American Girl V-Stitch Skirt and T-shirt.

While I've bought yarn for specific projects, I am still committed to reducing my stash yarn this year. I found this free crochet pattern on ABC Knitting here for the skirt. I do find it funny that ABC Knitting has a good supply of free crocheted doll patterns, but I'm not one to complain. The yarn is Knit Picks fingering yarn that's been in my stash for a bit.

The shirt pattern was the t-shirt pattern from the farmer outfit. You can purchase the pattern here. This was a chance to use a very old skein of baby yarn I'd picked up at a senior center sale several years ago.

I like the skirt and would make it again. The texture and drape makes it a nice choice. It has the look of a thread skirt without having to actually use thread.

American Girl Sailor Dress

I remember seeing pictures of these types of outfits in my Grandmother's picture albums. The white sailor outfits, different for boys and girls, were worn during the summer months. I can't imagine what it was like to keep them clean.

I picked up a thread pattern a couple of years ago, but completing even one thread outfit a year is a challenge for me. I know some love crochet thread, but it is always an adventure for me. Yarn is my medium. I was thrilled to find a pattern that had the same theme, but used yarn instead of thread. It arrived as part of my Valentine's presents. You can purchase the pattern here.

The hat pattern was the first item I made and it helped me establish what yarn and hook to use. The sport yarn proved to be too light and I switched to worsted and then moved up to an I hook. The hat was one of the cuter ones I've made recently. I love the way the designer used fp stitches to create the creases in the dress. I also love the shoe pattern.

I have been using small balls of yarn to make some additional shoes to add to my donation. I often find making shoes challenging. This pattern was quite easy and I didn't find the toes sticking through the ends of the shoes, which is a problem I sometimes have with crocheted shoes.

I'm on a mission to use up yarn when I can instead of leaving behind little balls so I added a purse to the outfit which is not included in the pattern. However it is a from a free Red Heart Summertime Thrills Pattern found here. I've gotten pieces for two outfits now from this pattern without actually finishing the Summertime Thrills outfit itself. I'm still waiting on some yarn I need to finish the skirt.

American Girl Farmer

I love patterns that dig into stash yarn I haven't used in a long time. This pattern was another of my Valentine's presents from my DH. You can purchase the pattern here.

The shirt for this outfit is made using Lustersheen. The last time I actually purchased Lustersheen was during my Barbie clothes making days. The girls I made those outfits for are now respectively in Middle School and High School, so while I've slowly found other uses for it, I haven't been replenishing the supply as it has been reduced. I was quite pleasantly surprised not only to find another use for it, but to have the exact color required by the pattern. That so rarely happens for me.

The only major problem I had with this pattern was one of the issues that made Barbie clothes so painful, sewing the snaps. I had to remove one of the sides of the bottom snap because while working around the thin, almost thread like fiber of the Lustersheen I'd caused it to bunch up the outfit when snapped. All was fixed when I removed and replaced. It did remind me why I prefer working with regular yarn.

The pants were fun and much nicer to work on than the scratchy ones I made a few years ago. They require worsted weight yarn I had on hand so again a great stash busting project, I'll be coming back to for more outfits.

I required a G hook for the Lustersheen, a K for the pants and the hat. I make those notes to remind myself when I come back to the outfit.

The flower button came from the supply sent to me by a swap partner on Crochetville. It used to be a great tradition on Crochetville that sadly has fallen by the wayside. However, I have some great memories and the button supply has been a great bonus this year as I'm working on adding some extras to my projects.