American Girl Dovetailed

Edited to add pattern link. Darski kindly hunted down the link for me on Crochetville. You can find the free pattern here.

I made this pattern 2 years ago for the donation. It is a one of Darski's free patterns from Crochetville, but sadly I believe the link has been lost. If at any time I find it I will of course add it. I pulled this pattern out because to my eye it looks complicated, but it always a confidence builder for me.

Notes for myself, don't forget to have elastic on hand. Easy to use once you have it, but a delay when you have to go find it. I used snaps this year. I seem to have a thing about buttons this year. I've been using more snaps. Other than that I followed the directions pretty much as written.

American Girl Swim Suit

Every year I promise myself next year for the donation I'll make this with worsted weight instead of cotton. I almost had to write this again this year. I started it in cotton, but I was finding the leg openings weren't a good fit and decided to frog it and start again with worsted weight yarn. I love this color blue for the suit.

I've been making this pattern for the donation for several years now. I pulled it out as part of my efforts to work on patterns I knew I could complete to build up my confidence and to get some outfits put away for the donation. You can purchase the pattern here.

There are many free and paid bathing suit patterns on the market for the 18" dolls. I return to this pattern for a couple of reasons. First the bathing suit works up quickly and easily. While I do have to watch my gauge to make sure the outfit isn't too tight, the pattern isn't difficult to follow.

The other reason I return to this pattern frequently is the accessories. While I don't love making the ducky floaty and I comment on it every time I write about it, I always find it cute when it's finished. With the blanket, beach pail, and beach ball it makes a complete set for a child receiving the donation. For my own sake, I try to make the bathing suit during the summer months as it brings back happy summer memories of times spent at the beach as a child. It never quite feels like summer until I've been to the beach.

American Girl Princess

As I mentioned in a previous post I've been looking for some outfits that are quick to make to fill my donation bags for my Christmas Toy donation. I'd had success with this free pattern found here previously so it seemed like a good choice to get another outfit completed.

I love the way this pattern creates an under and over skirt. When I first approached this pattern a few years ago I thought it might be more challenging. It actually is a pretty straight forward pattern and I love that it requires minimal sewing. I switched out buttons for snaps. For some projects I just find the easier for little hands. For the same reason I didn't use pearls. I don't particularly enjoy crocheting with beads, but they also aren't practical for little hands that tug and pull dresses to put them on and off. I look for durability when I make outfits to donate.