American Girl Cinderella

Before my cold set in I did manage to finish one of the Princess gowns for the donation. These dresses are always popular and thankfully not as time consuming or challenging as they look. They consume a bit more yarn than most doll outfits which almost proved challenging as I thought I had more of the main color than I did. Thankfully, I found some hidden stash and it all worked out fine.

For those of you interested in the pattern it can be purchased here.

American Girl Belle First Attempt

One of my goals every year is to downsize my yarn room by using up the yarn I have on hand to make as many of the donation doll clothes as I can. Some require unique or specific yarn I have to buy, but I'm always surprised at how many outfits I can make just using my stash on hand. The key is to make sure you do have the stash on hand before starting the project.

That was the story behind this dress. I thought I had multiple skeins of this blue when I started and while not the suggested color for the Belle pattern, found here, I liked it. The pattern was easy to follow and I thought I was starting to get my groove back when I went to search for the second ball of yarn. Much to my surprise what I thought was a matching skein turned out to be a slightly different shade of blue.

At that point I decided it still made a cute outfit and decided instead of abandoning it to finish it off and restart the Belle outfit again, this time making sure I had the two skeins I needed.

American Girl: The Frog Princess

Yes, I finally have some outfits to post again. I had some trouble crocheting for a bit and then once I started it took me a bit to get back into the groove.

First up we have another one of the Princess outfits my DH put in my Christmas bundle. You can purchase the pattern here.

This was my first attempt back and not my best. The skirt worked out fine, but I struggled with the top and the head piece. The directions and my hook just didn't seem to work together to create what the designer intended. I've found the directions were a bit clearer in her other princess patterns. I think next time I'd rework the head piece and the top a bit more.

American Girl Sleeping Beauty

There does indeed seem to be a fairy tale theme as of late and I'm quite enjoying the ride. The creativity seems to be staying this year and I'm going to make the most of it.

Sleeping Beauty is the latest of the Princess outfits and another one of SweetSilverCreations patterns that can be purchased here.

Like Cinderella and Snow White this pattern works up fairly easily and quickly. Having made two of them previously, I'm starting to understand the format of the patterns, which makes putting them together even easier.

I didn't put this on my Christmas list because I wanted to make sure the directions were clear in the Cinderella pattern before attempting the Snow White or the Sleeping Beauty pattern. People often can make beautiful outfits, however, how the person writes directions for those outfits can determine my success or failure. Looking at the princess gowns on the site, Cinderella seemed to be the most basic in construction and I determined if I couldn't finish that outfit, attempting the rest would be an effort in frustration. However, Cinderella impressed me and I moved on to Snow White. Snow White was more challenging, but other than setting the sleeves I found it workable. This pattern was actually the easiest of the three as I'd overcome my challenges with the skirts I'd experienced in making Cinderella's dress. The additional features I'd feared were actually quite manageable. I won't reveal her secrets, but I had thought from looking at the picture and the trouble I had with Snow's sleeves I'd find it more intimidating. The author did a great job helping me through all of the challenges and I'm really thrilled with the finished product.

This pattern did not come with shoes, but those who read this blog may be aware, I've become slightly obsessed with the shoe pattern from another SweetSilverCreations Sailor Dress that can also be purchased here. No, I have no connections to the owner of the site. I just ran across the patterns while making a list for DH before Christmas and fell in love with her designs. After success with Cinderella I went back and put more on a list for Valentine's. Yes, the Easter bunny also has a list, so no free patterns in return for a positive review. I am a true fan as my husband can support from the patterns he keeps supplying me for the holidays. I try to list links either free or paid so if you are interested in the pattern you can find it. I don't have associations with the pattern designers to promote their work.

I will say what does draw me is easy to follow directions. I rewritten a number of patterns over the years because I just can't understand what the writer intended. Another plus for doll clothes, especially, accessible yarns. I know people love to experiment with new and exciting yarns. However, it is incredibly frustrating to purchase a pattern only to find the yarn the person used is not available and the colors are specific to the outfit not readily available in another yarn of a similar weight. It isn't as much of an issue when it is a solid color in a weight easily located and the person gives some help with listing gauge and hook size to try to make a substitute. While weight can vary between brands, knowing the gauge helps determine an appropriate substitute if the original yarn is no longer available.

American Girl Princess

I am always grateful to those who design and donate their patterns for free use. It means I can stretch my donation dollars even farther. I downloaded this free pattern last year and it looked far more complicated than it was to make so I didn't make it for last year's donation. This year I've been targeting projects that I can make with yarn on hand and this one seemed possible. You can find the pattern here.

The pattern designer focused on the beads when she named her outfit, however, I loved the medieval princess look. I actually didn't include the beads. One I didn't have pearl beads on hand. Second, I'm not a huge fan of sewing beads into my crochet. Lastly, if the doll is going to be displayed those beads have a good chance of survival. If the doll is going to be played with and changed frequently the odds are less likely the beads don't end up on the floor of her new home. I went without.

What surprised me was how easy it was to make the underskirt and then crochet the over skirt after the fact. It was one of the reasons I hadn't approached the project in the previous year. It looked complicated to me. However, it was easy once I got started.

American Girl Cinderella

My DH will often ask me for a list of digital or book crochet patterns I want for Christmas and then he picks from the list and I get some wonderful items for Christmas, birthdays, etc. I never know which ones he'll pick, but this year one of the ones that made it on to the list was Sweet Silver Creations' Cinderella found here.

This is a great pattern and I was looking to add more princess outfits to my donation pattern options. The pattern works up quickly, the only challenge I had was making sure I counted the stitches in my shells correctly. A shell with too few stitches really screws up the next row and I had to pull out and redo a few times when I got distracted.

Finishing this despite the challenges has made me reconsider an Easter dress I abandoned a few years ago. I think my challenge with the Easter dress, as with this dress was misplaced shell stitches. If I am more careful counting each row I might be able to complete that one this year as well.

It is hard to tell with this picture, but the dress comes with a crocheted necklaces and headband. I think I may use those patterns for some other outfits as well.