Baby Doll Wipes Round 2

I did a little more research since my last post and the Etsy store I purchased this pattern set for the diaper bag set and several of my play food patterns Crochet N' Play designs has posted on Etsy that she is taking a break. I do hope she will be back as I am a huge fan of her work. I not only use this pattern but I have several of her food sets as well. They are well written and fun to make.

This is the second set of 3 I need for the baby dolls this year. This set will be going to the Lots to Love 14 inch Baby Doll and do to my sister's hard work already has a diaper bag to go into for storage.

Bacon

One of the things I love about being part of crochet communities is how people share and help each other. I had been sharing about my food projects for my Valentine box when a very kind person sent me a link for a free pattern for a BLT sandwich that you can find here. I plan on making the sandwich to add to a later box but the bacon pattern was perfect for the breakfast foods I wanted to add for the St. Patrick's Day box.

The pattern works up incredibly fast and easy. I made all 4 while watching play off football on Sunday after I'd finished off the Valentine Gal. It was the perfect project because it required limited supplies and focus.

The simplicity of this pattern is what I love. There are many bacon patterns out there free and paid but most require additional work. Many patterns have additional embrodiery but this relies on the color shading provided by Lily's Sugar and Cream's Terra Firma yarn. I bought a few skeins as I suspect at some point I'm going to be making more play breakfast sets and this yarn makes the bacon much easier.

Baby Doll Diaper Bags

While I love adding items to the donation that increase creative play I like making some items more than others. I've admitted over the years there are some I'm just not very good at and one of these is the baby doll diaper bags.

I've included these over the years because they offer the play value and they offer an additional value of storage for all the doll items we make and donate. These bags can help keep all the clothes and accessories stored where storage can sometimes be an issue for families.

This year my very sweet big sister came to my rescue and sewed these beautiful bags. I have the three I need for the larger baby dolls and I have one to start next year's donation. I cannot thank her enough for taking on this task. I've already got some of the items to put in the bags and will be continuing to work on making the rest of the items needed before they head out in November.

Lots to Love 8 Inch Doll Valentine Gal

One of my rewards for finishing my Valentine box early and getting it mailed was having extra time to make holiday dolls. Up to this point I've managed one per holiday but while I've wanted to make additional dolls and have patterns in many cases I just haven't had the time because the next box has to be started. I do need to get the St. Patrick's stuff started but since it isn't the end of January, I feel good about taking some time to make myself some holiday decorations and house items.

This pattern comes from Annie Potter Presents Holiday Babies. You can purchase the pattern here.

Notes:

I accidently changed the skirt pattern. The orignal pattern is much fuller but I actually liked the way this one came out and if I can replicate it I plan on making it with less of a holiday theme for the donation doll.

I used worsted weight yarn and a D hook to make the outfit fit the Lots to Love 8" doll. I finished the last row of the panties in red and then added a row of red trim to finish them off.

I discovered accidentatly after making the second shoe that they actually fit better with an extra row at the top so I added one to the first shoe/bootie.

Instead of using the crocheted hearts I used buttons. I found the crochet hearts were just a bit large for the outfit. I liked the look of the buttons better.

I love my new set of Valentine dolls!

Lots to Love 8 inch Doll Valentine Gent

I am very pleased to say my Valentine packaged arrived several days earlier than the post office predicted. For those of you who have been shipping things or waiting for packages to arrive you can appreciate what a blessing this was for the day.

With the Valentine package gone I've had a chance to make some decorations for myself before moving on to the St. Patrick's Day box. I started with the Valentine Gent and am currently working on the Valentine Gal.

As I mentioned when I wrote about the Thanksgiving doll this pattern is from an out of print House of White Birches leaflet Crochet Holiday Baby Dolls 101102. I was recently pleased to find the out of print companion leaflet Dress Up Baby Dolls from the same publisher and designer. That leaflet has non-holiday outfits and will be useful for the 8 inch Lots to Love Doll I'll be donating for the annual doll donation.

