Mary Maxim American Girl Summertime Capri Set

This was the second outfit from the Mary Maxim Summertime 18 Inch Doll kit. There is a shrug and a purse I finished for this set, but somewhere on the way to the shoot for this blog, she seems to have lost them. Thankfully, I found them sitting on the couch and they've been bundled up in the package to go with the donation, but I didn't have time for a reshoot, so you'll have to imagine the rest. If you are interested in the kit you can find it at Mary Maxim here. To make it clear this was a birthday gift from DH and I have no association with Mary Maxim other than I am a customer. I am hopeful they make more 18 inch kits as having bought both their kits and Herschnerrs I tend to like the yarn and pattern directions in Mary Maxim's kits better than those I've bought from Herschnerrs. I will say Herschnerr's has had some adorable designs I've liked and bought, but I've not loved the yarn and I have several uncompleted kits because I found myself rewriting the directions as I went and it was frustrating when I had other patterns I could turn to and complete more quickly.

With that I turn to the second pattern from this kit and say honestly I was not as pleased with the second set as I was with the first. Other than the shoes I really liked the overall design of the first pattern. With the second, I LOVED the capris and will be using that pattern with worsted weight yarn so I don't have to increase the hook size to make the pants fit. The pants were adorable and I can see me making them with different tops. I didn't like the top. It was overally complicated to make for something I really didn't like when it was done. The shrug was a nice finish for the outfit. The purse was an easy to make accessory that I'd make again. The kerchief would have been better if there was an explanation about how it went together.

As with the previous outfit I opted out of the sandals. I found they didn't work well for me and instead made the shoes from another pattern I'd purchased here.

I am hopeful Mary Maxim will continue to make these kits as I do like their yarn and the price point is fair if you can get a deal on shipping. I would like to see some themed outfits in the way they've branched out with the 5" dolls.

Mary Maxim American Girl Summertime Dress

Mary Maxim's Summer Time Doll Kit for the 18 inch dolls was one of my birthday presents this year. While I love Mary Maxim's yarn and their doll kits, I do find their shipping to be a bit pricey. So, I catch their free shipping when I can and gift giving times are a great time to ask for a gift from them.

As I was making this outfit I realized how much I do like their yarn for light weight projects and after a search was pleased to find you can get it at JoAnn's online. Since they have more frequent yarn sales and shipping offers I do think there may be more Mary Maxim yarn in my doll project futures.

This first pattern worked up very quickly. I did upsize to an H hook. I had no issue with the dress, hat, or poncho. I was not happy with the sandals. I just couldn't get them to fit. So instead of worrying about the sandals I went back to my fall back shoe pattern from a Sun Dress Pattern I purchased here.

This kit comes with 2 outfits so I hope to finish the second one soon.

American Girl Sun Dress

Sweet Silver Creations has always been one of my favorite 18 inch doll designers. Over the years I've collected most of her 18 inch doll patterns. They've generally appear on my Christmas and birthday lists. I'm hoping some new ones will be coming out soon. This is my first attempt at making this one. You can find the pattern here.

I loved the dress and the shoes. I wasn't as happy with the hat.

Pattern notes:

I used worsted weight instead of sport weight yarn. The H hook worked with the worsted weight to make the outfit fit.

Knit 18 Inch Doll Donations

I've been busy this summer and sadly fallen behind on my posting. Thankfully, the donation work continues and others continue the work too. These knit dresses were sent by my mom at the beginning of the month for the donation.

People often ask me if I mind getting stuff early. Absolutely not. It lets me know ahead of time what I have for the donation and it avoids complications we can all face in our lives where we think we'll have time to send stuff out and then it just doesn't happen.

I don't have the pattern information for these donations. However I suspect the coat at least is found in Fun Fashions: Contemporary Outfits to Knit for 18” Dolls

American Girl Grey Lady

I didn't get to this pattern last year, but it is one of my favorites. It works up quickly and has some cute accessories. The skirt and top are connected to form a single dress piece. The stitches used in the top create a lovely textured sweater look and the skirt is pleated. The link to purchase it at has switched since I posted about this pattern last. You can now buy it here.

Some notes for myself Bernat Super Value is my favorite grey. It isn't the cheapest worsted, but for what ever reason I love their grey. I love their other colors too, but I just prefer their grey above all others and can deal with Red Heart or Caron Pounders for everything else. I went on a purge to finish off all the grey in the house this year, so by next year I may need more, thus the note to self.

For my crazy gauge I need to use a G hook for the skirt and an H for the top. The panels for the poncho are sewn to each other. This should be obvious but I got distracted this year and sewed the big panel together thinking the other was joined at the end of that joining. No clear idea why this would be a thing and ended up making a new large panel. The big panel is sewed directly to the small panel. Sometimes I have to spell things out directly for myself.