16 Inch Baby Doll Parrot Stripes Dress

It was time to update my finished projects. This is one of my best resources for going back to and finding out what I made, how I made it and what I changed.

This is actually an 18 inch doll pattern that works quite well with the 16" Baby doll. You can find the free Flamenco pattern here. This pattern generally appears across several of the donation dolls as it is easy to adapt and quick to make. I made one previously for the first of the 16 inch donation dolls using up some varigatied yarn in my stash. I returned to my Red Heart Super Saver Stripes stash and pulled Parrot for this project.

I found this year working with an I hook until I made the armholes and switching to an H hook for the remainder of the dress has proven to be the best option for this doll. I use a snap at the back to close the top.

This is a slightly different hat than the one I made for the other doll. Still working on a design I really like before writing down the pattern. The shoes however are part of another free baby doll pattern set found here. I find this is one of easiest shoe patterns that stay on the doll's feet.

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.

Lots to Love 10 inch Doll Top, Pants, Bonnet, and Booties

As I was searching through patterns trying to decide where to go next I stumbled across one of Darski's free pattern sets for the 10 inch dolls called Sweetly found here. This set like the Layette one have multiple outfits and I'll be working my way through them and likely trying to adapt them for the smaller dolls as well.

I used Bernat Baby Big Ball Sport Yarn, Baby Pink and Baby Yellow with an E hook for most of the outfit. The bonnet required a G hook.

Notes:

The shirt, bonnet, and booties worked up as written.

In the future I might try a smaller hook for the booties as they were a little larger than I had hoped for but they don't fall off the doll.

There are multiple ways to make pants but two you often see in doll clothes are making the waist and splitting for the crotch conintuing with the legs and the second making the legs and connecting them at the crotch and making the top of the pants.

Darski's patterns tend to be legs first, I tend to prefer top first so I remade the pants to be top down. It is just something I find easier when making doll pants. Unless I'm doing footed outfits I tend to stick with the top down and work around what ever challenges that presents.

One last note the ties should have been attached a little further back for optimal fitting but each project is a learning experience.

Baby Doll Splash of Color

I generally don't like making duplicates of patterns in the same donation, but this year in order to increase the number of baby doll outfits I've been crocheting two outfits from each pattern to increase the number of outfits I can donate for the baby dolls. This way both baby dolls I donate have a copy of each outfit I make. However, for my own sanity I have refused to use the same colors. In order to make it feel a little different I've been using different colors.

As I mentioned in the Dress for February post I adapted this dress from a free Dora the Explorer 15 inch doll pattern found here. Fall colors have always been favorites of mine so I decided to go with red, orange, and yellow. The shoes are as always from the free Peachy Keen pattern found here.

Notes for adaptations:

I needed a K hook for the bodice of the dress. I switched to an I hook as soon as I started the skirt. It quickly gets to large in the skirt area without switching over to the I hook.

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 Dress for February

This dress came from a free pattern found here for a 15 inch Dora the Explorer doll. I've gotten used to having to adapt doll patterns to fit the JC Toys 16-inch Pink Baby Doll as doll patterns aren't written specifically to fit this doll.

It took a bit of experimenting but I realized that for the bodice of the dress I needed a K hook to make the dress fit. Anything smaller and it was just too tight on top. However, a K hook for the skirt made the dress much too large so I went back to the suggested hook size I for the skirt.

There is a shoe pattern with this pattern but I went back to my tried and true Peachy Keen pattern for the shoes. I know they fit and they don't fall off so these are the shoes the baby doll will be wearing. You can find that pattern here. I do have the complete Peachy Keen set on my list of patterns to make for the donation this year. However, right now the shoes make an appearance constantly.

I loved the holiday colors for this dress and have plans to make a second dress in different colors to keep the donation bags even. While I've been able to convince myself repeating patterns is necessary to have enough baby doll clothes for this donation, I do draw the line at having to repeat the colors all the time.

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.