My Life Hermione

When I saw Adoring Dolls had created a Harry Potter themed pattern for the 18" dolls it went on my crochet birthday pattern list and I was blessed to get it. You can purchase the pattern here.

I've been working on a baby blanket that I need to finish before the end of next month which is why I didn't post any finished projects last week. However, between sc rows on the baby blanket I still need to work on something different and this was a fun project to add to the doll donation.

I always find it fun to add themed outfits to the donation but I hadn't seen a Hermione pattern prior to this one. The pattern includes outfits for Harry and Hermione. This was a great stash busting project as I had all the yarn I needed in my stash.

Notes:

My gauge has always been different from the designer's so I'm always prepared to adjust when I make her patterns. I make these notes for myself when I make this outfit again.

Sweater: I used an I hook for the Sweater.

Skirt: I used an H hook for the Skirt. I tried an I hook but the skirt was too large. I did add rows to the skirt as I found it was short based on the picture if I used the suggested rows.

Shoes/Socks: I used an H hook for both and needed to add rows to the socks.

Coat: I used an K hook for the coat and I added rows to get the length I wanted.

Hat: I used an H hook and added a row of dc for the brim.

Scarf: I followed the directions for the scarf.

Chelsea Drop Waist Dress with Flared Skirt

This was part of my folder of birthday patterns. DH asks me for a list and from that he selects patterns to buy me for gifts. I repeat lots of patterns but I love having new stuff to try. With some dolls I've needed to increase my pattern selection as they are new to me or they've changed size considerably from the older patterns I do have.

Chelsea is one of those dolls. I had patterns for the smaller Kelly and when I made them a decade ago they did fit the smaller doll. When I came back to Barbie's the larger Chelsea required new patterns because I found it was hard adjusting the smaller Kelly patterns because I couldn't increase the yarn size as the outfits became too bulky and if I increased the hoook size the gaps became too large. Last year I didn't do well dressing Chelsea for her journey to her new home. I've made a much better start this year. I started with free patterns and then decided to try some paid designers to see if I could get some variety.

I decided to try Charpatterns Chelsea patterns and put one on my birthday list. You can purchase this one here.

This pattern calls for Lizbeth size 20 Watermelon. I didn't have Lizbeth on hand but I did have solid color Size 20 from Creative Yarn source on hand and decided I wanted to see if I could get an idea of how easy the pattern would be to use while I searched for some variegated size 20 thread. After a quick search I realized Watermelon was not happening. I did eventually find some variegated Lizbeth 20 on sale at Joann's and hopefully when my order arrives I will try this pattern again giving it a slightly different look.

Notes:

I used Creative Yarn's size 20 thread French Blue, Bright Yellow and White. The pattern calls for a size 10 steel crochet hook but numbers are not as helpful as they once were and mm are actually a more stable measurement across hooks. I made the dress with a Tulip Etimo 1.25mm Steel Crochet Hook. I think I could have used a smaller hook. It's always a balance between a good fit and having it too hard to get on and off the doll for little hands. The smaller the doll the harder it is for kids to manipulate the clothes. I went down to my Tulip Steel .9mm for the hat, undies, and shoes.

My Life Doll Romper

I've been rotating through dolls hoping they all end up with a decent wardrobe when it comes time to drop them off for the toy drive. This is another Adoring Doll Clothes pattern that can be purchased here.

I used an I hook for the Romper and I found I got a better fit. I used an H hook for the shoes and added an extra row after row 3 for as I found them a bit shallow and even with the straps they were hard to get on and keep them on. With the extra row I found them easier to use. For the rest of the accessories I used the suggested hooks and required no changes.

This was a great pattern to attack my yarn ball stash. I didn't finish off anything but I made a dent and that is progress.

Skipper Little Sister Pretty Ensemble

One of the benefits of documenting these projects each year is I can go back and remember what pattern I used and what materials I used to make the project.

That proved helpful this year when I realized not all the Barbie patterns had been put away at the end of the last donation season. I was pretty sure I was missing some but I couldn't remember which patterns I needed to locate. When I realized I hadn't made anything for Skipper this year I looked up last year's donation page and then looked at the project blogs to get ideas for this year. That's when I realized the leaflet I was missing was the out of print Annie's Fashion Doll Sister and Me 87D21. Thankfully with some searching I located this and several other patterns I hadn't put back in the Barbie binders last year and they've all been happily returned.

What I like about this particular set is last year I was able to use a couple of the patterns for both Skipper and Stacie with minimal adjustments. I'm hoping to try some of the Barbie patterns that I didn't have the chance to try for last year's donation. I think I have some colors that would work.

I used Aunt Lydia's Crochet Thread Size 10 Wood Violet and White with a Tulip Etimo 1.5mm Steel Crochet Hook.

This sweater works up easily and could be a nice addition in different colors for other Skipper and Stacie projects.

Glitter Girl Spring Petal Dress

I've been keeping my eye out for more Wellie Wishers patterns as they seem the closest to fitting the Glitter Girl dolls. The Spring Petals Pattern can be purchased here.

This pattern calls for Knit Picks Fingering Yarn. I had some yellow Pallette on hand and it did make guage but it was tight under the arms and if I'd liked the color I might have played more with hook size to make it work but I really didn't like the color for the outfit. I've been complaining for years that I needed to finish off my Palette, as I'd stopped using it when I stopped making Barbie clothes for my nieces, I've since solved that problem. I recently reordered Pallette during one of their sales but I didn't want to wait to try this dress.

