16 Inch Baby Doll A-Line Dress

Having found a second copy of Margaret Funk's Baby Doll Fashion's to Crochet, I promised myself this year I was going to work at adapting more of the patterns to use with the donation. For my notes this is the A-Line Dress pattern found on page 16 designed for a 16 inch baby doll.

I used Herschnerrs Worsted 4 Yarn for this dress. I need a second dress for the second 16 inch baby doll so I'm planning to try the lighter baby yarn I have on hand. This worked but still feels heavier than I had hoped. For a previous outfit from this leaflet I used Lion Brand's Ice Cream Yarn, so I'm hoping a lighter sport weight baby yarn will work for the second outfit.

Notes:

I used a g hook for this outfit and needed to add rows as I like to cover the white leg section of the doll when I make outfits for it. I suspect the dress is designed to be slightly shorter.

I also chose to finish the arms with a sc round around the arms. I didn't like the look with the unfinished rows. I would continue this practice in further outfits.

The headband was a oops from a previous Lots to Love 10 inch Baby Doll project which came out larger than expected. It seemed a wise choice to repurpose for the larger doll.

The shoes are my go to pattern for the 16 inch baby doll and can be found in Darsk's free Peach Keen pattern here.

Rag Doll Summer Dress

Many years ago one of my wonderful donors from Crochetville added one of these rag dolls fully dressed with additional outfits for that year's donation and I fell in love with the doll.

I found the dolls could be purchased at Factory Direct Crafts and it began a journey to adapt patterns to fit the Rag Doll as no patterns were designed for this specific doll. She falls somewhere between most categories and sizes of dolls. She is a little small for most of the Cabbage Patch toddler clothes but most baby clothes aren't appropriate for her age. However, I have found some outfits from the baby dolls that do work.

The dress pattern come from a 1981 House of White Birches newsprint leaflet Baby Doll Fashions to Crochet by Margaret Funk. I used this previously to make 2 dresses for the 16 inch baby doll donation. It required a few additional adaptations for the Rag doll.

Notes:

I failed to look up last year's notes so I'm adding this note to remind myself for next year. I added and additional row to the top to provide a little more top for the rag doll as the doll is a different size than the baby dolls. I'm not sure with the trim and decreasing around the arm holes the is an issue on this year's model but I leave the information for my future self.

The dog had a go at my pattern book and thankfully this pattern is still whole, but if any of you see a copy feel free to leave a message in the comments as to where it can be purchased as I'm looking for a backup. It's old but really important for these donations.

This outfit was made with Lion Brand Ice Cream Yarn Tutti Frutti. This was a great chance to continue my quest to work on using up left over yarn from older projects. This ball has a long way to go but each project makes a dent.

As with the 16 Inch Baby Doll I started with an E hook and repeated row 5 once. Thus rows 3-6 follow the original directions for 3-5 moving each row directions down one. For the original row 6 now row 7 that starts the skirt I moved to a D hook to decrease the skirt size as it was too large with the E hook.

With this project complete the Rag doll now has her first item in her donation bag. I'm trying to commit to the idea of balancing my projects to keep the donations some what even.

16 Inch Baby Doll Summer Dress Parfait

I decided to work on the summer dress for the second 16 inch baby doll for my New Year's Eve project. I finished it during the Rose parade on New Year's day.

As I mentioned in previous posts the pattern for the dress is found in an out of print 1981 House of White Birches newsprint leaflet Baby Doll Fashions to Crochet by Margaret Funk. The shoes are from a free pattern set Peachy Keen found here. While I used another free pattern for the hat of the other 16 Inch doll I winged this one while playing board games on New Year's Eve. I don't have a written pattern for it.

Notes:

This outfit was made with Lion Brand Ice Cream Yarn Parfait.

To get this to fit the JC 16 Inch Baby Doll I started with an E hook and repeated row 5 once. Thus rows 3-6 follow the original directions for 3-5 moving each row directions down one. For the original row 6 now row 7 that starts the skirt I moved to a D hook to decrease the skirt size as it was too large with the e hook.

Some of you may recognize my go to shoe pattern. The shoes are part of a free pattern called Peachy Keen. I used an I hook and a ball of yarn from my left over pile of worsted weight yarn. Not sure of brand. I tend to repeat shoe patterns for the dolls when I find ones that fit because I find it hard to get crochet shoes to fit at times. So you will often see a rotation of a few patterns for the dolls. This is the only one I use for the 16 inch dolls as it is the only one I've located that fits the dolls and will stay on the feet.

16 Inch Baby Doll Summer Dress

Every year I try to use patterns I haven't yet used in my extensive doll pattern collection. I found this pattern for the JC 16 inch baby doll in an out of print 1981 House of White Birches newsprint leaflet Baby Doll Fashions to Crochet by Margaret Funk for the 2023 donation and now it has become one of my new favorites for the larger baby doll.

I had pulled out Hook and Knives dress pattern to make later so I used the hat from that pattern for something different. You can find that pattern here.

The shoes are from Darski's Peachy Keen set found here. These are really the only shoes I've found that fit this doll so I tend to make them in multiple colors to match the outfits.

Notes:

This outfit was made with Lion Brand Ice Cream Yarn Grape.

