Stacie Sleeping Bag

While this is posting towards the end of May I'm writing it the first weekend of May on a wet rainy Sunday.

Wet rainy days are great days for bargain hunting which honestly is the only way this doll charity stays functioning.

I looked at my Amazon doll wishlist today to find the 16 inch Baby dolls on sale and stocked up.

I've been struggling to decide what to do about restocking the Glitter Girl dolls as my reserve is low and nothing was speaking to me. The prices have been high and price is important if you want to reach more kids. However, today they had one doll that fit the style of doll I wanted and was about 1/2 the price of the other dolls in the category. I was also able to replace my current model which sadly is out of date and will not accurately model for the current dolls. I hadn't realized that until I went looking for a new doll.

On to the current project. As I post this at the beginning of May I now only have two more sleeping bags to make before the doll donations. Both are Chelsea dolls and going to two different donations. This is a huge weight after last year discovering I had forgotten them in the fall.

Stacie is now the only fashion doll that uses the free Beanie Sleeping Bag pattern found here rather than a combo of the fashion doll and Beanie shells. Her bent arms make the wider sleeping bag a better choice. I experimented during Kits for Kids with using a Calico Critter pattern for Chelsea and I will use that for the next two Chelsea sleeping bags I need.

Notes:

This was made with Herrschners Baby Worsted Stripes a 4 weight yarn. Note to self do not use anything bulkier than Herrschners for Stacie's sleeping bag.

I use the suggested I hook.

Once the pillow and pattern are established I stop counting rows and close when the sleeping bag easily ends over the doll's feet.

Chelsea Nightgown

I decided to start with the smallest of dolls to get back to my nightgown challenge. This pattern is actually an AG mini pattern but I found a series of them that adapt well not only for Chelsea but for Stacey and Skipper with some alterations. Since my pattern supply for Barbie's sisters is low I like when I can find patterns that work across the doll range.

This is one of Sweet Silver Creation's patterns that can be purchased here.

I bought one pattern first to see if it would work for the Chelsea with minimal effort and when I realized it would work I went back and bought her pattern set available here because I already use many of these patterns for the 18 inch doll. I hope to get to more of them this year.

Notes:

To make this work for Chelsea I use size 20 thread and a .75mm thread crochet hook.

For my own reference the pink was Omega from Creative Yarn Resources. The contrast was Lizbeth Wildflowers.

Since I do try to check my notes before starting these projects each year I would suggest going with a lighter color for the primary. I made this in a pale pink last year and liked it better. I thought going with a bolder color would work but rather prefer the pale.

I've made alterations on my paper copy of the stich counts which after row 2 don't account for the row increases in the following stitch count. If I have to reprint at any point it will be important to remember that there are changes to rows 3 and 4.

Sweet Silver has a process of stopping for her arm holes. I always continue as this has never worked for me. Therefore when completing row 5 I need to look at the directions for row 6 and chain 4 for the arm holes or Chelsea can't move her arms. I thought I needed to increase hook size only to realize I hadn't read my own notes.

Skirt

Row 1 was changed to a dc in 2 followed by 2dc around. As written the skirt was too large for Chelsea.

Last year I finished the skirt at row 10 and left a note to continue to row 11.

So now the skirt directions are to follow rows 1-11 then skip to row 16.

Rows 17-18 are done in contrast color.

I do not add upper trim.

The nightgown closes with ties. I chain 40 for the ties and follow directions for ties.

I finished the back in sc before adding ties.

I've never had good luck with crocheting shoes for the fashion dolls so no slippers for Chelsea.

Ken Farmer

This is one of Shirley Jean Wright's free fashion doll patterns that can be found with the help of the Wayback machine here. Sadly the machine doesn't always save pictures just text.

I made this pattern for the donation a few years back and clearly it was a different Ken because I had to play with the pattern to get it to fit the It Takes Two Camping Ken I'm currently donating.

Notes:

This note was added to my pattern copy but I'm placing it here because I often read these notes before even grabbing the pattern to start. The shirt is a tougher fit for this doll. I'd suggest starting with the shirt, getting it to fit and then deciding if the waist for the overalls should be wider. I didn't do that for this project but I would do it next time as I plan on continuing with this doll for the donation for a while.

Overalls:

I used a D hook with Red Heart Super Saver Light Periwinkle for this project. I ordered a three pack from Amazon after completing the project because I can't get the color locally and they are a great pants color for the boy and girl dolls along with other projects. Lately I've picked up great shades only to have them never appear locally again.

I had previously done 17 rows for the legs, I increased to 18 this year and would consider 19 for a future project.

As I mentioned this Ken is a different build then the previous doll so he needed a longer bib so I had to add a row to the bib.

Shirt:

The shirt has never really been an issue for this project until this year. The shirt is made as one piece not buttons or snaps required. However this requires that it can be slid on and off the doll.

My first attempt using previous directions was too small. I then thought about not joining it but that looked terrible.

After various attempts I decided to change to using an e hook until row 5 when the armholes are created switching back to the D hook I originally used for this project.

Note to self that the projects stops joining at row 5 as this is when both the armholes and the collar begin to form. Without this the shirt will not pull on and off.

The sleeves were huge as written so I did a decrease round of sc which also finished off the arms to make for a better fit. I then did 3 rounds of DC finishing with a ss around the edges to keep them from fraying. Hat:

I have yet to get her hat directions to work as written and each time I've made the hat it has been different. This year's hat was made with Hobby Lobby sport yarn.