Calico Critters Mom Dress

I picked the Calico Critter Bear family to use as a model set to make clothes when I realized the Stephanie Marshmallow Mouse was not the same size as the adult series Critters and therefore not the ideal model to size clothes on for my gifts. I feel much more comfortable when I can try stuff on as I make it. There are always adjustments and issues you can fix as you go along if you have the chance to try the outfit on as you are working on it. It's much harder to fix after the outfit is complete. This set also gives me the brother and sister sizes to try as well. I'd like to eventually make some holiday outfits for my set once I'm done outfitting the ones I'm gifting. I think they'd be cute additions to the holiday decorations.

You can purchase the Fancy Dress for Momma Pattern from On a Calico Day here. The hook size was right for the adult Mom which was a big indication that the Mouse was not actually an adult critter. I used a 1.8mm thread hook. The thread is size 10 from Thread Art. I've been moving to their thread for my doll projects for color options. I'm finding it hard to get the variations in color from Aunt Lydia's either in store or online. I stil tend to go with Aunt Lydia for the colors I can find locally like black, red, and white because I can save on shipping and especially with the white I can often get the large containers on sale.

This pattern worked up quickly. I wasn't able to include as many rows before the dress was at hem length but couldn't have chosen a smaller hook or the back wouldn't have closed so hook size wasn't the issue. I still have one more to make so I'm going to experiment and see if I can switch out a row to have more of the shell rows. I also want to be more delicate in tacking down the shells so they don't flop upward but they also don't become flat.

Calico Critters Shell Dress

After purchasing the single Stephanie Marshmellow Calico Critter hoping she would work as an adult model for my Calico Critters outfits I have come to suspect she is actually closer to the daughter rather than the Mother figure. I've finally broke down and bought the Cuddle Bear Family so I have a range of sizes to work from and I'm thinking of making some holiday outfits for myself so they can be part of my holiday traditions as well.

I'm no doll or toy expert so when I make clothes I firmly believe in models to try to make sure the clothes will fit. It takes a good bit of time and resources to make the clothes and you know if they don't easily fit they are far less likely to be used.

For those of you interested in mkaing some Calico Critter clothing of your own this is a free pattern that can be found here and includes directions for the mother and daughter figures, which is what finally made me believe this is not the Mother sized figure I'd hoped for when I purchased it as it was much closer in size to the daughter than the mother.

This pattern works up quickly. I used DMC Traditions Size 10 thread. I have been searching for striped/variegated thread to use with various doll projects and at some point picked up this thread but I'm not sure when or where and it does not seem to be commonly available when I searched for it online.

To make this fit this sized mouse I used the daughter directions and a 1.25mm Tulip Etimo thread hook. I'm finding this seems to be the hook for this mouse. We will see if it holds to the standard for the adult figures when they arrive.

Calico Critters Romper

I started adding Calico Critters to birthday and holiday packages but until now hadn't ventured into making clothes for the toys.

It's been a busy winter so I opted to skip holiday boxes until Easter so I'd have some time to think about what I wanted to make. I had no idea what patterns were available for the Critters characters and I had to find a model as I need to fit clothes as I make them do to my guage challenges.

It was harder finidng a single character than I thought it would be as I only wanted one adult character to fit the clothes. I realize the animals differ slightly by type but I was hoping for to get close by using one of the adults to make some clothes. I settled on Stephanie Marshmellow Mouse as she was one of the less expensive models and started looking for patterns.

You can purchase the pattern set here. This outfit was made with size 10 crochet thread. I dug out my recent shipment from Thread Art. I'm a huge fan of Aunt Lydia's but I can't find the range of colors I used to be able to find even online so I've been branching out to try other brands. I'm pleased with my experience so far with Thread Art.

While the pattern calls for a 1.8mm thread hook I needed to use my Tulip Etimo 1.25mm hook to get the outfit to fit. Again this is why I try to have a model when I make clothing for dolls or toys because I never am sure if I will need to adjust the hook size or fiber to make the outfit fit until I try it on the doll/toy.