Lots to Love 8 Inch Doll Candie Corn Halloween Costume

I'm continuing my tradition of making costumes for the Lots to Love 8 Inch dolls to decorate for the holidays. I made a Pumpkin Kitty last year and this year I decided to adapt a pattern from an old Crochet Calendar for the 5 inch baby dolls from Michelle Crean called Candie Corn Doll.

I always separate out the patterns into my category binders so I don't know what year of the Daily Crochet calendar this was from but it was the October 24th and 25th entry for year. I've checked Michelle Crean's website and this is not one of the patterns she lists for sale. If I do find it I will add the link for those who might be interested in the pattern.

To make this fit the 8 inch Lots to Love doll instead of the 5 inch doll I used a g hook and I Love this Yarn Sport Weight Yarn in Orange and White along with a discontinued yellow from Red Heart Sport.

Note to myself the booties fit really well and could easily be adapted for another pattern that comes without shoes.

Lots to Love 8 Inch Irish Lass

A friend of mine from Crochetville mentioned adapting 5" patterns for the 8" dolls a while back but I hadn't gotten around to trying it until recently when I was looking for a St. Patrick's Day doll outfit for my 8" Holiday doll project. I normally wait to make these dolls until I've sent out my holiday box but after packing up my Valentine decorations I really missed seeing the dolls so I decided I'd fit one in between my other projects.

Crochet World used to have Web Bonus pattern offerings from 2008-2012 and they are still available online. Amy Carrico's 5" Irish Lass Pattern can be found free here.

Since this pattern was designed for a 5" doll adaptations had to be made to make it fit the larger 8" doll. I started with worsted weight 4 yarn for the top with a D hook. The sport yarn might have worked but I've found this doll to be large at the top and the sport yarn often makes the top too small. The down side is the dress is always bulkier with the larger yarn. Do to the sizing differences I had to add two rows before the arm holes row 3 to make the top long enough that the arm holes were correctly placed.

As I moved on to the skirt it quickly became clear the skirt lost all shaping and was enormous with the worsted weight 4 green yarn. I still have a crate full of the old Red Heart Sport yarn that I'm working through and when I checked I had a skein of Paddy Green that just seemed like it had been waiting for this project. I continued on with the Red Heart Sport and a D hook.

For the underskirt, which is really a trim not a true underskirt I used white sport yarn which I'm thinking is Mary Maxim Baby yarn I bought a while back but has since lost its label. It feels like it is somewhere in the sport to DK range. I added an extra row of dc around no increases to the pattern. In the picture you can see the underskirt showing. With one row with the alterations to the pattern I found it was tucked under the green shamrocks.

I tried three different hook sizes before going back to the D hook with the sport yarn for the panties. The D hook was the right call but I was concerned they would be too large. Anything bigger and they were much too large with this brand of sport yarn. You can't tell from this picture but this pattern has ruffles on the back of the panties and those were done with the green sport yarn. I'd never crocheted anything like that so I wasn't quite clear which way the ruffles were supposed to go but I think I got it right.

I LOVE thes shoes so much that I had to take a picture so I'd remember what I did when I pack the St. Patrick's decoratiosn away and I want to make them for the donation doll outfits. These are actually fairly simple to make. I continued with the sport yarn but found the D hook was way too large. This doll has the tippy toe feet and it is one of the more challenging of the 8" dolls to fit. When you buy them online you don't get to choose the dolls you get what they send or I'd try for the dolls with more of a standing foot. Getting back to my notes to make these shoes fit the 8" doll I needed to use a B hook with the sport weight yarn. I also played a little with the placement of the straps but I'm happy overall with the outcome.

Last note to myself the shamrock buttons came from Factory Direct. I mention this because I know I'll end up wanting more of these for another project and won't remember who had them.

Lots to Love 8 Inch Doll Valentine Gal

One of my rewards for finishing my Valentine box early and getting it mailed was having extra time to make holiday dolls. Up to this point I've managed one per holiday but while I've wanted to make additional dolls and have patterns in many cases I just haven't had the time because the next box has to be started. I do need to get the St. Patrick's stuff started but since it isn't the end of January, I feel good about taking some time to make myself some holiday decorations and house items.

This pattern comes from Annie Potter Presents Holiday Babies. You can purchase the pattern here.

Notes:

I accidently changed the skirt pattern. The orignal pattern is much fuller but I actually liked the way this one came out and if I can replicate it I plan on making it with less of a holiday theme for the donation doll.

I used worsted weight yarn and a D hook to make the outfit fit the Lots to Love 8" doll. I finished the last row of the panties in red and then added a row of red trim to finish them off.

I discovered accidentatly after making the second shoe that they actually fit better with an extra row at the top so I added one to the first shoe/bootie.

Instead of using the crocheted hearts I used buttons. I found the crochet hearts were just a bit large for the outfit. I liked the look of the buttons better.

I love my new set of Valentine dolls!

Lots to Love 8 inch Doll Valentine Gent

I am very pleased to say my Valentine packaged arrived several days earlier than the post office predicted. For those of you who have been shipping things or waiting for packages to arrive you can appreciate what a blessing this was for the day.

With the Valentine package gone I've had a chance to make some decorations for myself before moving on to the St. Patrick's Day box. I started with the Valentine Gent and am currently working on the Valentine Gal.

As I mentioned when I wrote about the Thanksgiving doll this pattern is from an out of print House of White Birches leaflet Crochet Holiday Baby Dolls 101102. I was recently pleased to find the out of print companion leaflet Dress Up Baby Dolls from the same publisher and designer. That leaflet has non-holiday outfits and will be useful for the 8 inch Lots to Love Doll I'll be donating for the annual doll donation.

Notes:

This pattern set is designed for a 9 1/2 inch baby doll but height is often misleading when looking at patterns to adapt. I originally thought this series would be closer to the 10" doll but as I worked with the patterns I realized height isn't the only issue for these dolls. The Lots to Love dolls are chubbier but shorter. This has allowed me to fit these outfits to the 8 inch Lots to Love dolls where I think they'd be harder to fit to the 10 inch dolls. I may experiment more with the other leaflet as I can always use more donation patterns but I was only seeking one line of holiday dolls to decorate with and the 8 inch dolls are actually a better size for this purpose.

The shirt fit well without needing to adapt the pattern. I used worsted weight yarn instead of the suggested sport yarn and the suggested g hook. This helped deal with the more generous round Lots to Love tummy. I needed to make adjustments to make the pants fit. I originally followed the pattern and then realized this is where the height of the other doll was an issue. The Lots to Love doll has shorter legs. I joined the legs after row 2 and then moved on to the directions for row 5. Follow with one row of half double crochet. This makes legs a good length.

The cloth heart buttons came from Joann and I recently reordered them along with some Shamrock ones to use with St. Patrick's Day projects The rose in the doll's hand is also part of a Valentine themed button set. I'm afraid I don't remember where that set came from. It has already been split up as I've used different pieces of it on various projects. The rose seemed a perfect fit for this project.