American Girl Bathrobe

I bought the Crochet World DVD collections and printed a number of the patterns a few years ago. This year one of my goals with the doll donation and even the Big Sister project was to try some of these patterns I've printed over the years and never made. For those of you interested in this pattern it was originally published in Crochet World October 2010 as Dolly's Bathrobe by Kathleen Stuart.

I again pulled from a Sweet Creations pattern, School Uniform purchased here to make the slippers to go with the bathrobe.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. Wishing all of you a happy, healthy holiday.

American Girl Let the Sunshine In

This is a wonderful fun summer outfit. It is part of a free pattern set called Weatherby found here. I've made three patterns in this set for the donation this year. This is the first time I've attempted this pattern. I'm not sure how I missed this one before. I found it worked up quickly and it is an adorable summer outfit.

The jacket threw me at first. I'd never made anything quite like it before. However, I was thrilled when it was finished. I'd like to make more like this again now that I understand how it comes together. It makes a cute addition to a dress.

I mix and match patterns all the time to get the pieces I want. The shoes come from a Sweet Creations paid pattern Sun Dress found here. I wouldn't suggest buying a pattern for the shoes, but if you find patterns that you like that fits and doesn't fall off the doll my suggestion is use it across other patterns where you need shoes.

Light Bulb Hot Pad

I've always liked holiday dishcloths and hot pads or pot holders. I find they are both practical and decorative. They add a little holiday color and feel without taking up valuable work space in my kitchen. I'm trying to test out some patterns this year to see which ones I like before seeing if they'd make good gifts.

I like this one, but I even in the picture of the pattern you will see it doesn't lay completely flat if that is an issue for you with hot pads. I was gifted one prior to this and I've found the little bump hasn't been an issue for keeping the pans balanced on top. The weight usually keeps the item flat.

You can purchase this pattern here. As I mentioned previously in a blog about Mary Maxim, e-pattern central has frequent sales. If you want this pattern and you have time to wait, I'd suggest waiting on one of their sales to pick up the pattern.

American Girl Cinderella

I discovered Sweet Silver Creation patterns several years ago and they've been a staple of my Aztec Wishes donations ever since. I've been especially fond of their princess outfits. I love being able to make princess dresses for the donation that are not all that complicated to complete. Do to the skirt this pattern is a bit of a yarn hog, but since I generally buy larger skeins of my frequently used colors this wasn't a problem for this outfit. If you are interested in making this pattern yourself you can purchase the pattern here.

I added shoes to this outfit using another of her patterns School Uniform that can be purchased here.

Puppy Lovey

You'll find it shocking if you've been following along but we are done with the Big Sister doll outfits. This is actually the last item that went into the package and it was a present for the baby a dog lovey. I've gotten hooked on making lovey's as baby gifts. I find them cute and easy enough to make.

I love connecting with fellow bloggers. Especially fellow crochet bloggers because I stumble across patterns I didn't even know I needed. That's how I found this lovey pattern. I was participating in a blog hop and boom there he was and I had my lovey pattern ready to go. You can find the free pattern here.

I've always been a huge fan of purple so that might have been what drew me to this over other free lovey patterns out there. I would have liked a stronger purple in my own, but I was determined to stick with my stash on hand. I have to get rid of it some how folks. I do love how he came out and I hope he is well loved in the years to come.

Button Me Up Baby Doll Romper

As I mentioned in a previous post I'm always looking for patterns that can be adapted to baby doll clothing. This romper set is actually a free newborn set that can be made to fit the 16 inch baby doll. I suspect you can work it to fit a range of sizes if you play with it a bit. You can find the free pattern here.

I was feeling some what whimsical when I chose the colors for this outfit. I was around the time I was making Halloween items and it was a somewhat dreary day. I wanted something bright and cheerful and Halloween colors were on the mind. The hat is the same hat I used in the Annabelle dress the pattern can be purchased here.

This pattern works up quickly and I will be adding it to my donation items in the future. Most likely with less Halloween themed colors.

