The 15 Inch Baby Doll Donation

This blog is primarily my way of recalling, researching, and remembering what I did, when I did it and how to do it again. Since I did a lousy job documenting this year, I'm not going to list all the places the doll's patterns came from, but I do want to remember what I did so I can retrace my steps for next year.

This is the last of the Mary Maxim 15 inch soft doll donations and I'll be said to see them go. The doll has been discontinued, but it did great service for many years. I do like the JC Toys, La Baby 16-inch Doll but it is hard to say goodbye to a faithful tradition.

Doll Carriers

I've done a lousy job of tracking my progress this year, but one of my reasons for blogging is to have a record of what I did to help me decide what to keep doing. So there is nothing wrong with going back to document. I dropped off this year's doll donation and while smaller, it did have some interesting additions this year I want to track and remember to see if I can in fact build on for next year.

First up are the doll carriers. I used the last of the Mary Maxim 15" baby dolls up this year and had to move on to JC Toys, La Baby 16-inch Washable Soft Body Purple Play Doll - For Children 2 Years Or Older, Designed by Berenguer which is actually a nicer doll. It has required adjusting a few of the patterns to fit the slightly larger body, but overall I like the look better.

As for the carriers, these are much nicer than the doll baskets I'd made in previous years using the pattern from Dressing Up Dolly, Leisure Arts 2725. An added advantage to my readers is the carrier pattern is free and available on Ravelry here. These carriers are much more stable and user friendly for little hands. Just a note on what I did for myself and others. I used worsted weight yarn and I didn't make a mattress. The dolls fit fine. I did use the blanket pattern from the Dressing up Dolly booklet, but there are plenty of doll blanket patterns out there to use.

Aztec Wishes Donation 2016

For the first time ever I went with DH to drop off the Aztec Wishes donation at the local tech high school this morning. The coordinator of the toy drive had mentioned she'd like to meet in person, so DH and I scheduled a drop off time. I have no idea where the time has gone this holiday season. I was on track until Thanksgiving and then time seems to have just disappeared. We normally drop off right after Thanksgiving, but this year one thing or another kept coming up and we were literally up against the drop off deadline this morning and we scooted in with drop offs from our Crochetville friends Tampa Doll and Darski.

DH and I were debating if this was equal or larger than last year's donation. With different box sizes it really is hard to compare. However, I will say thanks to Darski and Tampa Doll and all those who answered my wish list requests, it is a sizeable donation to help kids have dolls to play with this Christmas season.

We had 4 18" dolls, 1 8" Baby Doll, 1 12" Baby Doll, and 1 15" Baby doll. All the dolls have clothing, most have blankets, and two of the baby dolls have carriers. We had so many 18" doll clothes they bought more 18" dolls to accommodate our offerings. I normally just send 2, but AC Moore oddly let me use a 55% coupon on a Springfield doll, which I haven't been able to do for years, so a 3rd doll suddenly became doable.

I still have 2 more of my projects to post as it's been a crazy year and Blogging has not been as consistent as I'd like. I will get to posting them though because having a written record helps me remember what I've done and gives me some clues about what to try and what to avoid the next time I pursue the project. I some how seem not to have posted Darski and Tampa Doll's contributions although I did post them on Crochetville. I'm going to include them here again to have a complete record of what has been done to keep this project going.

Tampa Doll sent the Clown doll dressed and the other two outfits as her donation this year. Her work is always so detailed. I especially loved the Dorothy dress done in thread. As someone who always struggles with my thread work, her work always amazes me.

These are Darski's donations which included an 8" baby doll and so many beautiful 18" doll outfits that it is just beyond words to describe.

As always Donna was thrilled with our donations. There was only one student there when we arrived, but on seeing all the boxes he quickly recruited other students in the program to help him bring all the donations back to the room where they are being sorted for distribution.

15 Inch Baby Doll Sundress with Hat

This is one of the patterns I've been using the longest and is one of the easier patterns on my regular pattern list. It has slipped off the web and can only be accessed through the Wayback machine here. Sometimes people will reload their patterns in other domains, but I've yet to locate this one. I will add it to my list of doll pattern if I do. My suggestion would be to download it now if you want it. The Wayback machine can be unreliable for keeping links.

This pattern is very flexible in sizing and while originally designed for a 14" Fisher Price doll I had no trouble adapting it to my bigger 15" doll. I also love that doesn't require buttons or snaps. I'm always happy when I can avoid sewing. It slips on and off easily for little hands, which is also a plus.

This is where I used up most of the yarn I mentioned in the Watermelon dress post. I made this dress first and thought I'd had enough left over for the 12" doll pattern. It's always hard to know when you are working with a yarn you aren't familiar with on a project you are adapting. For my own notes to make this fit this doll I required a K hook and joined after the first row to avoid needing any buttons. I chained 21 for the straps.

