Lots to Love 10 Inch Baby Doll Top with Leggings

To keep the donation project engaging and interesting each year I try to add new projects that are patterns I haven't tried before. Sometimes these become new favorites and sometimes not as they can be far more complicated or time consuming than I normally delegate for a donation project. However, each is a chance to try something new and I am always grateful for the opportunity.

This in one of Linmary's free doll patterns found here. As with many baby doll patterns it wasn't designed specifically for this doll so I had expectations I'd need to make adjustments.

A 10 inch baby doll isn't always the 10 inch baby doll you happen to be working on at home. The first sign I had of this was checking the gauge. The gauge I found for the suggested hook with the yarn I indicated the hook size would be too large. Going down a size got me closer. However, as it turned out the suggested hook size with the actual doll I had was correct because a 10 inch doll is not always the same size as another 10 inch doll.

I knew from the beginning the pants would be more challenging because the doll in the picture had longer straighter legs than the chubby Lots to Love doll. This meant I'd need to reduce the rows for the legs. I tend to make my pants from the top down joining and splitting as I go.

There are lots of patterns that make them flat and join but these are not my favorite as it is hard to tell how they will fit until after you've finished the "outline" prior to sewing them together. I found that to be the challenge with this pattern and I likely won't use this pant set again for that reason. I found it was time consuming to put the pants together after making sure I'd make the corrections to make the pants short enough to fit the Lots to Love doll. I was glad I accepted the challenge and completed it but it just isn't a practical use of my time when the other method is quicker for me and I can move on to other projects more quickly. I may even be able to reproduce the texture and have a better fit because I would know exactly when to stop before adding the trim.

This has given me an idea to try something like this for next year. It would be easy enough to make these pants top down and I have several "top" patterns for this doll that fit better than this one that would give the doll a top and leggings outfit.

Lots to Love 10 Inch Baby Doll Dress with Full Skirt

I'm starting to build quite the wardrobe for the Lots to Love 10 inch baby doll donation. Thanks to a coupon from an Etsy vendor I picked up several new crochet patterns for the doll. You can purchase this one here.

These patterns have been a wonderful addition to my doll pattern library as they work up quickly and haven't required many adaptations to get them to fit. This is a major time savor as I'm often adapting as I go with patterns.

Notes:

I used an H hook for the dress portions and the suggested G hook for all other parts of the outfit. I found after making some of her other outfits this was a good match.

The pattern calls for Caron Simply Soft, I substituted Herrschners worsted from my stash. I don't currently have variagated so I chose a solid blue green for the skirt instead of the Robins Egg Caron suggested but I liked the outcome. I'm looking into ordering some variagated for future doll projects as this yarn just works up better without splitting and piling I've had issue with from the Simply Soft.

Lots to Love 10 Inch Baby Doll Summer Dress

I haven't seen many patterns over the years for the 10 inch Lots to Love Baby dolls. I have a an older leaflet from Annie Potter but it just isn't as common a doll so fewer patterns seemed to be out there.

Recently after getting a coupon from an Etsy vendor I started searching her patterns and discovered a selection of patterns for this doll I hadn't found on previous trips. I likely just missed them but I decided to grab them as previous experiences have taught me that Etsy vendors come and go so if a pattern designer makes doll patterns that work up quickly and easily, I tend to stock up now as I find them. You can purchase this pattern here.

Notes:

I mentioned on the previous post that I'm not a huge fan of Caron Simply Soft. I just find it splits and then it tends to pile. These are not my favorite attributes for doll clothes.

A while back I had purchased some Herrschners house brand yarns in baby and worsted weights. While I'm not a fan of the yarn for afghans and human wearables as I've had issues with it, I do find it is great for doll clothes. With inflation the cost has risen dramatically but my stash was created when the yarn was far cheaper than most "brand" yarns. I find it to be lighter than traditional worsted weight which again often makes it a great fit for some of my doll projects like this one which are between sport weight and worsted weight yarn. Where possible I will be substituting Herrschners for Caron in these patterns.

I started with a G hook for the top but switched to a H hook for the bottom. In the future I might actually use an H hook for the dress in full. The g hook worked well for all the accessories.

The panties fit well and would work well for an outfit that lacked them.

Reminder for the skirt mark the chain spaces with markers in the first row of skirt. It took me a couple of trys to get this to work out for some reason and once I marked the spaces I had no further trouble. I sometimes come back to a pattern a year later and wonder why it possibly made sense then and not now. It is because I forget to write stuff like this down.

