Crochet Dresses for American Girl Dolls

I have a TON of yarn, totes filled to the brim! hehe The totes need to be used up. Most of the yarn isn't the fancy kind, just plain Red Heart yarn, but it works perfectly for doll clothes because it holds up well and washes easily. I found this adorable dress pattern for American Girl dolls. My girls wanted a regular dress so I extended the length of the skirt. 

Filet Crochet Name Doily

I wanted to do something special for a family member and I had seen filet crochet name doilies in the past and had thought they were really cool. For some reason I always thought there was no way I can do that, it looks so difficult. Guess what....THEY'RE NOT!!! I found these great instructions and because I'm a visual person I also watched a few videos on YouTube to make sure I understood the instructions. This video was a nice and easy one, though be mindful she uses European terms. I chose this alphabet, but omitted the little dots on the sides of the letters. There are SOOOOO many different alphabets to choose from. I did transfer my letters to graph paper so it would be easier visually to make sure I kept on track.

 I used a #4/2.0MM hook and size 10 crochet thread in white. My one suggestion would be... be mindful of your tension. Because it was the first time I had done filet crocheting I was crocheting rather loosely in the beginning but as I got going I noticed I was tighter in my stitches. For those like me who have the critical eye to their own homemade work I noticed the difference in height of my doily from the beginning compared to the middle and end. Friends said they couldn't tell. 

 

 There are a lot of great edges that can be done too, but I decided to leave this one simple to make sure the letters really pop. After I was done I lightly starched and ironed it. 

Baby Sweaters

 I wrote last month about a blessing dress I made. This is the little sweater to go with it. They wanted a long sleeve one since its still cool in Washington. 

  

Without knowing how big the baby will be for the blessing I made the sleeves long, figure they could roll them up like this if they were too long.

This isn't the first time I've made this sweater, I used this pattern three times. I like it so much because you can make it look completely different with a few tweaks. 

I forgot to take a picture of the one I made my niece, so my sister in law took one for me.

 Here's another little sweater I like both with and without sleeves.

A Blessing Dress

I haven't accomplished much on my pin list and this is partially why...25+ hours of crocheting. 

Its for a friend's grand baby. This is it with a slip underneath it.

It has a matching bonnet to go with it.

The total set, minus the little sweater I'm going to make for it since I didn't like the one I finished.

I really enjoy crocheting christening/blessing dresses. This is the first time I've used this pattern that I found in this booklet. Like always I tend to change up the dress a little bit...to personalize it, I shortened the sleeves and put the bow of the ribbon in the back.

Christmas Stocking Ornaments

I have a friend who inherited her Gma's crocheted Christmas stocking ornaments. She wanted to make some to add to the collection, but didn't have a pattern, so I set out to figure it out. It was pretty simple to do, but I found a pattern online thinking it might be nice to have a twist to Gma's stocking. This stocking pattern went super fast too and my sister loved it's outcome, I'll be making her some for her family this week for next year. But in the end my friend and I liked the Gma's pattern more. I liked it so much that I made a set for me and hope to make more.

The 1st two are from the pattern, the 3rd is Gma's stocking, and the 4th is my replica of Gma's stocking ornament.

Doll Clothing

For Christmas this year, my daughters are getting Melissa and Doug dolls. They're 14" tall and perfect for my little girls.

 

 I knew I wanted to make doll clothes for them, I however didn't realize that the bug would hit me and I couldn't stop making them. I had to tell myself to quit after 3 outfits because I have plenty of time to make more after the holidays. 

The first outfit I made was these cute crochet dresses. I found the pattern here. I changed the dress a bit and joined a lot earlier than she did. I wanted my girl's to be able to just slip it on and not have to deal with buttons. Because the dolls are 4" smaller than what the pattern was made for I dropped down 2 hook sizes and used a lighter weight yarn. I love the sparkly yarn.

I found the top of the next outfit from the same creator as the dress above. It's an adorable sweater, however I did make some changes , joining sooner than she had and I used the same worsted weight yarn, but dropped down 2 hook sizes. On the 2nd sweater( one on the left) I didn't do the increases she calls for towards the bottom of the sweater. I think that did the trick for getting the correct size. The pants I used this pattern and tutorial. I shrunk down the pattern to fit the dolls and used knit instead of fleece. This pattern was super easy and I plan on making a lot more pants in all different types of material.

You cant live in the West and not have a western outfit. I used this great pattern for the top. I've used it many times and its super easy and fast. I did make the straps a bit shorter so it would hug their dolls better. For the skirt I used jersey and the same principals in this tutorial I've used before.

This is what the back looks like.

That's it for NOW, oh but there definitely will be more clothing to come.

Rainbow Scarves

I've completed several projects, but because they're gifts I can't post them on here until after I give them to the receiver. I have a friend who has 3 beautiful daughters. I made them rainbow scarves with their initial on them. I use this scarf as inspiration.

 

I used Red Heart yarn for the scarf, felt and ultra heat-n-bond for the clouds and letters.

 

Chain Loop Scarf

I love scarves and cowls and so when I saw this chain loop scarf, I knew I needed one...or two...or maybe eventually three. I'm limited on my bulky yarn so I decided to use two strands of Caron's Simply Soft yarn. I enjoy the variegated look. Each scarf took me about 45 minutes to do. A very easy project for gifts or for yourself.

  

Leg warmers

We live in a cold climate and walk around town a lot even in the winter. I decided I wanted to make leg warmers for my girls. I found a very simple pattern here but used Red Heart Super Saver Yarn instead of wool. 

I found the heart pattern here. I sewed it onto the sides, but I'm wishing I had sewn them more towards the front now. Maybe on the next pair I'll try a different applique and position.     

Slouchy Beanie

Have you ever tried to take a picture by yourself of a hat you've made while wearing it? No? You should try it and then you'll understand why I'm not including a picture of mine in this post. I couldn't get a good enough angle to show it off, I must not be as talented as other bloggers who are fully capable of taking pics by themselves, while modeling their own creations.

I adore hats and cowls and with fall here I need a few more. I found this great crochet hat here and the funny thing is I had the exact yarn and color in my yarn stash as she used for the 1st hat. She had someone else take the picture for her, smart girl!!! The first day I wore the hat I had requests from a couple of gals to make one for them. It was quick and easy and I look forward to making more.

Now, if you have any AWESOME cowl patterns you want to share please do....I LOVE COWLS and the bigger and bulkier they are, the better!!!