16 Inch Baby Doll Sweater and Skirt

I mentioned when I wrote the post about the Rag doll outfit this week that I had an abandoned skirt I hoped to convert into an outfit for the JC Toys - 16-inch Soft Body Baby Doll with the assistance of additional doll patterns. I did that this week using Darski's free B and B 16 inch doll set you can find here. I lengthened the skirt but the original pattern is from Annie's soft sculpture doll Debbie Ann's Sweater Set 87F43. This pattern is currently out of print but has been available previously on Annie's as a digital patterns so it could appear again.

I didn't do justice to the sweater and it came out more as a wrap cardigan I have another pattern for than the cute baby sweater Darski created but for the moment it will do to add another outfit to the donation pile. I love the shoes from this pattern. They work up quickly and the fit perfectly.

Barbie Fashion Doll Thrills

One of the vintage crochet pattern sites I frequent was having a sale on crochet magazines recently and I looked searched the offerings to see if any had fashion doll patterns. I was able to pick up some new offerings for my Barbie binders.

This pattern comes from Annie's Quick and Easy Pattern Club April/May 1991 Magazine. The original pattern used a variegated purple size 10 thread that I couldn't match. If I do find something similiar I'd pick it up for another donation doll as the shading was quite pretty. Since I resumed working with thread I've been picking up a variety of solid and variegated thread colors and weights to use for toy and doll projects. For this project I pulled Aunt Lydia's Size 10 Crochet Thread, Monet Multi from my stash. While it isn't purple I think it makes a nice substitute color pattern.

As I mentioned with the previous Barbie pattern steel hook sizes listed in older fashion doll patterns don't always match your current steel hooks so it is best to try the outfits on as you make them. Barbie sizes have also not stayed the same over the years so this too can be a factor as you work with older patterns. Trying on and adusting as you go can help work through these challenges. This pattern called for a size 7 steel hook. I used a Tulip Steel Crochet Hook-Size 4/1.25mm for all but one row of this project. For the first row of the bodice I used the Tulip Etimo Steel Crochet Hook-Size 0/1.75mm to increase the size of the waist as it was just a little tighter than I'd hoped. I'd previously started the project with this hook but the dress was too large. It can be a bit of a Goldilocks situation sometimes when working with these patterns to find just the right fit.

Notes:

I added two rows of sc finish to the back to create a better place to add snaps and to make the back close better on the dress. Not part of the directions but it made the dress fit better. Note for hat make sure you add the chain 1 after the shell. This is different from skirt pattern and easy to forget.

Claudia the Crab

With my Easter box gone it was time to research projects for my next box the summer birthday box. I had decided on an ocean/sea theme during the Christmas book sales and I already have the books purchased. Now I just need to decide on the creatures to crochet. I have a couple of "sets" but while I like play set, I'm not completely sold on all the animals that come with the sets. I also have some animals in mind for specific books.

I had seen a few crab patterns and it seemed like a reasonable starting point for the project. I started by looking at a free pattern that gave me the idea for using larger eyes for my crab. You can find that pattern here.

While looking through my ami patterns and books I came across an interesting pattern in Hooked on Amigurumi that intrigued me for a couple of reasons. First, this designer emphasizes joining pieces as you crochet which eliminates a good deal of sewing pieces once when you've finished crocheting them. I've mentioned a few times this is not my favorite part of making amis. This pattern also had more detailed instructions about putting the ami together. That being said I loved the idea of using the larger colored eyes so I borrowed that from the free pattern and added it to the Hooked on Amigurumi pattern.

The pattern from Hooked on Amigurumi is made with an E hook and worsted weight 4 yarn and says it should create about a 6" clam. I wanted slightly smaller animals for my play sets so I hoped I might have red in stock from my Schachenmayr Catania sport cotton stash but sadly I did not. I was able to use up some Knit Picks Shine Sport yarn that has been in my stash for some time. I even was able to use one of those tiny annoying little balls to make the legs and claws. I used a D hook to get the size ami I wanted.