Rag Doll Nightgown

I'm always thrilled when I finish off a category for the donation and this week I have the pleasure of posting about two. With this nightgown all the dolls now have night wear going into the 2026 donation. I need to get caught up on swim wear but what better time for swimming than the heat of the summer.

This is the same free pattern I use for the 18 inch girl dolls that you can find here.

Notes:

I had bought a bunch of Big Twist yarn when Joann was going out of business for projects like this one. I find it a bit light for the larger dolls but does well with some of the smaller dolls. I realize the brand has been picked up but I'm still working through my stash and have not needed to refill yet. For my own notes this is Jade Green.

I do need to shorten the rows before the final trim rows for this doll. I would trim it back a few more next time as this felt a bit long.

My notes indicated I should use the suggested hook size but that was with heavier worsted. If I used lighter worsted in the future I'd go with the next size hook up.

I finished the back and closed with a snap.

Now to finish off the swimsuits before the fall hits.

Rag Doll Nightgown

Notes:

This is the free pattern I used for the My Life doll found here.

I used the suggested pattern hook sizes for this doll rather than going up a hook size as I did with the My Life Doll.

Due to height differences I decreased the number of rows before rows 20-23 to allow for the bottom finish.

I am close to finishing the Our Generation Nightgown and about 1/2 way through the last My Life gown both are different patterns. I have started the My Life swimsuit and hope to get started on the Our Generation swimsuit so they all finish at about the same time. I'm preposting the second weekend of November so my hopes are good that I can finish despite some pressing family stuff.

Rag Doll Red Dress

I'm contining to cycle the dolls through the free Flamenco doll pattern found here. This was also a great chance to use up some yarn that has been in my stash for a very long time. I purchased it for a long ago Christmas project and had more left over than I'd anticipated. It was quite nice to find a way to send it off to a new home.

Lots to Love 10 Inch Doll Sweetly Sweater Set

One reason for writing this blog is it gives me notes about how I approached a project the last time I made it. However, it doesn't mean those directions will apply again. I looked up my project notes for this outfit and found myself abandoning them as the outfit didn't even fit the 8 inch Lots to Love doll when I was done. So either my directions were wrong, the yarn was not what I thought I had used, or my guage was really weird last year for this project.

Anyways this year I used Bernat Baby Sport yarn and an f hook for the outift.

The sweater and bonnet pattern I followed as written other than using an f hook and baby yarn. Other than Amy Carrico's footed pajama's I tend to make my pants top down splitting for the crotch and I did that for these pants as well.

I did change the shoe pattern as for some reason the booties weren't working for me. I crocheted the first 3 rounds using an f hook. Round 4 was done in sc in back loops. I did another round in sc. Then I decreased 4 times around the toes with sc for rest of last row.

15 Inch Rag Doll Howdy Neighbor Madison Dress

I was continuing to work through Darski's Howdy Neighbor pattern and thought perhaps I cold make the free Madison dress pattern found here with Herrschners Worsted yarn I've been trying to use up for the My Life Doll. The fit was a little tighter than I liked so I decided it would be a nice addition to the 15 Inch Rag Doll's donation.

I added a row to the bodice for this doll and removed a row from the skirt prior to adding the spiked trim to the bottom of the skirt. I used a dc spike rather than a sc. I just found it easier to make. The suggested hooks worked with this yarn for this doll, though it proved to be too small for the intended My Life doll. I also finished the back and top with a row of sc prior to changing to the trim color as this gave back a more finished look and made adding buttons and button holes easier.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Sweetly Dress

I was blessed to receive a gift of Herrschners yarn from a member of Ravelry's Charity Knitting group and I've been targeting it ever since for my doll projects. I needed a middle weight yarn between sport and worsted to increase the size of the Sweetly free pattern found here to fit the Lots to Love 14" Baby Doll and the Herrschners worsted which is closer to a DK was a great fit for this project.

