American Girl Tunic and Capris and Visor

As I mentioned in a previous post I picked up several Shady Lane patterns with some birthday cash. This outfit was my first attempt at the Tunic and Capris set found in Crochet Play Clothes. It can be purchased here. The visor was a free crochet pattern from ABC Knitting found here.

I thought the Capris worked up very well and will be making more of them again. I struggled a bit with the top which is why you will see my second attempt, with a slightly different challenge tomorrow. The visor was a fun project that allowed me to use up some thread I had left over from making the Chevron dress.

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.

Springfield Doll Hooded Sweatshirt and Shorts

Along with dresses and other pretty outfits, I wanted to make sure the donation doll had some comfortable casual clothes. I spent plenty of summers with the combination of shorts and a hooded sweatshirt to deal with that unpredictable New England weather. We always had an extra sweatshirt because while the summer weather could be hot, many of our destinations had a cooler side that required a little extra warmth. That inspired my thinking behind this pairing of patterns.

The hooded sweatshirt pattern comes from Sweater Trio, booklet FCM494. The shorts are shortened versions of the pants found in Maggie’s Crochet Abby, Allie, and Annie Pattern.

I am working on a different pattern for a nightgown that comes with a robe. I hope to finish the first one I started, as it looks like I will have two dolls when I am finished with this project.

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


Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Springfield Doll Dress, Hat, Shoes, and Purse

I am continuing to work on my donation doll project and more convinced that I will need a second doll. I am having fun mixing and matching patterns in my efforts to avoid pattern that require thread.

The dress and shoes for this project come from a pattern I purchased from Maggie's Crochet, Ready for Spring available for purchase here. The hat and the purse for this outfit came from Shady Lane's Crochet Butterfly availabe for purchase here.

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

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Crochet Vintage Doll Ensembles

In my vintage pattern hunts, I came across another 18" doll pattern book. Vintage Doll Ensembles, 870614, was produced by Annie's Attic and published in 1998. I usually try to avoid pattern that use thread. This leaflet has a mixture of yarns that include thread. However, there are a couple of patterns that use sports yarn and a bonnet pattern that I really liked that uses Lustersheen the smallest size I use with any success. After purchasing the pattern, I discovered it includes a cute pair of Mary Jane like shoes made with black sports yarn. I am looking forward to trying those.

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

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

American Girl Blue Pilgrim Dress

I have been making Thanksgiving items in what I call decoration colors and then items for kids trying to work in traditional colors. This dress is actually far more traditional in color than most of the black, brown, and grey that you see in decorations of Pilgrims for the holidays. My goal is to make some of each so that the kids can compare and contrast the two.

This dress was made adapting Darski's free Pilgrim pattern. This is one of my favorite 18" doll patterns, but for some reason, I was struggling with it this holiday. It could be that I made three dresses in a short period of time and had to rush to complete this one. I was not as happy with the finished look as I have been with previous attempts. However, I was pleased that I finally figured out my challenge with one area that was a result of my bad crocheting.

This project was completed using Red Heart and Caron One Pound yarn.

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

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

American Girl Doll Pilgrim

I finished one of the doll dresses I needed for my doll project this weekend. My Aunt took it home with her so I only need to finish two more.


This pattern is adapted from a free pattern you can find the link for on the Thanksgiving page. I used Red Heart Super Saver grey heather for the dress and I liked the texture and the color it provided. I used Caron One Pound yarn for the cap and apron. The worsted weight was too heavy for the cuffs so I used Red Heart Sport yarn. I changed the original pattern by adding cuffs, found in the free Barbie pattern on the Thanksgiving page and altering the collar.

While I made this one in the traditional colors people expect for Thanksgiving, I also want to make the dress in colors that are more authentic. Pilgrims did not just wear black, grey, and brown. The colors people often associate with Pilgrims were considered formal colors for Church. Pilgrims did dress in colors including red.

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

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

American Girl Pilgrim

This outfit was made with a free pattern from a very generous designer Darski. You can find the pattern here. One strategy I have started to use when downloading patterns is to cut and paste and reorganize them into word documents for my own personal use. You will not find any of those documents here. I suggest you make them for yourself. However, I find that I can change the fonts, enlarge or bold certain areas to help me when I am working on a pattern. I can also reorganize lines as certain patterns bulk up directions in larger chunks than I want to work with in a line by line pattern. I meant to mention that in an earlier blog, but I like to share orginizational techniques with others. I learn a great deal by reading and listening to what others do, I like to share what I have learned as well.

I loved the dress pattern for this doll. I finally understood how to pull together a back and use buttons to close the back edge. It should perhaps be obvious, but it helped me work on a Barbie pattern, so I am thrilled at the new knowledge.

I chose to create my own cap, because I wanted something more of a bonnet than a cap. I used a modified version of the Shady Lane Barbie pattern. I also added cuffs like the Shady Lane Barbie pattern used.

After finishing this pattern I realized where I made the mistake on the Ken doll. As I mentioned before each new project seems to have something to teach me about another.

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

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

American Girl Knitted Evening Gown

I am continuing to display Mom's work. I am very proud of the items she has completed. She is not only is sending them out to grandkids, giving them to the neighbor's kids, but also donating them to charities as well. She was actually SURPRISED that all her outfits sold at a craft sale to raise money for Veteran’s groups. I cannot convince her how amazed I am each time I receive a box of items to give to my niece on my husband's side. She ships all the stuff to my side directly. I do wish she had this interest when I was a kid.

For those who want to know where to find the pattern, this is from Fun-to-Knit Doll Clothes. When I saw the yarn she used to make this, I was so impressed. I cannot imagine the day when I will be comfortable working with this material.

