Lil Cutesies Valentine Outfit

I decided to send Valentine's themed outfits for the Lil Cutesies 8.5" Baby Doll I gave as Christmas presents.

For the first dress I settled on a pattern from Char Patterns that you can purchase here.

The more I work with crochet thread and hooks the more I appreciate when people use mm measurements for hooks rather than sizes as I'm finding the number sizes vs mm sizes in thread hooks are not as consistant as the letter sizes in the larger sized hooks. This pattern calls for a size 5 thread crochet hook. I don't have one labeled 5 and from what I've checked online this translates to a 1.7 mm hook. I have a 1.75 mm hook and I found that worked well for the dress and panties. I plan on using a smaller hook for the hat and shoes when I make this for the St. Patrick's Day outfit. The shoes and hat would benefit from a smaller size.

I was very pleased that this was another stash project. In fact I played thread chicken as I had just enough thread to finish the last shoe before I finished off the thread container. I had another one but one of my goals has been to use up some of my thread supply. Over the years I get interested in thread projects, stock up, get distracted, and I have a substantial supply that needs finishing. This was a win on the war on fiber stash. It is nice though to be able to pick up a pattern and have the fiber on hand to make it.

Notes

I did not close the back with a tie as suggested. Once I finished the collar, I finished the back and made a button hole below the collar and sewed a button on the opposite side to close. You have to start the collar without following the tie suggestions.