I used an I hook until I changed colors to Bernat Big Ball Baby Sport Yarn, Tiny Tulips when I began using a G hook. I switched to an F hook when I started on the skirt. The upper chest and arm holes required the larger hook even with the heavier yarn but once past the arms the dress became too large without decreasing hook size.

I didn't follow the panties pattern as I've discussed before I chain the distance around the doll waist and then begin alternating hdc and dc until I reach the crotch where I split for the legs. I'm still working on a hat pattern I like. The shoes are from the Amy Carrico's Baby Spring set that can be purchased here. I like the fit of these shoes and likely will be making more as I continue with clothes for this doll.

The trim for the arms is as written. I added a sc chain 1 trim to the bottom of the skirt.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Dress Hat and Shoes

One of the advantages of donating multiple sizes of dolls is when you make a mistake you sometimes can recylce the project for use with another doll.

This was my second attempt this donation cycle at the free Linmary Knits crochet baby doll pattern found here for the JC Toys -16-inch Baby Doll but I had two issues. First I forgot to add the extra rows in the dress, which is in all fairness designed for a 14" doll. The extra rows make it a better fit for the 16' doll. The second issue was an experiment on the hat. I found the g hook for the hat was too large and the pattern calls for an e hook. The e hook fit the 14" doll well but was too small for the 16" doll. This made switching this outfit to the Lots to Love Babies 14" Doll a practical solution.

The shoes are part of a petite dolls 14" doll pattern set you can purchase here. The pattern calls for DK yarn and I was able to use up more of the Herrschner's worsted weight yarn I was given by a member of Ravelry's Charity Knitting Group. The rest of the outfit was made with baby sport yarn.

This of course means I will need to make one more outfit from this pattern to fill the baby donations. I'm also thinking about experimenting with it to see if it would fit the larger of the two rag dolls.

Just a note to myself for future projects. While this slides off easily on the 16" doll due to the soft shoulders it is a little harder to slide on and off the harder larger bodied 14" Lots to Love doll. It might be wiser not to join at the top but wait until the waist using a snap to close the next time I make the outfit for this size doll.

16 Inch Baby Doll Sweater and Skirt

I mentioned when I wrote the post about the Rag doll outfit this week that I had an abandoned skirt I hoped to convert into an outfit for the JC Toys - 16-inch Soft Body Baby Doll with the assistance of additional doll patterns. I did that this week using Darski's free B and B 16 inch doll set you can find here. I lengthened the skirt but the original pattern is from Annie's soft sculpture doll Debbie Ann's Sweater Set 87F43. This pattern is currently out of print but has been available previously on Annie's as a digital patterns so it could appear again.

I didn't do justice to the sweater and it came out more as a wrap cardigan I have another pattern for than the cute baby sweater Darski created but for the moment it will do to add another outfit to the donation pile. I love the shoes from this pattern. They work up quickly and the fit perfectly.

Cindy Doll

I mentioned in a previous blog that I had purchased some vintage doll books hoping they would fit some of Barbie's sisters. I am still playing with some of Cindy's outfits to see if they will fit Stacie. So far I have not had time to do the conversions as these patterns are mostly thread. That means I need to convert to fingering yarn and then from Cindy's body type to Stacie. However, I did recently find a source for purchasing the Cindy doll. I ordered a couple to try them out and if they work out, I will share my source. I like the idea of small dolls as they are easy to store and I seem to have found some of the patterns that will fit her.

I am finding it fun working with different doll styles. Starting with an 18" doll and then moving to the small Kelly doll keeps things interesting. Adding in dolls with different challenges keeps the process from becoming routine.

Barbie and American Girl Doll Free Patterns are listed on my blog at these locations:

Barbie Crochet and Sewing Page

Barbie Knitting Page

Ken Page

Kelly/Skipper Page

American Girl Doll Crochet and Sewing

American Girl Doll Knitting

Cindy, Dora, Bratz, and Other Dolls

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

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