To get this to fit the JC 16 Inch Baby Doll I started with an E hook and repeated row 5 once. Thus rows 3-6 follow the original directions for 3-5 moving each row directions down one. For the original row 6 now row 7 that starts the skirt I moved to a D hook to decrease the skirt size as it was too large with the e hook.

I made the hat pattern from Hook and Knives Baby Doll Dress pattern switching to DC after her row of 2sc. I just wanted to try something different from last year.

Some of you may recognize my go to shoe pattern. The shoes are part of a free pattern called Peachy Keen. I used an I hook and am working on a skein of Joann's brand yarn.

This pattern worked out well for the Rag Doll last year so I hope to make a second one for the other 16 inch baby doll and one for the Rag doll as well.

Rag Doll Watermelon Summer Dress

While I've never found any patterns specific for this doll I have found many of the dress patterns that will fit the Lots to Love 14 Inch Baby Doll and the JC 16 Inch Baby doll can be adapted to fit the Rag doll as well.

The dress pattern come from a 1981 House of White Birches newsprint leaflet Baby Doll Fashions to Crochet by Margaret Funk. I used this previously to make 2 dresses for the 16 inch baby doll donation. It required a few additional adaptations for the Rag doll.

Notes:

This outfit was made with Lion Brand Ice Cream Yarn Watermelon. I have a bunch of Ice Cream yarn in my stash for doll blankets and I've been using some for the larger doll projects. I wasn't sure at first how the colors would work with watermelon as the previous Ice Cream Yarn I used for the other dolls had different kinds of contrasts. However, I really do love the look of this for the Rag Doll and would use it again.

As with the 16 Inch Baby Doll I started with an E hook and repeated row 5 once. Thus rows 3-6 follow the original directions for 3-5 moving each row directions down one. For the original row 6 now row 7 that starts the skirt I moved to a D hook to decrease the skirt size as it was too large with the e hook.

The body is a little smaller than the 16 inch Baby doll and thus a few reductions had to be made. I did this by adding a row to the top of the dress and decreasing around the arms. I did the same around the arms, using sc for both tasks. This decreased the open areas of the dress which were a little too big for the Rag Doll.

16 Inch Baby Doll Purple Summer Dress

I donate two JC 16 Inch Baby dolls every year and since there are no specific patterns written for these dolls when I find a pattern that does fit I tend to make duplicates over the course of the year so each doll gets one for its donation bag.

I mentioned in my previous post about this outfit that the dress and hat for this outfit come from a 1981 House of White Birches newsprint leaflet Baby Doll Fashions to Crochet by Margaret Funk.

I liked it enough and found it quick and easy enough that repeating it right away seemed like a logical choice. At this point in the year I'm all about finishing stuff about and getting it bagged because the November deadline will be here before I know it and I'll be on to the 2024 donation.

I've also discovered it fits the Rag doll really well so I'm hoping to finishing another one for the Rag doll as well as it would be a quick addition to her donation bag as well since she doesn't need shoes or the hat.

This is my go to shoe pattern part of the free Peachy Keen pattern set found here. I like including shoes with my outfits but it can be hard to fit shoes to dolls and they often fall off and get lost. I like these because with the strap I find they are more likely to stay on the doll's feet and less likely to drop off and be lost.

Notes:

This was made with Lion Brand's Ice Cream Black Cherry Yarn.

I started with an E hook and repeated row 5 once. Thus rows 3-6 follow the original directions for 3-5 moving each row directions down one. For the original row 6 now row 7 that starts the skirt I moved to a D hook to decrease the skirt size as it was too large with the e hook.

I started the directions for the 13 inch Baby Doll Bell hat and increased the rows prior to creating the brim to account for the larger 16 inch baby doll head.

16 Inch Baby Doll Summer Dress

Every year I promise myself I will get to patterns I've bought but never used. Some are modern and some are long out of print treasures I've found from various pattern hunts.

The dress and hat for this outfit come from a 1981 House of White Birches newsprint leaflet Baby Doll Fashions to Crochet by Margaret Funk. The booklet has a nice table of contents that outlines what patterns are available for what size dolls. I've long realized this is just a suggestion as a 16 inch baby doll is not always the same depending on how it is designed but its a good starting point.

I used the Summer Dress pattern designed for the 16 inch doll and adapted the hat pattern for a 13 inch doll also found in the leaflet for this outfit.

Notes:

This outfit was made with Lion Brand Ice Cream Yarn Meringue.

To get this to fit the JC 16 Inch Baby Doll I started with an E hook and repeated row 5 once. Thus rows 3-6 follow the original directions for 3-5 moving each row directions down one. For the original row 6 now row 7 that starts the skirt I moved to a D hook to decrease the skirt size as it was too large with the e hook.

I started the directions for the 13 inch Baby Doll Bell hat and increased the rows prior to creating the brim to account for the larger 16 inch baby doll head.

Some of you may recognize my go to shoe pattern. The shoes are part of a free pattern called Peachy Keen found here. I used an I hook and a ball of worsted weight yellow yarn I found in my bag of left over yarn from previous projects. I'm trying to attack this pile of yarn when ever I get the chance before starting on new skeins of yarn.

This pattern is going to be on my go to list for donation patterns. I will hopefully be making another one for the second donation doll prior to November. It's a quick set but it looks quite nice.

There are several other patterns in this booklet I hope to try out to see how they will work for the various baby dolls.