Doll Basket for 15" Doll

As it happens every year at some point I start having problems with the 18 inch doll cloths. Thankfully this year I had a bag overflowing with doll clothes before that wall approached. As soon as two projects didn't work I decided to switch to baby doll projects and see what I could finish before I needed to take my yearly crochet break.

This project comes from Dressing Up Dolly, Leisure Arts 2725 and the blanket is from the 2016 Crochet Calendar. I used the required hook and two pieces of Homespun yarn to make the basket. This year I made the pillow and blanket from Homespun as well.

15 Inch Baby Doll Nightgown

I have yet to actually attempt an outfit for the poor doll this year. Each one has been a result of a failed attempt of one of the 18 inch doll projects repurposed for a baby doll outfit. As I mentioned in a previous post I struggled mightly with Darski's nurse's outfit. I don't know why, but I just had trouble getting it to work. This was one attempt that had gone to far to pull out and start over. Since the nurse's outfit buttons in the front, I turned it, used pink trim around the neck and ties for closing in the back. I then did a chain/sc trim for the bottom of the outfit. It is nice to know when I get started working on the 15 inch doll clothes she won't be starting with an empty bag.

15 inch Baby Doll Dress with Pinafore

As I mentioned in the Chef post, I started out making the Chef's shirt with some pink baby yarn from my stash. It fit, but it was tight. Then I made the apron with the left over baby yarn from the chef's hat and it was too small. That's when I decided it was time to rethink my approach. After reading the pattern I realized the shirt was supposed to be made from worsted weight yarn. For my purposes the apron also needed to be made from worsted weight yarn. The next step was what to do with what I'd made. I tried the shirt on the baby doll and it fit. From there it was all about rethinking the outfit.

I loved the feel of the yarn and it seemed like it would make a nice soft baby doll outfit. I added a skirt and finished off the pink skein making a hat. After seeing the hat on the doll's head I realized the apron would make a cute pinafore. All my problems solved. Another skein emptied from my stash.

15 Inch Baby Doll Dress

I promised myself I wasn't going to start any baby doll clothes until I was sure I had enough 18 Inch clothes for the year. Last year I started some baby doll clothes to get me out of a crochet block I was having and made lots of baby doll clothes, but not as many 18 inch clothes as I hoped to make.

I kept my pledge, this was actually supposed to be a ballet dress for the 18 inch doll made from a free pattern found here. Based on my notes from last year when I repeated a mistake almost like last years. I knew I needed to use worsted weight yarn for either doll. I also knew I needed to increase the hook size. I increased it to an H and it fit the baby doll nicely. It was a little tight last year when I made it with a G.

For the 18 Inch doll I'm trying the waist with an H and the rest of the outfit with an I hook.

I love this outfit for both dolls. It requires no sewing, buttons or hooks. It is rare I can find a pattern that will work for both with minimal adjustments. I just hadn't planned on making anything for the baby dolls just yet. I've already started reworking the outfit for the 18 inch doll and should be able to post that next week.

I also had the added benefit of using up more of my friend's yarn on this outfit and the ballet outfit I hope to finish soon.

Aztec Wishes Donation Headed Out

DH is delivering this year's doll donation to the local tech high school's Aztec Wishes Holiday gift program and thanks to friends at Crochetville it is the biggest donation I've ever made.

This year we have more baby dolls than ever. Thanks to Darski and Tampa Doll at Crochetville we will be sending a beautiful rag doll, an 8" doll and an additional 15" doll in addition to the yearly 12" and 15" baby dolls I usually send. I also warned the director she was going to need more 18" dolls than the two I normally donate to accommodate the beautiful boxes of clothes sent by Darksi and Tampa Doll. I can't wait to hear the director's reaction to all the donations and the kids realization that their program has reached beyond the United States into Canada.

I also need to thank Crochetville friends who have donated tights, shoes, and patterns to the cause. While some patterns are repeated yearly, for my sanity, I need to try new stuff each year to keep this donation project interesting and engaging. Thanks to all of you there are some little girls who will wake up this Christmas not just to dolls, but to dolls with beautiful clothes and accessories. Thank you all.

Doll Basket for 15 Inch Doll

The doll baskets and blankets are finished for the year. Last year I only managed to get one done, so it feels like progress. This one was a little bit larger than I would have liked. It's hard when you are adapting a pattern to fit a larger doll to make sure you don't over compensate and make it too large.

The doll basket pattern came from Dressing Up Dolly, Leisure Arts 2725. The blanket came from the 2015 Crochet Calendar. The pillow was just something I played with until I found something that worked. I found the babies fit better in the baskets with a pillow.

Baby Doll Hooded Towel and Washcloth

Every so often, you find a pattern that may not seem like much at first, but turns into a gold mine. That is what the out of print leaflet Dressing Up Dolly, Leisure Arts 2725 has been like for me this year. I started hunting for it when I wanted to make the doll baskets and then started experimenting with patterns I hadn't played with before. While designed for the smaller 12" dolls with adjustments I've found I can make some of the patterns work for the 15" soft bodied Mary Maxim doll.

