Little Spring Dress for 12" Baby Doll

As I mentioned in the previous post this pattern was gifted to me by a Crochetville Fairy Godmother during one of our Wishlists. The pattern is available for purchase here.

I've yet to get it to fit the doll I intended it for when I put the outfit on the wishlist. This time I decided I'd have more control with a lighter yarn so I went with Caron Simply Soft for the variegated color. It soon became clear that the outfit was better suited to the smaller Melissa & Doug 12" Baby doll. That worked out fine since I tend to end up with far fewer outfits that will fit the smaller baby doll by donation time. One less pattern for the 15" doll hardly seems a problem.

Baby Jenna Summer Outfit

Melissa & Doug Jenna - 12" Doll has been a staple of my donations for the last few years. I stock up when I find her on sale and it has helped to standardize the patterns I need to work on each year.

Recently I came across a free pattern on Ravelry for Baby Sasha and was curious to see if it could be adapted. You can find the pattern here. One of the big challenges in working with baby dolls is the sizes vary greatly. Baby dolls come in all lengths and widths. A 12" baby doll may not be equal to another 12" doll but it is a starting point. In this case I'd never heard of the Sasha line. After a little online research I discovered Sasha is generally considered more of collector's doll than a play doll, but the length was comparable. I had no idea about the other dimensions.

I had to increase the hook size and add a finishing edge, but other than that, the outfit cute and I thought it was rather cute. This was a great chance to work on using up my stash as this was made from Pound of Love baby yarn that has been in my stash for a bit.

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.

Baby Jenna Hat, Pants, Booties, and Sweater

This is my first outfit of the 2015 donation year for the Melissa & Doug Jenna - 12" Baby Doll that will got to Aztec Wishes.

I find this doll the most challenging to get the patterns to fit. While there are lots of retired patterns out there for 12" baby dolls, they seem to have slightly different dimensions. I started out working with TD Creations Erin pattern 7106. That is the best booties pattern I've found and will be coming back to that one later. The pants were a little short between the crotch and the waist, but otherwise fitted well. I had to improvise the shirt using another pattern.

The hat was actually the test hat I made using the mini slouchy hat pattern found here. When made to directions I got a 12" doll hat not an 18" doll hat. It worked for me since I often trade out items if they fit another doll.

I think it is a good start to getting her some clothes for next year's donation. I found to my shame she had far fewer items than the other dolls as I packed up this year. So, I'm going to have to work harder to find items that work.

Little Red Riding Hood Baby Doll

I love fairy tales and making themed outfits is always fun. I made this outfit for the Melissa & Doug Jenna - 12" Doll as part of my Christmas donation project.

Something else I enjoy is collecting old crochet patterns and while they can take some work to adapt, they are also can create some fun outfits for dolls. The dress for this outfit came from an old Mary Maxim pattern 189V, which is available for purchase here. I am thrilled Mary Maxim is releasing more of their old patterns for download. I've picked up several doll and other patterns and have had fun working on them.

The cape comes from a black and white 1981 publication from House of White Birches, Baby Doll Fashions to Crochet by Margaret Funk. I found this on one of my many vintage pattern hunts and I have had a great deal of fun exploring the patterns. One thing I will note is the sizes are a bit challenging. For instance they might tell you it is for a 13" doll, but what kind of 13" doll? There are no additional measurements. That being said I've been able to adjust most of the patterns to fit by changing yarn and hook sizes. The 18" patterns have fit pretty well for the padded 15" baby doll when I used worsted instead of sport yarn and increased the hook size.

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.