The Barbie and American Girl Doll 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

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Patriotic

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Halloween Page



Pictures may not be used without written permission.

American Girl Doll Loom Hat and Scarf

I was really proud of myself when I finished this hat and scarf. I have all but surrendered my knitting needles, but I really want to see if I can learn to use the Kniffty Knitters to produce some basic knitted items. I have a long way to go, but seeing the hat and the scarf on the doll has convinced me it is worth continuing the effort. I would like to progress to making a doll sized blanket to send as well.

I used the blue round knifty knitter for the scarf and the hat. I followed a basic hat pattern to make the brim on the hat and used the gather method to finish it off.

Mom and I cut out these blue jeans this summer during her visit. She bought a bunch of sewing patterns, material, and sewing notions to my house during her summer visit and we cut out doll patterns for the 18" dolls and Barbie. These jeans were one of the pairs we cut out and after sewing at home, she shipped me for my niece. For those that are curious the top is a dress pattern she knitted from Fun-to-Knit Doll Clothes. Of all the items she sent, this is the one I should wrap first as it will be the hardest to give up. I just love the way it looks.

American Girl Doll Hat My First Loom Attempt

I mentioned in previous blogs that I have been experimenting with loom knitting and had made a few doll hats. This was in fact my first hat made with single yarn on the pink flower loom. I did not want to waste yarn if I ended up not being able to complete the project so I used a single stand instead of the double stand, most people suggest. I have seen other projects like this one, so I decided to keep it.

The dress is from a box of clothes my Mom knit and sewed for a niece on my husband's side. I have been slowly converting Mom into making toys and doll's clothes for the last few years. I have intrigued her by buying her books and patterns. This dress comes from Fun-to-Knit Doll Clothes. I love the lacy look and feel of the dress.

I realized I could in fact get the loom to work and made the next hat on the same loom thinking it would fit. However, the second hat will be used for a winter Hello Kitty to be made later. While I thought the loom fit on the doll's head, it appears the blue Knifty Knitter does in fact fit better. The third hat was the charm.

The Barbie and American Girl Doll 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

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Patriotic

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Halloween Page



Pictures may not be used without written permission.

American Girl Knit Sun Dress

Mom and I have teamed up to dress some dolls this year. Our latest project is a Springfield doll. I got Mom started with the book this pattern comes from for Christmas and just loaded her up with a bunch of in print and out of print knitting and sewing patterns for 18" dolls and Barbie for her birthday and Mother's day. There will be some very well dressed dolls this Christmas. This dress is from the book below. I am anxiously awaiting the sewing projects Mom has cut out is working to assemble. She has promised me a pair of jeans so my doll will be decent when taking sweater and top pictures. I have yet to find a bottoms crochet pattern that does not require crocheting over elastic. While I am determined to learn, Mom and I agree it is best to keep the model modest when posting.




Mom is even heading home with her own Springfield doll to use as a model. We have both realized in working with Barbie the invaluable benefits of having a doll to try on the clothes as you are working on them. As I mentioned in a previous blog about my first dress attempt, if not for having the doll to try the dress on, I would have had no way of knowing the outfit did not fit. As frustrating as it is realizing I had to redo the dress top, it would have been far worse to mail the dress off and have the child not be able to use it.




For those looking for free patterns please check out the free
American Girl and 18" Doll page for crochet, knitting, and sewing links.


Pictures may not be used without written permission.

My American Girl and 18" Doll Projects

Barbie has her own page and now that I have started working on American Girl and 18" Doll projects they require a page as well. I am finding it more challenging to find projects that are within my range, but have recently bought elastic to experiment with so I can make more of the crochet patterns. Mom has also been sharing her work with me so I will be featuring some of her knitted and sewing projects here as well.





















Crochet:

Blue Pilgrim Dress

Colonial Girl

Colonial Outfit

Dress

Holiday Dress

Pilgrim Dress

Poncho

Poncho and Black Pants

Poncho and Pink Skirt

Red Dress

Santa

Santa with Holiday Yarn

Sun Dress

Valentine Dress

Loom Knit:

Loom Hat

Loom Hat and Scarf

Mom is kind enough to knit and sew doll projects for family members on my husband's side of the family along with projects for her grandchildren and great grandchildren. I have been documenting Mom's projects with my own.
Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Mom's Contributions:

Knit:

Christmas Sweater and Pants

Evening Gown

Redsox Cheerleader

Sundress

Sew:

Bathrobe

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

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

American Girl Doll Crochet Sun Dress Crochet

I was still looking for a simple project when I took on my second American Girl outfit. This Sun Dress pattern can be found in the free
American Girl 18" Doll Pattern Links.

I loved variegated colors and decided to do so as an alternative to the suggested pattern colors. I loved the pattern idea of using cotton dish cloth yarn. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I hit several great sales and had stocked up on a variety of colors. I thought it would be fun to try to pattern that utilized the cotton for a dress.




My husband's comment was the doll needed a shirt for underneath the gown. However, other than the lace that I did not add this is pretty much the pattern as described. I do have a white sweater I can add before sending the dress off at Christmas.

The hat was fun to make and looked so cute when it was finished. This will be a great pattern to add to other dresses that need a cute hat, but do not come with one.

I liked the style of the shoes, but have a terrible time keeping them on the doll's feet. I am going to continue to look for a pattern that fits better and then make some different colored shoes to go with the outfits that both Mom and I are making for the various kids who have both Springfield and American Girl dolls.

Pictures may not be used without written permission.