Baby Doll Wipes Round 2

As I mentioned in my previous post the baby wipes are made using a no longer available Diaper Bag Pattern from Crochet n'play. If the pattern ever does become available again I will happily post it as I think it is a very creative pattern that provides great accessories for children's baby dolls.

When I cleaned out my yarn supply in January I put aside both the yarn balls I had left over from previous projects and the yarn bobbins I hadn't finished off. I often use the left over yarn bobbins on amigurumi projects but they too often have a way of getting lost over time and are not emptied when I need them for my next afghan project. So it seemed a good time to pull them all together in one location and started finding ways to use all of them up.

I made the wipes using a g hook.

The yellow became my next wipes box. I found one more bobbin after I finished this but I'm sure it will work as a trim for another project at some point.

I've written before about checking out Dollar Tree for Barbie items after reading about a Barbie bloggers finds there. Since Christmas I've also been finding play food sets and even a tea set to send off with the larger dolls for the donation. After finding a little kitchen stove top set I thought I'd share these in case anyone else was looking for little sets. I know I'd never have found the Barbie items or now these if someone hadn't shared their finds so I pass on what I've learned to you.

Even in my local Dollar Trees I've found stock differs and when it comes to Barbie and these little food sets they don't often last long. I know I stock up when I find them because I've often gone back myself to find them cleaned out.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Bear Lovey

With Covid, my subscription to the UK magazine Simply Crochet has been somewhat eratic in its arrival. I've missed a few issues but I was thrilled when issue 112 arrived a few weeks ago. One of the things I love about Simply Crochet is there are always little extras. This edition had a double ended wooden hook and a dinosaur supplement which I hope to explore at some point. Dinosaurs seem to be a popular gift and new patterns are always welcome.

What caught my eye as I was looking through the magazine was an ami pattern for a mouse called Sweet Squeak. While the mouse was cute I had no need of a mouse pattern at this time. What drew me to the pattern was the mouse was carrying a bear lovey. I'd never seen something like that before.

I'm always looking for new accessories to add to the doll donation. It makes the dolls more fun for the kids and selfishly keeps me more engaged as I get to try new projects. This was unique and not something that had crossed my mind to make for the baby dolls. I'd made lots of loveys for children why shouldn't their baby dolls have one as well?

This was a quick project and allowed me to use up yarn on hand. The bear was made from Omega Sinfonia sport cotton. The blanket section was acrylic sport yarn I had on hand. I used a B hook for the bear and a C hook for the blanket. I added rows to the blanket to get the length I wanted before adding the final trim row. I'm not sure what the dimensions were supposed to be, I went based on how big I wanted it to be for the doll.

The pattern includes instructions for adding a loop to the back of the bear's head so the mouse can hold the lovey. I adjusted this slightly for the dolls. To make this work for the JC Toys - 16-inch Baby Doll the chain will need to be longer as the loop was to short as written to fit over the arm. It did fit the JC Toys - Lots to Love Babies 14" Doll but for future projects I'd make it a little longer as it would be easier to slide on and off the doll's arm.

If you are not a subscriber to Simply Crochet but would like to find the pattern you can a digital copy of the magazine here.

Baby Doll Diaper Bag

When possible I like to add fun extras to the doll donations so kids don't just get the doll, they get fun stuff that adds to the joy of playing with the doll. This year both the 15 and 16 inch baby dolls got their own diaper bags. Several years ago I got the gift of a pattern for a diaper bag that included a changing pad, wipes, and a bottle. The pattern is no longer available for purchase as a separate item you have to purchase it with the doll pattern so the price has gone up. For those of you interested the pattern is available for purchase here.

I try to challenge myself and include stuff I think kids would enjoy playing with as I make these items. I had hoped to get further but life often intrudes. I introduced play food and only got one jar of carrots made. Perhaps next year I can do better. The pattern I used was free and available here. This pattern also included the bib I made for both doll bags.

Lastly what is a diaper bag without at least one diaper? This has been my go to free pattern for diapers and thankfully it fits the new 16 inch baby doll too. As I went to share the pattern I found the blog has gone and even the wayback machine can't find it sadly to share with you. Update to say the Wayback machine came through at least for a short while. They don't hold on to entries forever so if you want it I suggest you download the pattern from here. One more lesson that we should always copy and save the patterns we love because there is no telling when they are going to leave the Internet never to be seen again.

I'm not going to jinx myself by saying I hope to get more done next year on the diaper bags. That seems to be the kiss of death. I will say they were a huge hit when I dropped them off at Aztec Wishes. The accessories were the hit of the day. I will have to see what I can do. I'm already trying to see what I can find for cotton colors for the bags. Our local yarn places don't seem to carry the big cotton handicrafter yarn that I used to use for these and had been using up back stock to make them. I may have to resort to ordering online. That is for another time.

I am pleased to note I did finish up the first baby doll donation for 2018, which I can hopefully post about once I've finished documenting the year that was 2017.

Doll Basket for 15 Inch Doll

The doll baskets and blankets are finished for the year. Last year I only managed to get one done, so it feels like progress. This one was a little bit larger than I would have liked. It's hard when you are adapting a pattern to fit a larger doll to make sure you don't over compensate and make it too large.

The doll basket pattern came from Dressing Up Dolly, Leisure Arts 2725. The blanket came from the 2015 Crochet Calendar. The pillow was just something I played with until I found something that worked. I found the babies fit better in the baskets with a pillow.