Lots to Love 10 Inch Baby Doll Sweater Set

I've been trying to acquire more patterns for the smaller baby dolls to give myself some variety in what I send for the donations. This is Char Caywood's Christmas Sweater pattern you can purchase here.

I chose not to got with Christmas colors for two reasons. The first was I don't have time to make many outfits for the smaller dolls so while I do make an occasional holiday themed outfit I try to make most of the outfits somehting that would work year round for dressing up baby.

The second is a more practical one. I promise myself every year I will focus on shopping from my stash for my doll projects. A bright sunny sweater set was in the stash, a Christmas one was not. I don't tend to keep lots of Caron Simply soft on hand and this is what was available when I did a quick search. For my own notes in the future I'd likely go with Herrschners Worsted for this project. I have more color options in my stash and the yarn doesn't split or pile as badly.

Notes:

I used the suggested G hook for this outfit. While I needed to make adjustments in certain areas changing the hook size would have made the outfit big in other areas.

I added two rows to each of the trim panels of the sweater and then did sc chain 3 button holes to make it easier for my buttons to fit.

I did not decrease the final hdc row of the pants as they were too tight when I tried the suggestions for decreases but fit by keeping the previous row's stitch count.

The shoes fit as written but I changed colors in the final row and did a sc chain 3 at the top for fun.

I'm currently working on a bathing suit for the Lil Cutesies doll and trying to adapt some fashion doll patterns for the various Barbie dolls. I just can't believe how fast fall has advanced on me and before I know it the drop off date will have arrived!!!

Lots to Love 10 Inch Bathing Suit

Last year I adapted a pattern I'd previously used with the Lots to Love 8 Inch Doll From Annie Potter Presents Sweet Baby Doll Layette to give this doll a swim suit.

It was cute but I really preferred the look I got making Char's swim suit for the Lots to Love 8 inch doll this year. It just had a better fit.

I hadn't seen one for the larger doll and I really didn't feel like trying to adapt a thread pattern when I received a coupon from Char's Etsy store and decided to see if there were any patterns that would be of use for the donation.

Sure enough she had the pattern in the larger size for the Lots to Love 10 inch Baby Doll and Berenguer Baby Steps Doll. I've seen pictures and patterns for the Baby Steps doll but I've never actually seen the doll. However, the directions for both dolls are included along with a baby bikini pattern. You can purchase the pattern here.

Notes: I used Aunt Lydia's Fashion Crochet Thread 3 Soft Mauve for the primary portion of this pattern.

The contrasting color is two strands of DMC size 10 thread used together I can no longer locate.

The pattern suggests an f hook I went with an e hook as I missed that in the directions and I've traditionally used an e hook with this thread. In the future I might try the f to make it just a tad loser on the swim suit and the cover. I'd stick with an e for the sandals and the hat.

This pattern includes a beach blanket and a bag along with additional bikini patterns. I chose to make the blanket but a bag for the baby seemed odd. I used Bernat Baby Big Ball Sport yarn in Pink and White for the blanket with a G hook. She has a really fun interesting pattern for the blanket that creates a neat texture.

Just a note for those who might be interested the smaller Lots to Love dolls are not widely available for in store or even online toy store purchases. However, since they are a good size for families who may not have room for the larger dolls I've continued to seek them out. Education stores that sell to non-school markets still often have the Lots to Love 10 inch dolls. Some online craft stores still sell the Lots Love 8 inch dolls as people still use them for holiday decorations. The Lots to Love 14 inch and the JC 16 inch dolls are still pretty widely available online. I rarely buy dolls in store any longer with the exception of the 18 inch dolls which are sometimes cheaper when I can get them in store.

Lots to Love 10 Inch Doll Sweetly Nightgown

Both of Darski's free pattern sets for the Lots to Love 10 Inch Baby doll, Sweetly and BBL, have nightgown patterns. I've made both for the donation and have decided I prefer the Sweetly pattern and so I've begun the set of baby doll nightgown's with the size doll the pattern was intended for and I will hopefully adapt it to the smaller baby dolls before the donation date.

Notes:

This outfit was made with Bernat Baby Sport Ombre Baby Baby Yarn and an F hook.

I eliminated rows as I found it too long for the doll. I also finished the back before adding the closing ties.

I left the short sleeves and used a sc chain 3 to finish sleeves.