Lots to Love 8 Inch Baby Doll Valentine's Outfit

As I mentioned when I made the Lil Cuties Valentine outfit, Char's pattern had adaptations for the hat to fit the Lots to Love 8 inch doll. The sizes of the two dolls are compatible enough that the adjustments I wrote about in the previous post worked for the smaller doll, too. You can purchase the pattern here.

Notes:

The pattern calls for a size 5 steel hook. I've never found the numbers to be helpful as the numbers vary by manufacturer so I try to stick to mm when recording so if I change hooks I have a better chance of matching mm than sizes. For this pattern I used my Tulip Etimo 1.75mm and 1.5mm hooks. For the dress I used the 1.75mm hook. Having finished off the pink yarn for the Lil Cutesies doll I dug into my stash of thread and located some new pink options for this dress as I wanted it to be different from the previous outfit.

I did not use a tie at the top and I finished the back with sc so I skipped the first stitch on both sides when working the collar. I didn't do this the first time and the collar didn't close correctly so I note it here for future projects.

The bottoms also used the 1.75 mm hook. I chose to finish the leg openings with a sc around the legs.

I used the 1.5mm hook for the shoes. I had previously made them with the larger hook and found them hard to keep on the feet. I found going down to a 1.25mm hook made the shoes too tight.

For the hat I also went down to a 1.5mm hook. I ran out of pink at the last row so I used a row of white at the end before the brim. The directions for the Lots to Love hat are slightly different than the Lil Cutesie directions as the heads are shaped differently.

Lots to Love 10 Inch Nightgown

I'm working my way through the standard doll patterns I established last year for the baby dolls and the nightgown was a quick and easy project last year and again this year.

You can find the Berenguer Baby Layette free pattern set here.

This was also a great chance to use up some of the Herrschners worsted weight yarn that was gifted to me from a member of the Raverlry Charity Knitting group. The yarn is a great size for the dolls and I've used it on several projects this year.

Project Notes:

I chose a chain 3 edging instead of shell for the edgings.

This project used a g hook.

I'm looking into making this for the Lots to Love 8 Inch doll. I'm thinking lighter yarn and a smaller hook should do the trick.

Lots to Love 8 Inch Sun Suit

I recently discovered that a series of doll patterns from Annie Potter presents that I had thought were out of print and unavailable are actually available through the publisher's website. She is also selling some of the digital patterns on Etsy. I wanted the printed leaflets so I ordered them from her website.

This sun suit is part of the Sweet Baby Doll Layette leaflet and can be purchased here. I was particularly pleased to locate this one, I had seen a used one advertised, because it not only has patterns for clothes to fit the 8 inch baby dolls but also accessory items like a Moses bed and a diaper bag.

If you follow my blog you know that I do try to include accessories for the bigger baby dolls in my donations, this will allow me to do so for the smaller dolls, too. Finding a leaflet that included these items for the smaller dolls which likely can also be adapted to the 10 inch dolls was a find.

I now have 2 outfits ready to donate for this doll so I'm making progress.

Notes:

I used baby yarn for the main part of the outfit and the hat. The pink yarn is a no longer available brand of sport yarn from AC Moore. It took an e hook to get the outfit to fit.

Lots to Love 8 Inch Romper

Mary Maxim has released a bunch of their doll kit patterns as digital downloads and when you catch them on sale the prices are quite reasonable. This pattern is called Baby Blue Doll if you need to look it up and it is available for purchase here. These patterns are frequently on sale so if you miss a sale and can wait it is worth it to stock up on the patterns you want.

I've worked with the 5 inch Lots to Love dolls but never the 8 inch. This was a fun simple project. The pattern called for fingering yarn but I decided to try the baby sport yarn I've been trying so hard to finish off and it made gauge with the suggested D hook. The only thing I changed for this project is I didn't add the arms. I found the dolls arms to be some what stiff and while the clothing wasn't tight, I did find maneuvering the outfit over the arms to be more challenging than I'd expected. I decided adding the arms would just make this harder for small hands. I used a snap rather than a button to close the back as I have limited smaller buttons in my supply.

I'm thinking of modifying this pattern to make a little dress as another outfit to donate with the doll. If I eliminate the split for the legs this would make a cute little dress.