I went with Baby Bernat Sport Blue and it wasn't a bad choice. I liked the color. I can see where fingering would make for a lighter dress. When my shipment comes in from Knit Picks I'll likely make a second dress to send along for the donation and play with the gauge to see what works.

As for this dress I started with an e hook to get the arms to fit more comfortably. I like the outfits to be easy for little hands to take on and off. I found I needed to move to a D hook for the skirt as it quickly poofed out. This is where the fingering yarn likely would be a better option if I can play with the guage on the top to get it to fit better.

The patterns and textures on this dress are beautifully designed. I will be looking to find other patterns to try from this designer as I was pleased with my first pattern I purchased.

Lots to Love 14 Inch Doll Thread Dress

At the end of January I purchased a variety of different sized doll patterns from Char Patterns. I've made a few but as the summer rolls on and I'm focusing on getting the different dolls dressed I find myself looking at these patterns with an eye to increasing my donations.

You can purchase this pattern set here. There are multiple outfits in the pattern and I hope to work through them over the summer.

This was designed for a slightly different doll but with baby dolls that is something I have had years of experience working with so I was prepared to make adjustments.

I substituted 2 strands of Aunt Lydia's Size 10 Crochet Thread Ocean for Royale Geminie Double Strand Crochet Thread as I had no chance of finding this thread and Aunt Lydia's in this color was much easier to get. Using two strains together was not an issue.

I did go up to a G hook until I reached the split for the arms. After making the split for the arms I used an F Hook for the remainder of the dress. I had Aunt Lydia's Size 3 Crochet Thread White in my stash so no substitution was necessary. The pattern called for 2 strains of Aunt Lydia's size 10 Wood Violet but I had Size 3 Plum in my stash so I went with that as I found the color workable.

Pattern Notes:

In addition to changing hook sizes for the dress I also had to do a work around for the panties since the Lots to Love 14 Inch doll is larger than the pattern doll. I chained the distance around the waist of the baby doll and then followed the directions ignoring the stitch count for the panties. I used an f hook for this project and the panties came out the way I'd hoped.

I had a count issue with the hat and when I make this again I think I'd add a row to work up to the jump in stitch count as it is a little awkward as written.

I love the Mary Jane's and I will look to use these with other pattern where I lack shoes as they are adorable and they work up fairly easy.

Ken Shorts and Shirt

After using the shirt found in the out of print Crochet Wardrobe for 11 1/2 Inch Fashion Dolls Including a Complete Wedding Ensemble and Trousseau for a previous Ken project, I knew I'd be back to make the original short set. I've learned if a pattern works add it to the donation because it is hard to find easy to make patterns for Ken.

I used a C hook with Bernat Baby Grey and I'm honestly not sure what brand the Green was as I've been buying lots of baby yarn brands and I often lose the wrappers.

I reduced the second row of the shorts sc 4 decrease around. I added rows to the shorts as they were too short to split for the crotch with the original row count. I reversed rows after joining. I liked the texture/look of it.

I did not add the trim to the shirt. It gives a different look to the shirt and provides for more mixing and matching among outfits hopefully. While the basic skeleton of some of the shirts might be the same I'm hoping the looks will be some what different.

Lots to Love 10 Inch Baby Doll Sweetly Pants and Shirt

I finally finished the free Sweetly set for the Lots to Love 10 inch doll which you can find here. Darski has one more free set for the 10 inch baby doll I hope to get to but I also need to do some work for the other baby dolls as well.

This was made with Bernat Big Baby Sport Lavender and White. I followed the sweater directions using a G hook. I altered the pants making them top down with an F hook using hdc. I also altered the shoe pattern to make them into Mary Jane shoes as they stay on the feet a little better.

Ken Sweat Pants and T-Shirt

After making Ken's PJ bottoms I realized the pattern would work for sweat pants as well. As I've mentioned before it is challenging getting the older patterns I've collected for Ken to fit the smaller modern Ken dolls so when I find a pattern that does fit I'm trying to see if I can stretch it for more than one purpose.

The pants pattern for this set was found in an out of print Crochet World's Fashion Doll Showcase #1. I had a slighlty different guage using Aunt Lydia's Size 10 Navy thread and ended up using a Tulip 1.75mm hook for this set of pants. Not sure why the thread was different but I'm making a note of it hear for myself because I will likely return to my stash and this pattern next year and it will matter.

Having made the pants I wanted a simple top to finish the set. I turned to another out of print leaflet from House of White Birches Crochet Wardrobe for 11 1/2 inch Fashion Dolls Including a complete Wedding Ensemble and Trousseau. This pattern is a simple short and top set and I will be returning to make the short set at a later point. As I've said if something fits I'm going to use it for the donation this year. Ken is one of my more challenging dolls to fit.

I used a C rather than the suggested D hook with Bernat Baby Sport Blue and White. I used the suggested number of rows for the shirt and sleeves.

Happy 4th of July!!

Hope all of you have a wonderful holiday. Just a walk through some of my own holiday themed projects.

Lots to Love 10 Inch Doll Sweetly Nightgown

After the first nightgown going to the Lots to Love 8 inch doll I wanted to make sure the Lots to Love 10 Inch doll that the Sweetly Set is written for actually got one for the donation. I used an F hook for this with Bernat Baby Sport Yarn. I still needed to remove a few rows as it would have been too long.

You can find the free Sweetly pattern set here.