Ken Shorts and Shirt

I made this back in 2022 when I was using the smaller Ken Dentist.

Lately I've fallen back to my newsprint and other older magazines for the Barbie dolls because many of them have quick to make outfits that are more designed for play than display. I admire the people who collect, dress, and display their dolls. The hand made outfits can be amazing to look at but for little hands and someone looking to fill a room full of donation bags those patterns just aren't as practical a choice.

This pattern comes from the out of print newsprint title House of White Birches Crochet Wardrobre for 11 1/2 inch Fashion Dolls Including a Complete Wedding Ensemble and Trousseau. I try to include titles even for out of print stuff because it's easier to find something if you have the information to look. I learned this recently when I came across a new line of newprint titles I'd never seen before.

I used a C hook for both the shirt and shorts despite the pattern calling for a D hook. I suspect doll size and yarn create different needs.

I used a no longer available Red Heart Baby sport yarn for the pants and Bernat Big Baby Sport White for the shirt.

I rather liked this version of Ken beecause he fits many of my old vintage patterns much better than the dentist. However, I misjudged purchasing extras and if my inventory is correct I only have him through 2025 before I will need to find a new Ken model.

While I've replaced Barbie with the camping Barbie nothing on the market for Ken right now appeals. I got stuck this time because by the time I ordered a couple and started making something for the model he was already disappearing from the market. This time I have to make testing a priority regardless of where I am in the current year's donation.

Ken Sleeping Bag

I've been working my way through various accessory projects and it was time to make Ken's sleeping bag.

His sleeping bag is made with the same free pattern I used for Barbie's found here.

Notes:

I used Hobby Lobby's I Love this Yarn Autumn Stripes for this project. (I note this because I want to buy more for other projects and I'm terrible with remembering names of colors.)

After you establish the actual sleeping bag portion of the bag distance becomes more important than row counting. The rows are accurate for establishing the pillow and where you want to chain to begin working in the round for the bag but as for the length of the bag it really depends on your doll. I didn't measure for Barbie or Chelsea but I will the next time I make the bags. I did for Ken however and the bag from top of pillow to where I stopped the rounds to join was a little over 13 inches.

Ken Shorts and Shirt

After using the shirt found in the out of print Crochet Wardrobe for 11 1/2 Inch Fashion Dolls Including a Complete Wedding Ensemble and Trousseau for a previous Ken project, I knew I'd be back to make the original short set. I've learned if a pattern works add it to the donation because it is hard to find easy to make patterns for Ken.

I used a C hook with Bernat Baby Grey and I'm honestly not sure what brand the Green was as I've been buying lots of baby yarn brands and I often lose the wrappers.

I reduced the second row of the shorts sc 4 decrease around. I added rows to the shorts as they were too short to split for the crotch with the original row count. I reversed rows after joining. I liked the texture/look of it.

I did not add the trim to the shirt. It gives a different look to the shirt and provides for more mixing and matching among outfits hopefully. While the basic skeleton of some of the shirts might be the same I'm hoping the looks will be some what different.

Ken Sweat Pants and T-Shirt

After making Ken's PJ bottoms I realized the pattern would work for sweat pants as well. As I've mentioned before it is challenging getting the older patterns I've collected for Ken to fit the smaller modern Ken dolls so when I find a pattern that does fit I'm trying to see if I can stretch it for more than one purpose.

The pants pattern for this set was found in an out of print Crochet World's Fashion Doll Showcase #1. I had a slighlty different guage using Aunt Lydia's Size 10 Navy thread and ended up using a Tulip 1.75mm hook for this set of pants. Not sure why the thread was different but I'm making a note of it hear for myself because I will likely return to my stash and this pattern next year and it will matter.

Having made the pants I wanted a simple top to finish the set. I turned to another out of print leaflet from House of White Birches Crochet Wardrobe for 11 1/2 inch Fashion Dolls Including a complete Wedding Ensemble and Trousseau. This pattern is a simple short and top set and I will be returning to make the short set at a later point. As I've said if something fits I'm going to use it for the donation this year. Ken is one of my more challenging dolls to fit.

I used a C rather than the suggested D hook with Bernat Baby Sport Blue and White. I used the suggested number of rows for the shirt and sleeves.

Ken PJ's and Robe

I tend to buy multiples of Barbies, Ken's etc. so I can adapt patterns and donate them for a few years without having to start over with a new doll and new dimensions.

I stil have a few more years with the Ken Dentist Doll and then I'll have to hunt for a new model as I suspect he'll have been retired. I looked this year just out of curiousity and picked up a few Barbie Zoologists as my doll when I run out of Barbie Vet dolls. I was concerned as I looked at the dimensions for the Ken professional dolls that he keeps getting smaller. This makes fitting clothes for him from the old Ken patterns increasingly more challenging.

This is another pattern I found in the out of print Crochet World's Fashion Doll Showcase #1.

