Rag Doll Dress

I made a promise to myself that I'd get back to the dolls I'd neglected and try to get them more outfits made before the deadline. With some dolls that presents more of a challenge than others as I don't have specific patterns designed for them. As I was working on the free Linmary baby doll pattern found here it occured to me the dress portion of the pattern might work for the at least one of the rag dolls. I'd need to work adjust fiber and hook size but it was worth a try.

I started with Knit Picks Palette yarn from my stash and a D hook. That hook size was too small to fit around either doll so I increased to an e hook and after reaching the arm hole determined that this dress fit both dolls but was a better fit for the 13 3/4" CR Craft Doll rather than the 15" Factory Direct Rag Doll. I'm trying this pattern again for the 15" doll with different yarn and a different hook to see if I can get a better fit for the larger doll.

I stayed with the original chain length. I stuck with the top pattern until I reached the dolls waist at which point I switched to the skirt pattern. I then proceeded with that pattern until I reached the desired length. While I alternated color for the top and added the trim for the top of the dress I chose not to trim the arms or add the contrasting color to the bottom as I had done with the baby doll dresses. I liked the way the blue stood out alone. However, the top was the starting chain and it did need to be trimmed to finish the outfit. I chose to do that with the contrasting color as suggested by the pattern.

15 Inch Rag Doll Sweater Set

I mentioned when I was working on the smaller rag doll that I had intended originally to purchase this larger doll and picked the smaller one up by accident. The problem now corrected I had to set about adjusting patterns to fit her so I could get her ready to donate.

Back in the 1980's Annie's created a series of soft sculptured dolls similar in looks to the Cabbage Patch dolls. Like the Cabbage Patch dolls they had baby dolls and older child dolls the most prominent in that line being Debbie Ann. The original Debbie Ann pattern came with a pattern for the doll and a dress. Later outfits were released to fit her. I believe there is also a male sibling doll and as I mentioned there are baby dolls in the line as well. Over the years I've picked up vintage copies of many of these outfits thinking they'd be useful for other doll projects. I don't see myself making the dolls but as I recently learned when I found myslef purchasing Barbies, never say never.

While the Debbie Ann patterns were only available in the second hand market for years, Annie's has released and retired and released the patterns on the Annie's site and their second site e-pattern central. I mention the release and retire because I went and checked and while I have a vintage copy I also bought a digital copy as a back up for this pattern should I lose the original. While I still own the digital copy on Annie's site Debbie Ann's Sweater Set 87F43, is no longer available on either site. That is not to say it won't come back, but if you are looking for it I've given you the pattern number that can help you with your search.

Notes:

As with many of my doll projects this pattern is not designed to fit this doll but with some adaptations it did fit. I started with the suggested worsted weight yarn and moved to a D hook for the skirt. This will result in a later post about the JC Toys - 16-inch Baby Doll | as it proved to be too big for the Rag doll but I think with some work will turn into a nice outfit for the baby doll and it means my work wasn't wasted.

Realizing I had two challenges the weight of the yarn and the softness of the waist line, it wouldn't hold up the skirt I made some changes for my next skirt. I kept the D hook but switched to Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn Sport Weight. I also used a Hair Elastic for the waist band. If you haven't used pony tail holders as waist bands in your crochet they can be effective tools and they are easy enough to crochet over. I find they don't bend and twist the way regular elastic sometimes can when I use it in doll clothing. The challenge is that it has to fit the section of the doll as unlike elastic you can't cut to fit as easily.

One of the things you can't tell from my pictures or the picture on the pattern cover is that the panties for this outfit are crocheted on to the skirt. This is a neat little technique and I won't divulge the secret, but it is a simple add on that I can see using in other proejcts as it eliminates the added bulk of underwear at the waist of an outfit but still gives that added modesty that keeps all parts covered when the doll might other wise be exposed.

I've always loved back post and front post stitches so this sweater was a joy. I loved the texture it created and with a D hook and Red Heart Sport cotton, now unavailable, I found the sweater fit the Rag doll quite well. I crocheted the arms as I went and required fewer rows as the doll has shorter thinner arms than Debbie Ann. I did 7 pattern rows before finishing with a dc row followed by a sc row. This just seemed easier to fit to the doll than crocheting the arm and adding as it would be harder to determine fit when the arm was not attached.

Hats are going to be a challenge with this doll due to her rather prominent pig tails. I did play a little bit with this hat and liked how it looked in a modified format.

The pattern does include a cute shoe pattern. However, as the Rag Doll comes with attached shoes I did not require or attempt the shoes.

The Rag Doll was purchased from Factory Direct for those of you who may want to find one.

Rag Doll Top and Shorts

A friend of mine has sent me Rag dolls a few times for the donation project and I wanted to try adding one this year. I ordered 2 from CR Crafts only to find these are slightly smaller than the ones she gets from Factory Direct Craft.

I've ordered the larger ones from Factory Direct as I have some patterns that I think will fit the larger dolls better, but I am determined to outfit this doll for the donation as well. It's not like I don't send multiple sized baby dolls. Why not rag dolls?

As for the outfit for this doll, with the exception of the afghan collection, which I sadly missed out on, every time Annie's has issued a DVD Rom collection of crochet patterns I've tried to purchase them. I did miss the afghan one sadly but I did get both volumes of the Crochet World collection and the Dolls, Doll Clothes and Acessories DVD Rom. I find myself revisiting these DVD's from time to time when I am trying new things and want to see what I might not have tried before. With the addition of new dolls it seemed like it was time to see what the DVD had to offer for doll patterns I might be able to use with the new dolls.

One of the pattern sets that is included on the DVD is Needlecrafts Shop's Sweet Cuddles 971016 leaflet. This is a pattern for a soft bodied 15" baby doll as well as a wide range of clothing for the doll. I thought I had seen this offered on one of Annie's pattern sites but it was not available when I searched prior to posting this blog. If it returns I'll try to post a link.

This sweater was designed as a cardigan but do to the difference in shape and size of the dolls it fit better as a shirt. I moved from baby weight to Red Heart striped yarn and an H hook. in the future I would use an H for the first few rows of the top and switch to a g hook for the remainder of the outfit as it gets big quickly. I sewed the underarms a little more closed as it billowed out a bit more than I thought was needed.

I had intended to make the overalls pattern for this outfit but the sweater was too bulky. Shorts seemed a better alternative. I will likely revisit overalls at some point

The shorts were made by crocheting over a hair elastic and then alternating between hdc and dc rows until I had 4 rows. I chained 4 and split the legs evenly. I then crocheted for another two rows on each leg to complete the shorts.