Notes:

This pattern set is designed for a 9 1/2 inch baby doll but height is often misleading when looking at patterns to adapt. I originally thought this series would be closer to the 10" doll but as I worked with the patterns I realized height isn't the only issue for these dolls. The Lots to Love dolls are chubbier but shorter. This has allowed me to fit these outfits to the 8 inch Lots to Love dolls where I think they'd be harder to fit to the 10 inch dolls. I may experiment more with the other leaflet as I can always use more donation patterns but I was only seeking one line of holiday dolls to decorate with and the 8 inch dolls are actually a better size for this purpose.

The shirt fit well without needing to adapt the pattern. I used worsted weight yarn instead of the suggested sport yarn and the suggested g hook. This helped deal with the more generous round Lots to Love tummy. I needed to make adjustments to make the pants fit. I originally followed the pattern and then realized this is where the height of the other doll was an issue. The Lots to Love doll has shorter legs. I joined the legs after row 2 and then moved on to the directions for row 5. Follow with one row of half double crochet. This makes legs a good length.

The cloth heart buttons came from Joann and I recently reordered them along with some Shamrock ones to use with St. Patrick's Day projects The rose in the doll's hand is also part of a Valentine themed button set. I'm afraid I don't remember where that set came from. It has already been split up as I've used different pieces of it on various projects. The rose seemed a perfect fit for this project.

Baby Doll Wipes

I try to be dilegent about linking to pattern designers so people can find the patterns for items I write about but patterns disappear, sometimes temporarily, sometimes forever. I'm not sure what happened with this pattern set. The pattern is for a doll's diaper bag set. The designer at one point sold it with the patern for a doll but I bought it when she was selling it just with the diaper bag and accessories. It included the bag, a bottle, a changing pad, and these wipes. It was a nice set to give a child to play with a baby doll. I have two more of these wipes to make. If the pattern reappears in that time I'll add a link to all the posts for people to find.

One of the things I like about this set is that it adds to the pretend play by giving the child wipes to use in their diaper bag but they are reusable. They don't run out and need to be replaced. I saw an empty plastic bottle in one doll set and another with "wet wipes" but the first requires complete imagination and the second will be a disapointment when they run out or will require constant replacement by some other refill method. This allows the child to pretend and reuse unless you have a doll that really does require changing not just a pretend change.

Valentine Bears

I had 2 patterns left and only time to really complete one set. The two patterns were the Heart Pocket Pal which you can purchase here and I wanted to include something from the Valentine Mini's set which you can purchase here.

If I had time I'd have finished both but there is limited time to create stuff between the time you finish Christmas items and you put stuff together for Valentine's. I knew I wanted to include something that would last beyond Valentine's day with all the COVID restrictions so my first focus was play food. Then I had to decide what else I could add to celebrate the holiday in a fun way.

The pocket pal characters are cute but not as adorable as the Valentine mins so I decided I'd make the bags from the Pocket pals and make the Valentine bears the pocket pals.

The first heart I made in the wrong color so I ended up using it as a heart ornament. I'm thinking about making some more to decorate for Valentine's day.

Holli the Heart

I fell in love with this pattern and the St. Patrick's Day themed one and was lucky enough to have a DH who supports my crochet habit with gifts. You can purchase the pattern here.

Oddly hearts have been a shape I've struggled with but this year I found 2 different methods of construction that worked for me both this pattern and the other Valentine pattern that I used for this year's Valentine box. The construction was different for each but for some reason the directions worked for me in ways previous patterns haven't.

There are so many cute details in this pattern. The hands were the most unique. I love the construction and the way they look when finished. The big eyes and nose were what caught my attention when I first looked at this pattern and they didn't disapoint when I made this pattern. I was originally going to use thread for the facial details but I changed to yarn because the size 10 thread I used just seemed to get lost on the face. The yarn gave a bolder look to the face. I almost forgot the bow and it really does add a pop of color to the heart. I'm glad I took the time to add it.

I'm hoping to get the box in the mail today. I have one more project from this box to share with you. Then I'm hoping to finish a few Valentine projects and doll donation projects before heading on to the St. Patrick's Day box. I'm hoping to complete the companion pattern to this one for St. Patrick's day. Stay tune if I finish it you'll be able to read about it here.

