and I think it is less likely to get caught or pulled during play. These mitts do not have actual thumb holes so Barbie's hand fits inside the mitt thumb included. The pattern only calls for one mitt but Barbie seems sensible and doesn't want to burn the unprotected hand so having two seemed wise.
The apron pattern is designed to be striped. I tried the stripes but I didn't like the look and opted for a single red color for the apron which was made with a .75mm hook.
This grill was part of the summer furniture I found for the donation at Dollar Tree. I've since picked up an extra set of the lounger and chair to continue using for display of new outfits once the donation heads off. I'm still looking for a grill as those seem to have sold out fast.