Peachy Keen Baby Doll

I've been looking at this set since it was posted and thinking I love it but I'll never get to it. You can find the free pattern here.

Well never arrived with the Big Sister project and I loved this outfit. I think what sold me on it was the jacket. It reminded me of the formal church coats from my childhood. We had play coats to wear outside and get dirty, but there was a "nice" coat we were supposed to keep clean and wear for special occasions like going to church. I doubt I ever owned one in pink or peach as the pattern called for, but I do remember them being more formal than the zippered jackets we wore most of the time. They generally were cloth, mostly wool and they buttoned.

I went with pink for this outfit because I am determined to decrease my stash and I had some that was perfect for this project that I really wanted to start using up. This is one of my favorite outfits of the Big Sister project. Partly because I stepped out and did something I didn't think I would do. The other reason is it brought back some happy childhood memories. My thanks to Darski as always for all her wonderful patterns that made this project so much fun.

For those of you following along, the baby has shoes.

Baby Doll Sun Set

This was an adorable outfit I couldn't resist from the free pattern set Sweet Baby Mine found here.

Of all the projects in this set I think this one required the most adjustment to make the outfit fit the larger doll. The other outfits had more cosmetic adjustments in terms of length and width. This one required a little more work to make the proportions fit the doll due to the change in size of the doll. I loved this outfit and it was worth the work to make it fit. I hope to return to it again for the donation project in the future.

Little Angel Baby Doll Layette

I find inspiration for my doll projects where ever I can. This designer has a unique ministry to help parents who have need of burial clothes for their children. While it may seem morbid the clothes often are the perfect size for dolls and free patterns give me an opportunity to stretch my crafting dollars. She models the outfits using dolls about the same size as those I use for my doll projects making her patterns a good match. This layette set is a free pattern you can find here.

I used regular worsted weight yarn on this project although it calls for baby weight. While a 4 it was a lighter weight yarn than my normal worsted and perfect for this project. It was another chance to use up some yarn left over from previous projects. While I consistently buy yarn to get specific colors and weights, I also am always on the look out for ways to make a dent in a every growing yarn stash.

Annabell Crochet Baby Doll Dress

Every so often I start out to make a pattern and it doesn't happen or only part of it works for me. I've learned not to push it too hard or it can break the crochet spirit so to speak. Sometimes a doll outfit isn't right for this time. I started to make a dress from petite designs which you can purchase here. The dress wasn't working for me, but I loved the hat. Where time was a factor I moved on to the next outfit.

I had printed Annabell's Crochet Dress and decided I had to attempt this as part of the doll project. You can find the free pattern here. It had such a dainty almost lacy look to it. When I first looked at the picture I wasn't sure if this was crocheted in thread or yarn. To ease your mind I will tell you the dress is made in 4 ply yarn. This was another great project to use up yarn. I had some left over yarn from a special project I'd made a few years ago for her and now her doll has a dress from the same yarn.

This dress is another that works up quickly. While I think it looks dainty and lacy, it was very simple to create. Again you will see no booties, although the pattern does have them if you'd like to try them for your doll. I did try but the doll didn't like them. This time they were too big and I couldn't fit them. I have a suspicion this doll is going to spend most of its life shoe less.

Sweet Baby Mine Doll Dress Set

As I mentioned the free Sweet Baby Doll Mine pattern set was quite helpful in filling my need for patterns for the Big Sister doll project. You can find the pattern here. This was also a great project to finish up some left over yarn from other projects. I loved this pink yarn but there wasn't a great deal left to do much with for a bigger project. It turned out to be the perfect amount for this project. I had just enough left to finish it without leaving me with more left overs. The white was left over from a bobbin I'd used on her sister's baby blanket. I love projects that finish off yarn. I have all too much to use up.

This is a very cute and quick outfit to make for a baby doll. The cape covering is adorable. I am so glad I decided to tackle this pattern set. This will definitely expand my donation rotation in future years.

For the child I made it for it has the advantage of being easy to put on and take off as well. Little hands can sometime struggle with outfits that are complicated but I tried to focus on outfits that would build dressing skills but not frustrate.