Maple Syrup

With my mailing deadline fast approaching this is the last of the breakfast items to make the Valentine box. I chose it because again it adds to the pretend play aspect of the set to not only have pretend maple syrup and butter for the pancake and waffle but now you have a bottle to "pour" the syrup from while playing.

The syrup pattern is part of a larger breakfast set and you can purchase it here.

This pattern works up really quickly and easily. The largest challenge for me as always was the lettering for the bottle. I was thrilled to discover I had red felt left over from an earlier project and I dug into some extremely old embrodiery supplies for the thread to letter the bottle.

I went up to a g hook for this project. As the size of the bottle emerged when I used the suggested hook I frogged it and started again with the larger hook. I wanted the bottle a little larger. I also added an extra row for the cap. I debated this but it was easier to fit and sew with the extra row.

I don't think I'm done with play food or even breakfast food just yet. St. Patrick's Day is coming and it seems like a good time to add some extra food to this set.

My Life Doll Purple Outfit

This pattern was originally published as Purple Crochet Outfit but when I went to add a link where you could buy the pattern the title has changed. You can buy the pattern here. I've decided to keep the title as I've always been a huge purple fan.

I've had to create a separate binder for my collection of Adoring doll clothes as my pattern stash of her 18" doll clothes from her early days as a free pattern designer to her current days as pattern seller has grown considerably. I like her patterns as they cover different styles and they are affordable for me to continue building out my design collection. While she does offer her blog followers free monthly patterns I have recieved nothing free for my comments about her patterns. I am grateful when I can find supplies for my doll donation project that are affordable.

Notes for this pattern:

As with most of her designs I needed an I hook to make the pattern fit. When I make this pattern again I would not join the top where the directions suggest. I would continue in rows and add an additional button. Joining it as suggested makes the top more challenging to take on and off. I added rows to make the skirt a little longer.

Without giving away any design secrets I really like the textures created in the skirt and the jacket. I also really liked the jacket flaps. I didn't notice them when I looked at the picture but they are really cute when made. The picture from the Etsy pattern substitutes light blue for turquoise. I really prefer the contrast of the purple and the turquoise.

16 Inch Doll Diapers Round 2

I am very pleased to announce that with this round of two diapers completed I am done with diapers for the JC 16-inch Medium Soft Body Baby Doll for 20121. I still haven't made a decision on what to do about the Lots to Love 14 inches Baby Doll . I will have to play with a pattern to see I can get one to fit, but that will only be one set and those will go quickly. It feels good to have completed something this early in the year!

This is a free pattern still available as I write this through the Wayback machine here. I use snaps rather than buttons on my doll diapers. I just find it easier.

Breakfast Egg

I love adding items to a play set that creates encouragement for imaginative play. This cracked egg set is such an item. The pattern comes from Tasty Crochetand it would work with a breakfast set like I'm putting together or a play baking set where a child wants to be able to "crack" eggs for mixing.

The pattern works up quickly and the egg tucks nicely into the finished egg.

I am starting to get close to the deadline for mailing so I'm going to have to finish up the projects, get them boxed and into the mail. It seems breakfast will be continued on into St. Patrick's Day.

Toast with Jam

Toast is a fairly common crochet food pattern. You can easily adapt any bread patern. I chose this one from Kawaii Crochetbecause I liked the added jam. It added a little extra fun to the pretend play intention I have for this play set.

My plan is for practical play. I haven't added the eyes and other decorative items because I want this to be like traditional play food. I also haven't sewed the syrup, butter or in this case jam to the various play food items because while it risks them getting lost I'm hoping it adds some play experience as the kids can decide do I want butter or jam on my toast.

I'm coming to realize this breakfast is a work in progress. There are many items I'd like to add that won't make it to the Valentine's box. However, St. Patrick's Day wouldn't be a bad time to continuing to add to the food collection. We shall see what happens.

Pancake

I'm continuing to add breakfast items for the Valentine box. For years I've used the flatter pancake pattern found in Tasty Crochet: A Pantry Full of Patterns for 33 Tasty Treatsit makes a nice flat pancake pattern. My personal preference has always been for nice fluffy pancakes so I decided to try the pattern in Kawaii Crochetleaving out the facial features to make it more of a traditional play food.

