Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Ken Winter Clothes



I'm always on the look out for patterns for the Barbie family that I think I will actually make. I especially wanted this pattern for Ken and possibly Stacie as I lack patterns for both. There is a Todd pattern with him wearing overalls that may also fit Stacie since the version I have is a camping doll she's clearly active. There are parts of the Barbie pattern I like and I may make that as well. Lately I have also had luck getting stuff to fit Skipper from the Barbie side so we will see.

This is JudysDollandPatterns Christmas Playtime Pattern that can be purchased here.

While I often include holiday themed outfits in the donation. I find them fun to make and I hope the kids enjoy being able to dress their dolls for the holidays, I try to make sure the dolls have enough daily outfits before focusing on the holiday treats. This seemed like it would be a great option for a winter outfit for Ken if I avoided the Christmas colors. It hopefully allows more potential for these pieces to be mixed and matched with other Ken items.

I made a "ski" outfit for him a few years back with Knit Picks fingering yarn and I'm thinking about pulling that out of print pattern out and giving Ken a nice winter wardrobe.

Notes:

I used various brands of size 10 crochet thread for this project.

I used my Tulip Etimo 1.8mm hook for everything but the sweater sleaves when I went down to a 1.5mm hook as the sleeves were too bulky.

While the sweater appears large in the front it isn't in the back where I added the snaps to close it. I added a finishing row and it closes but it is a nice close. I'd experiment with a 1.5mm next time to see how the fit works perhaps going up in sizes in certain places and using a smaller hook in others.

I suspect I had an issue when I made the shoulders for ths pattern because the arms are made and joined and I couldn't get the arm to set. I then reverted to sc around the armhole and made the arm going down from the shoulder. If this is a problem in the future I suggest making the cuffs ahead and adding them at the end. In this instance I alternated with dcfp and dcbp to get some texture for the cuffs. It would be easier to make them and join.

Had a similiar problem with the collar and used the same solution. For next time I would suggest sc around the collar to even it out and count how many rows of the collar I'm going to need to make it fit.

I chose not to add the fringe to the scarf or hat. I had no intention to try with the hat but I did try with the scarf and wasn't thrilled with the look so I pulled it out.

Regarding labels for dolls Ken is listed as Christmas Boy with size (12") listed under title. This confused me until I saw the 12". I likely will make this same mistake next year so a note is useful. Barbie is Christmas Girl, Stacie, Christmas Sister and Todd, Christmas brother.

Monday, March 18, 2024

Our Generation Boy Harry Potter



I was gifted Adoring Doll's Harry Potter set back in 2022. I made Hermione for the My Life Doll for the 2022 donation and haven't been back to the pattern since. This year as I was searching my pattern binders for patterns for the Our Generation Boy, Harry Potter came up as an option. You can purchase the pattern set here.



This project has multiple pieces so I've been working on it as I made other clothes. I started with his scarf which looks simple enough but with multiple color changes there are plenty of ends to sew in before it is finished. I moved on to the hat and shoes. Finally I attacked the coat, finishing with the sweater.

Notes:

Pants:

I used an H hook for the pants. I only needed 25 rows for the legs. I finished with a ss seam. This keeps legs from catching on shoes.

Shoes:

It's been my recent experience that I need a smaller hook for shoes with the Our Generation doll than with the My Life doll. This proved to be the case here I used the suggested G hook.

Shirt:

I started with an I hook for the sweater but it proved to be tight, I found the K hook worked best for the outfit. I used an I hook for the sleeves to keep them from being too large. Coat:

I needed a K hook to get the coat to fit. I used an H hook for the finishing outside trim.

Scarf:

I used the suggested G hook for the scarf. Just a reminder to myself there are 19 sections.

Hat:

I used an H hook for the hat with the suggested dark grey. I used black last time and I will go back to that the next time I make either outfit. It looks better.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Chelsea Drop Waist Dress with Flared Skirt



This is on of Char's Pattern for Chelsea that can be purchased here.

I made this one two years ago with Creative Yarn Source solid colors as I didn't have any Lizbeth size 20 on hand. I couldn't find Watermelon when I did finally order but I did get a variety of variegated colors.

Oddly when I searched for Lizbeth 20 this year it isn't really available. I don't know if it has been discontinued or if it is a supply issue but it is kind of sad. While Creative Yarn Source has lots of amazing solid colors the don't the same mix of colors in their striped thread. Their stripes tend to have limited colors for size 20. Not exactly what I want for these projects. The fashion doll projects don't take much thread so I'm hopeful my size 20 Lizbeth supply will hold out for a bit.

When I made this last time it was a bit larger than I wanted. This year I opted for a .9mm Tulip Etimo Thread Crochet Hook. I've made a habit of recording the mm of the hook for the thread hooks rather than the size as I find the thread hooks vary far more between brands for the thread hooks than they do for the larger yarn hooks.

Notes:

When I made this previously I made it with all solid colors from Creative Yarn Source. This time I mixed Lizbeth and Creative Yarn Source. I found when I went to add white trim with the Creative Yarn Source size 20 yarn it seemed bulkier than the Lizbeth and I pulled it out as it looked fine without the arm trim.

The pattern includes a dress, hat, panties, and shoes. Last year I made the hat, but this year I just found it was akward trying to get it fit over Chelsea's hair and opted to frog it and not include it with the donation. The outfit is cute without it.

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