Baby Doll Chistening Set

One of the many things that I loved about the big sister project is it got me exploring patterns I'd never tried before. Tn some cases I'd just gotten into doing the same patterns I knew I could complete in time for the Christmas donation. Some outfits were intimidating. Other outfits like this one might not fit the category of a donation to people you don't know. However, knowing where the gift was going it was a pleasure to try out the Christening set from Darski's free pattern set Sweet Baby mine which you can find here.

I've had this set printed for several years as there are several adorable patterns. I'm not sure why I haven't tackled it before. However, something about this challenge made me look at it and I made my way through most of the patterns. As I mentioned I'm still working through the blanket to finish for the donation. I even adapted the bonnet from the Christening outfit to use in the Pilgrim holiday outfit. If you are looking to make baby doll clothes this is a pattern to download and keep. There are lots of great patterns in it for your doll making interests.

For those of you who have been following these posts you may note I did get these booties to fit the doll. I will have to remember that for future projects.

Baby Nicole

Another outfit from operation Big Sister. This one is from the Mary Maxim pattern Baby Nicole that can be purchased here.

Mary Maxim has been releasing more of their kit patterns as digital patterns. They regularly are on sale for $.99 so I generally wait for the sale to stock up on any new releases I don't currently own. I believe I originally picked this up as a kit when I first started doing the doll donations. I got a doll and an outfit to make and it worked out for me. I later moved on to the soft baby dolls and later the doll moved up in size when the 15 inch soft dolls were no longer available.

However as I've mentioned in previous posts, most patterns adapt and as long as you keep trying the outfits on for fit you can usually make things work as long as the change isn't too great.

While I've had some success with the 18 inch dolls and crocheted shoes the baby doll has been a bit more stubborn about shoes. I don't know if it is the shape of the feet but I find most of the doll bootie patterns seem just to fall off which is why the doll is constantly bare foot in most pictures.

Baby Doll Pilgrim

The Big Sister Doll Project was sent out in the middle of October shortly before the litle girl became a big sister. I loved this project. It got me crocheting again and I had a wonderful time exploring baby doll outfits.

It got me motivated to complete more 18" doll outfits to send off to the donation project. After I'm done posting about the baby doll project I'll hopefully get those posted.

The down side was I haven't posted anything from the project. So it is time to get caught up. Since November has arrived I thought I'd start with a Thanksgiving theme. I've been making this outfit for the 18" doll for years. I'm hoping I can make a holiday outfit for each of the holiday's and get it sent off for the baby doll. In this first batch I sent off the Halloween costume and the Thanksgiving Pilgrim outfit. I recently finished off the Christmas outfit. I'm not sure if I'll have time for a traditional holiday dress. We will see.

On to this outfit however. I've been using Darski's We Gather Together free pattern found here for years to make my 18 inch doll Thanksgiving outfit. I've made my own bonnet for years but never written a pattern. For this project adapting the dress pattern wasn't too difficult as I use a 16 inch baby doll so it required just a little adaptation to change it from an 18 inch doll pattern to a baby doll outfit. The biggest challenge was making sure the outfit wasn't too large, the arms too wide or too long. The apron had to be adjusted to the size of the doll.

When it came time to make the bonnet for the baby doll however I was able to borrow from another Darski free pattern. I used the bonnet for the Christening gown found in her Sweet Baby Mine pattern set found here. Again these patterns weren't written for 16 inch baby dolls but for 14 inch baby dolls. However when you've been making doll clothes for a bit you learn to adapt, especially with baby dolls. Rarely do you find someone who had the exact same doll as you. You crochet for a bit try it on and see how it fits. In this case I changed the bonnet edging.

I love this pattern set and you will see more from it later. The blanket from this set has become a travel project or my I'm just to tired to think project at night. When I finish it that will go into the holiday donation drive. The extra doll blankets get distributed to dolls and stuffed animals that come into the donation without their own blankets. We make sure all the dolls we donate go out with their own hand made blanket thanks mostly to the hard work of friends at Crochetville.