Barbie Q and E Prairie Dress

This is one of Annie's out of print Fashion Doll Crochet Club Patterns Q and E Prairie Dress FC27-03.

The original could be a fancy dress western outfit but as I was making this for the donation it seemed more practical to move it towards a princess dress. Adding the sleeves and collar didn't seem like it would improve the dress and I really liked the look of the dress as I finished it. I mention the rest in case anyone decides to hunt down the pattern and realizes the picture of the finished item is different than what I decided to make.

Notes:

I'm really working with new thread sizes this year. I thought introducing size 20 and 3 was bold but this year it looks like I'm moving into size 5 and eventually 8.

This was made with Creative Yarn Source Omega Yarn Light Blue and White. I've been starting to research my options for where to buy my multiple sizes of threads looking at color options and price.

Note to myself for future projects I needed 3 light blue Omegas to make this outift. It is a heavy dress. The white trim requires a minimal amount of white. If I added the sleeves I might have finished the 3rd cone of light blue.

I used a size C hook for the blue and a 1.8mm hook for the white trim. A reminder for future projects don't forget to switch back to C hook after finishing section of white trim. Also don't switch from triple to dc.

I decreased around the top for a better fit as it was too big. I didn't finish under the arms or it would have been too tight.

Rag Doll Dress with Ribbed Waist

As I'm working on a larger doll pattern I will often try it on the Rag doll to see if there is a chance it can be adapted to fit the Rag Doll as I have no specific patterns for it. This one required me to drop rows at the end but for the most part it was a pretty good fit based on making it for the larger dolls.

Notes:

I had considered using a smaller hook and possible a lighter worsted 4 but it fit well at the top. I'd consider switching hooks at the waist in the future to reduce the size slightly.

I used an I hook and followed the same process as I did for the other 18 inch dolls.

Chelsea Critter Empire Dress

I've been pleasantly surprised to discover with a little adaptation some of the Calico Critter Mom patterns will fit Chelsea. I'm always thrilled when I can get one pattern to fit multiple dolls. I'm currently experimenting to see if I can get it to stretch just a little more to fit Stacie as sadly I have few patterns for her and finding ones that I can adapt for her is a great blessing.

Notes:

As with the Calico Critter project I wrote about before I continued with size 10 thread for both colors. The odd part was the Calico bodice was huge on Chelsea. She needed a much smaller width but a longer length.

I used a 1.25 mm hook for Chelsea.

I repeated row 6 of the pattern until the dress reached Chelsea's knees. I then did row 7 and 8.

I've started Stacie's dress so we will see if it works out as I hoped. Sometimes while something looks good on Chelsea it doesn't quite work for Stacie. If it works you will see it here.