There is always a challenge when you adapt older patterns for dolls but with the changing sizes of the Barbie doll family there is an additional challenge that it just isn't a change in available fibers it also means you are adapting for different sizes not just in height but in other proportions as well. This is why when possible I do try to buy several versions of a specific doll to donate so when I adapt a pattern I get to use it for a couple of years before having to refit it to a new model.

I needed my Tulip Etimo Steel .9mm Hook to make this fit Ken. The original pattern calls for a C hook to give you an idea of contrast. I used Red Heart's Size 10 Thread White and Aunt Lydia's Size 10 Delft

The pants were easy to make and I'm thinking these would make great sweat pants in another color with a shirt. I struggled last year to find enough patterns that would fit Ken so I'm going to expand where I can on patterns that fit.

Ken Slacks and Shirt

I mentioned when I wrote about Ken's Ski outfit back in May that I was waiting for an order of size 20 yarn from Creative Yarn source to complete another pattern from Crochet Wardrobe for 11 1/2" Fashion Dolls(Including a complete Wedding Ensemble and Trousseau.) The thread arrived and I finally got around to trying it out. I'm working with 2 variables in using this pattern set, first the patterns were written in 1982 and second this is a considerably smaller Ken than other models. I've read this comment from others so I know I'm not alone out there as I'm fitting clothes to him. To make this outfit fit I used a Tulip Etimo Steel Crochet Hook-.75mm with the size 20 thread.

I had bought some micro buttons but they proved to be too small and slipped out of the double crochet holes. I did however have a container of mixed buttons that had small white buttons that worked for this shirt. Sometimes you get lucky with stuff you have in your stash.

While the slacks fit with no adjustments other than the ones mentioned above I did have to remove some rows from the shirt as it was too long for this doll. The pattern calls for 11 shirt rows I only did 7 before splitting to front and back sections. I added ss rows to the arms and the legs of the pants to keep them from fraying.

I have an 18 inch doll skirt pattern that proved to be too large in size 10 cotton so I'm eager to see if I can make it work with the size 20 cotton and a smaller hook. Then I'm looking to order more colors of size 20 yarn to work on the patterns that have been too large for Barbie and friends using the size 10 thread. At the moment I'm working on a yarn project for the My Life doll. It's good to rotate between the smaller and larger hooks as the smaller hooks can be harder on my hands. I also have an ocean ami I'm trying to complete.

Ken Tennis Outfit

I'd been looking for Annie's out of print Fashion Doll His and Hers 87D15 since I started making Barbie clothes again and realized it wasn't in my collection. I wanted this book because the patterns are all casual clothes and thus perfect for the types of clothes I wanted to include with my donation. When it arrived it seemed like it would be fun to see if I could adapt the tennis outfit to fit Ken. I still need to make a top for Skipper but I'll get there at some point.

This outfit is made with Red Heart Crochet, Thread Size 10 White. While the pattern calls for a size 7 hook I needed to use my Tulip Etimo Steel Crochet Hook-.9mm to get the outfit to fit this modern Ken doll.

I changed the pattern for the headband and the wrist bands. Instead of weaving the elastic through the finished bands I measured the elastic to fit this doll, sewed it together and then crocheted over the over the band in sc to cover the elastic. This made it easier than trying to figure out the differences between the old and new Ken's heads. I was able to quickly make these last accessories for the outfit.

Ken Ski Outfit

It's supposed to be in the 80's this week so what better time to think cold and create winter wear for Ken. I've also been flipping through my collection of Barbie patterns trying to find casual wear for Ken to crochet. I'm amazed at how many patterns for wedding and swim attire there are for Ken, but I'm looking to expand his options for dress up play.

One of the leaflets I came across from my decade ago pattern buying spree was a House of White Birches newsprint set with black and white pictures and typesetting I haven't seen in years. The patterns however are quite good for my purposes of creating clothing for kids to play with the dolls rather than display, although I suspect there are a few outfits that might work for that as well.

The leaflet is called Crochet Wardrobe for 11 1/2" Fashion Dolls(Including a complete Wedding Ensemble and Trousseau.)It was published in 1982. If you are interested in finding it I've seen it listed quite a bit recently as I've looked for other out of print fashion doll patterns. Despite the age it is out there.

I didn't recognize the yarn listed in the pattern, which is not unusual these days in modern patterns let alone those dating back to the 1980's. When I looked it up on yarn sub it appeared to be a fingering yarn. Since this Ken doll is a fairly small doll I originally started with thread thinking the pants would be too large. I had tried another pattern in the book that called for bedspread yarn and a size 7 hook. After getting down to a size .4mm hook I ordered some size 20 yarn to experiment with later and moved on to the ski outfit.

The thread proved to be too small and I moved on to a stash of Knit Picks Palette yarn which is a wool fingering yarn that I'd had from previous doll projects. While the pattern called for an e hook I found a C hook was the adjustment required to make the outfit fit the smaller Ken doll.

The one increase in size I needed to make on the pattern to get it to fit was the hat. I found the hat was too small to fit over this Ken's molded hair. I just added and increase row and the hat fit.