I had made a different hooded towel for the 12" doll a few years ago, but after finishing this one, I'll be digging out my sports yarn to make this in a smaller size for the Baby Jenna doll. The pattern is easy to follow and was much easier to assemble than the one I made previously.

Baby Doll Romper and Skirt

I have developed quite a collection of baby doll patterns that don't quite fit the Mary Maxim doll, but can be adjusted with some work. Today's outfit comes is the "Tiffany" pattern from Harold Magelson & Son's Kith and Kin Kids to Crochet that was published in 1980. I believe these were supposed to be imitation Cabbage Patch kids that you could buy the body parts and crochet the outfits sewing the dolls all together somehow.

In one of my out of print pattern searches I picked up a copy and found some of the outfits could be adapted if you worked around the joining of the hands and legs to the actual outfits you want to crochet.

Like many of the outfits, I have made over the years for this doll it does take a little adapting, but I think it was worth the effort. One of the advantages of working with the same dolls year after year, is you do start to get a feel for how to adapt these outfits.

I like this outfit because you have a romper with an add on skirt. I thought it made a cute outfit. It can be worn as just a romper or if the child wants, a little bit dressier with the skirt.

Baby Doll Bunting

My DH originally bought this pattern for me on Etsy I believe, but not finding it there to post the link I found the designer is still offering it here. I tend to get drawn to certain projects at certain times and right now the 15" doll seems to be the focus of the main part of my doll crochet. I've learned not to argue with the pull. When I try to force it to go in a different direction, I tend not to get much done.

As with most outfits do to the size of the Mary Maxim doll, I did have to make some adjustments, but the bunting fits and another outfit is in the bag waiting for the next Christmas donation.

15 Inch Baby Doll Sundress with Hat

This is another favorite outfit to make for the 15 inch soft doll Mary Maxim baby doll that I donate. The Hooks and Knives Blogspot has disappeared from the web, but I was able to locate the pattern for the time being here.

This was originally designed for a Fisher Price 14 1/2 Inch Mommy and Me doll, but I found it adapted easily enough. I changed to a K hook and joined the back after the first row to avoid having to use buttons or velcro. It works fine.

I like this pattern because it works up quickly, with adjustments requires little sewing, and it is easy for a child to take on and off without assistance.

Aztec Wishes Donation Delivered

I was so excited knowing my DH was dropping off my doll donations to the school this morning. The business students at the local Tech High School run a toy donation program every year and I donate mostly dressed dolls. A few years I add some extras but for the most part dressing dolls has been my contribution.

This year I started the project right after the donations left the house after Thanksgiving in November of 2013. There was an early deadline last year and I got to work on the holiday outfits finishing most of them before Christmas. It was a wise choice because once I stopped in the spring I had family commitments that kept me from getting back to the doll project. However, because I was so busy in the cold winter months, my donation didn't suffer because I couldn't get back to it in the summer.

This year I donated two 18" dolls, a 15" baby doll, a 12" baby doll, a 5" baby doll, and a bunny cradle purse. It was so much fun seeing the projects grow. I still have a couple of projects to post that I finished and never got posted.

My Mom had an injury that kept her from knitting much of the year. When she got back to it, her focus was on finishing her family projects. She hopes to be back to knitting for the donation next year. I would like to thank friends from Crochetville who sent me items during the year for the project and answered my wishes for new patterns to try. The children greatly appreciate the items for their dolls.

Baby Doll Nightgown

I am usually really good about adding links to patterns I download. I like to thank the writers when I post about them and I like to be able to go back and get another copy of the free patterns if I lose it. I found this pattern in with a bunch of other patterns I had downloaded, but for some reason I don't have the link. I apologize and thank the designer. This outfit made a very nice addition to my donation box.

Barbie and American Girl Doll Free Patterns are listed on my blog at these locations:

Barbie Crochet and Sewing Page

Barbie Knitting Page

Ken Page

Kelly/Skipper Page

American Girl Doll Crochet and Sewing

American Girl Doll Knitting

Doll Blankets and Pillow Patterns

Baby Doll Patterns:

Baby Doll and Cabbage Patch

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Pictures may not be used without permission.

Baby Doll Top

I love the Mary Maxim 15" soft baby dolls because they do have the soft body. I think it makes for a nice donation doll. The downside is they have the soft body. It makes fitting clothes much more challenging. However, I do eventually get there. This top was the first failed attempt at completing the Girl's Dress pattern Fibre Craft FCM317. I think it makes a cute top and eventually I'll finish the dress at some point. I just need to adapt the pattern to fit the slightly larger padding found on the Mary Maxim doll.

Barbie and American Girl Doll Free Patterns are listed on my blog at these locations:

Barbie Crochet and Sewing Page

Barbie Knitting Page

Ken Page

Kelly/Skipper Page

American Girl Doll Crochet and Sewing

American Girl Doll Knitting

Doll Blankets and Pillow Patterns

Baby Doll Patterns:

Baby Doll and Cabbage Patch

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Pictures may not be used without permission.