Vintage Pattern Finds

I was so excited to make purchases yesterday at two of my favorite sites. There is always a balance of waiting to decide which patterns I want the most, which sites have the patterns at the best price, and when to make the leap before the patterns are gone.

This month I won some and lost some. I lost some vintage Barbie sports weight patterns. They were a little more expensive than I wanted to pay, but they are hard to find. I was disappointed about that. However, in waiting I found a batch of historical 15" doll patterns that were much less expensive. As I have mentioned many times, there are always tradeoffs when you wait. You can lose out, but you can also save money when you find the same item at a better price.

This month I focused on building my afghan pattern library. I want some pretty, but simple patterns to make. I love the look of the more complicated patterns, but I know I lack the patience to make the blocks and sew them all together. I will however, have a real shot at finishing a ripple blanket that changes colors, but requires no sewing of multiple pieces when the item is completed.

I found some holiday patterns and some patterns for Mom, as her birthday and Mother's Day are both around the corner. She has been enjoying the vintage doll and toy patterns.

The 15" doll projects did not progress as far as I expected at this point. My hope is when I get past the afghan phase I am in, I will return to dolls and toys. I will have quite the collection to complete. I am hoping the outfits will work well with homeschooling lessons that the child who receives the doll will be studying. I have some historic patterns for Barbie, but the majority of patterns are thread. The 15" Fibre Craft patterns I have been finding use worsted weight yarn. As anyone who reads my blog knows, I am always happier with the heavier yarns.

Vintage Pattern Shopping

There is always a timing issue when I buy patterns from my vintage suppliers. One supplier has free shipping when you purchase more than $50 of items. The other gets new items in on a regular basis so I try to wait to see which items I want to buy most. The challenge of waiting is that others take the plunge while you are waiting.

It can take a while to get to $50 worth of used patterns. The savings on shipping is generally worth the loss of a few patterns. I was slightly frustrated that I waited too long and missed a set of doll patterns I wanted. I do hope one of the vendors will find them again and they will become available again.

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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Amigurumi Finger Puppets

I have been looking for more finger puppet patterns since I made the dragons for Easter. I found a crochet book, but nothing that really appealed to me. Then I discovered an out of print pattern in my vintage pattern hunt. These finger puppets actually were created to look like Amigurumi animals that were not finished as animals but as finger puppets.




The cap next to the bear is the item crocheted for the actual finger puppet. The pattern than calls for the person making the item to turn the finger cap inside out creating a lip that can be sewn to the opening of the puppet. This allows the body of the puppet to be sealed. The head and body are one piece, but since the finger does not come near the head at all, safety eyes can be used on the project instead of sewing eyes. The pattern uses moveable eyes, but since I cannot find ones to sew on and I do not like the possibility of them falling off, I like the idea of substituting safety eyes.



Creating the finger cap was a creative way to make more detailed finger puppets. Many of the books and patterns I have looked at have had disappointing details in their patterns. Those that are detailed can be challenging to work on because of the small areas that they create the features. This patterns utilized skills I was already using in making my Ami's and added the basic finger puppet to the mix.



This bear still needs to be assembled but I wanted to document the process prior to putting him all together. The pattern has twelve creatures to create, but I can see how this technique could easily be applied to other small ami's.

See the finished bear blog entry here.

This was created from an out of print pattern, Leisure Arts Leaflet 435 1986, Finger Puppets 12 Designs To Crochet by Susan Pippin.

If you are looking for free finger puppet paterns please see the Finger Puppet Free Pattern Links Blog Page.

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