These are designed to be small projects and to make mine larger I made mine from worsted weight yarn with a g hook. This gave me the size I wanted but they did end up slightly fluffier than I wanted. There are always trade offs. Next time I'd make the syrup with a smaller hook.

Along with Valentine's books I found Eric Carle's Pancakes, Pancakes!to send along with the breakfast food.

One thing I loved about this pattern is it is made in one piece, no joining. That being said I am strongly considering returning to my flatter pancakes only because these are just too tall if I make them play set size. Something to think about for another day.

Lil Cutesies Picnic

I'm finally getting to make the first outfit of the year for Lil Cutesies Doll.I love to make play sets when I can to add a little something to the dolls and this picnic set meets that goal. You can purchase the pattern at Mary Maxim here.

The theme for this set is a teddy bear picnic and I did make the bears last year. While I love a play set I spent a good bit of time working on the bears last year and it just didn't seem like a great investment of time. I suspect the child who receives the doll will find other characters to invite to her doll's picnic if so desired.

This again was a good chance to target some yarn I've uncovered when I was sorting through and putting my yarn into crates. I'd bought what I could of AC Moore's house brand Nicole's Stitch Studio Storybook Fanfare sport yarn before they closed. Then it got buried in my stash for a bit and when I was cleaning I realized I needed to target it on doll projects this year and bid it a fond farewell. This yarn has the feel of Caron Simply Soft which has its pros and cons. What I will miss most about this yarn is it was a cheap locally available sport yarn. I didn't have to order it online. That being said since COVID hit I've ordered everything online, but in the old days it was nice being able to find what I wanted locally.

In case I do have any left over when I approach this project again I required an H hook to make the dress fit. The pattern calls for an F hook and Mary Maxim's Baby's Best yarn which is a 2 fine weight but with my f hook and 3 sport weight I found the dress was tight in the back and wouldn't close so I frogged and moved up to an H. I used a different yarn from last year so those notes weren't as helpful. These will give me a starting point for comparison next year

Another note for myself that I didn't make last year is that I didn't follow the blanket pattern. Mine is a simple seed stitch blanket. The blanket pattern here I believe is a Corner to Corner which I have yet to master. It is on my to do but not something worth not finishing a doll project over when the seed picnic blanket works just as niceley. For my own notes the edging is a sc chain 3 for with a sc chain 3 sc in each corner. The second row of the edging is dc chain 2 dc in corner, chain 1 dc 2 in each chain space. I ended up trying to recreate this so this time I'm documenting it for future reference.

16 Inch Baby Doll Diapers

One of the projects I try to knock off early in the doll donation project each year are the diaper bag items. I need a total of 4 diapers for the 2 JC Toys 16-inch Medium Soft Body Baby Doll La Baby I donate every year so it feels good to get them off my to do list. I try to make a couple in between other projects to keep them from becoming a tedious exercise.

This is a free pattern still available through the Wayback machine here. I have a supply of yarn that was gifted to me and I've been working through it for years. It is a variety an older brands of acrylic and all in various shades of off white. I've been using it primarily for the diapers for the last few years and I would like to believe I'm starting to make a dent. I have enough to finish this years diapers. It is a blessing to be able to make them without needing to buy yarn.

A note to myself for the next set. I followed my notes on the pattern which list a K hook. I'm using my new Ergonomic hooks and found the diapers were a little looser than normal. I read a previous posting about using an I hook and I'll experiment with that as it might have to do with the stretchiness of this yarn. It might need a smaller hook. I will change my notes to reflect the hook size on the pattern as well as noting them on the blog after I make the next set. I continue to use snaps with this pattern.

I did find Melissa & Doug Baby Food & Bottle Seton sale and I was able to purchase 3 sets so the 2 16 inch dolls and the JC Toys, Lots to Love Babies 14 inches Baby Doll will all have one as part of their donation. While bottles are easy enough to crochet, the plates and baby food jars are not as easy to make so the feeding kit makes it a more complete set to donate.