Button Me Up Baby Doll Romper

As I mentioned in a previous post I'm always looking for patterns that can be adapted to baby doll clothing. This romper set is actually a free newborn set that can be made to fit the 16 inch baby doll. I suspect you can work it to fit a range of sizes if you play with it a bit. You can find the free pattern here.

I was feeling some what whimsical when I chose the colors for this outfit. I was around the time I was making Halloween items and it was a somewhat dreary day. I wanted something bright and cheerful and Halloween colors were on the mind. The hat is the same hat I used in the Annabelle dress the pattern can be purchased here.

This pattern works up quickly and I will be adding it to my donation items in the future. Most likely with less Halloween themed colors.

Peachy Keen Baby Doll

I've been looking at this set since it was posted and thinking I love it but I'll never get to it. You can find the free pattern here.

Well never arrived with the Big Sister project and I loved this outfit. I think what sold me on it was the jacket. It reminded me of the formal church coats from my childhood. We had play coats to wear outside and get dirty, but there was a "nice" coat we were supposed to keep clean and wear for special occasions like going to church. I doubt I ever owned one in pink or peach as the pattern called for, but I do remember them being more formal than the zippered jackets we wore most of the time. They generally were cloth, mostly wool and they buttoned.

I went with pink for this outfit because I am determined to decrease my stash and I had some that was perfect for this project that I really wanted to start using up. This is one of my favorite outfits of the Big Sister project. Partly because I stepped out and did something I didn't think I would do. The other reason is it brought back some happy childhood memories. My thanks to Darski as always for all her wonderful patterns that made this project so much fun.

For those of you following along, the baby has shoes.

Baby Doll Sun Set

This was an adorable outfit I couldn't resist from the free pattern set Sweet Baby Mine found here.

Of all the projects in this set I think this one required the most adjustment to make the outfit fit the larger doll. The other outfits had more cosmetic adjustments in terms of length and width. This one required a little more work to make the proportions fit the doll due to the change in size of the doll. I loved this outfit and it was worth the work to make it fit. I hope to return to it again for the donation project in the future.

Little Angel Baby Doll Layette

I find inspiration for my doll projects where ever I can. This designer has a unique ministry to help parents who have need of burial clothes for their children. While it may seem morbid the clothes often are the perfect size for dolls and free patterns give me an opportunity to stretch my crafting dollars. She models the outfits using dolls about the same size as those I use for my doll projects making her patterns a good match. This layette set is a free pattern you can find here.

I used regular worsted weight yarn on this project although it calls for baby weight. While a 4 it was a lighter weight yarn than my normal worsted and perfect for this project. It was another chance to use up some yarn left over from previous projects. While I consistently buy yarn to get specific colors and weights, I also am always on the look out for ways to make a dent in a every growing yarn stash.

Annabell Crochet Baby Doll Dress

Every so often I start out to make a pattern and it doesn't happen or only part of it works for me. I've learned not to push it too hard or it can break the crochet spirit so to speak. Sometimes a doll outfit isn't right for this time. I started to make a dress from petite designs which you can purchase here. The dress wasn't working for me, but I loved the hat. Where time was a factor I moved on to the next outfit.

I had printed Annabell's Crochet Dress and decided I had to attempt this as part of the doll project. You can find the free pattern here. It had such a dainty almost lacy look to it. When I first looked at the picture I wasn't sure if this was crocheted in thread or yarn. To ease your mind I will tell you the dress is made in 4 ply yarn. This was another great project to use up yarn. I had some left over yarn from a special project I'd made a few years ago for her and now her doll has a dress from the same yarn.

This dress is another that works up quickly. While I think it looks dainty and lacy, it was very simple to create. Again you will see no booties, although the pattern does have them if you'd like to try them for your doll. I did try but the doll didn't like them. This time they were too big and I couldn't fit them. I have a suspicion this doll is going to spend most of its life shoe less.

Sweet Baby Mine Doll Dress Set

As I mentioned the free Sweet Baby Doll Mine pattern set was quite helpful in filling my need for patterns for the Big Sister doll project. You can find the pattern here. This was also a great project to finish up some left over yarn from other projects. I loved this pink yarn but there wasn't a great deal left to do much with for a bigger project. It turned out to be the perfect amount for this project. I had just enough left to finish it without leaving me with more left overs. The white was left over from a bobbin I'd used on her sister's baby blanket. I love projects that finish off yarn. I have all too much to use up.

This is a very cute and quick outfit to make for a baby doll. The cape covering is adorable. I am so glad I decided to tackle this pattern set. This will definitely expand my donation rotation in future years.

For the child I made it for it has the advantage of being easy to put on and take off as well. Little hands can sometime struggle with outfits that are complicated but I tried to focus on outfits that would build dressing skills but not frustrate.

Baby Doll Chistening Set

One of the many things that I loved about the big sister project is it got me exploring patterns I'd never tried before. Tn some cases I'd just gotten into doing the same patterns I knew I could complete in time for the Christmas donation. Some outfits were intimidating. Other outfits like this one might not fit the category of a donation to people you don't know. However, knowing where the gift was going it was a pleasure to try out the Christening set from Darski's free pattern set Sweet Baby mine which you can find here.

I've had this set printed for several years as there are several adorable patterns. I'm not sure why I haven't tackled it before. However, something about this challenge made me look at it and I made my way through most of the patterns. As I mentioned I'm still working through the blanket to finish for the donation. I even adapted the bonnet from the Christening outfit to use in the Pilgrim holiday outfit. If you are looking to make baby doll clothes this is a pattern to download and keep. There are lots of great patterns in it for your doll making interests.

For those of you who have been following these posts you may note I did get these booties to fit the doll. I will have to remember that for future projects.

Baby Nicole

Another outfit from operation Big Sister. This one is from the Mary Maxim pattern Baby Nicole that can be purchased here.

Mary Maxim has been releasing more of their kit patterns as digital patterns. They regularly are on sale for $.99 so I generally wait for the sale to stock up on any new releases I don't currently own. I believe I originally picked this up as a kit when I first started doing the doll donations. I got a doll and an outfit to make and it worked out for me. I later moved on to the soft baby dolls and later the doll moved up in size when the 15 inch soft dolls were no longer available.

However as I've mentioned in previous posts, most patterns adapt and as long as you keep trying the outfits on for fit you can usually make things work as long as the change isn't too great.

While I've had some success with the 18 inch dolls and crocheted shoes the baby doll has been a bit more stubborn about shoes. I don't know if it is the shape of the feet but I find most of the doll bootie patterns seem just to fall off which is why the doll is constantly bare foot in most pictures.

Baby Doll Project

While I always donate 2 baby dolls each year at Christmas this year I had an additional baby doll project. A family member is having a second child and I thought it would be fun for the big sister to have a new baby to play with as well, so I'm making some of the same items I normally make to donate to send off with the baby blanket.

While it's always fun to work on the donations, it is kind of unique to work on a project when you know where the gift will end up. Today we begin with the doll diapers. Every time I write about this free pattern I always wonder if it will be available the next time I post about it as I have to use the Wayback machine to get the link here. I like this pattern because it's been pretty flexible as I've adjusted it from the 12" dolls to the 16" dolls and it continues to work for me. I use snaps rather than buttons as I've found them easier for kids to use.

As you can see in the picture the doll is wearing one and I always make one "extra" so the child can change the doll.