Lacy Undies

I found the pattern for these undies here and just couldn't resist making this set.  Ginny is a bit small for the pattern as is, so I had to alter it a bit.  I think it is very pretty.

Crochet Shoes

I've been messing around trying to make some shoes for my dolls.  I tried fabric but they didn't look very nice.  Then I tried crochet shoes but found them very fiddly to do.  Today I spent time writing out a pattern so that I could understand it.  Here is the finished result, they don't look as neat in the picture as they do in real life...

Here's the pattern that I came up with to fit a 40 mm foot, using 4 ply and a 3.5 mm hook but by changing to a thicker yarn or a bigger hook it would fit a bigger doll...

Shoes

Row No

Chain 6

1

1 sc into 2nd ch from hook

3 sc

5 sc in next loop

4 sc

2

In 1st loop 2 sc

5 sc

2 sc in each next 3 loops

5 sc and join

3

hdc in fp of sc  (18 sts)

Join

4

6 sc

Sk 1

1 sc

Sk 1

1 sc

Sk 1

1 sc

4 sc

join

5

6 sc

Sk 1

1 sc

Sk 1

1 sc

5 sc

join

ch = chain

sc = single crochet

hdc = half double crochet

fp = front post

Sk = skip

A Dressing Gown

Here's Ginny wearing the dressing gown I just finished.  I haven't blocked it yet, I don't block before sewing up because I never get the pieces to match for the sewing, it works out better for me to block last.  All I do is dip the garment into a bowl of water, squeeze out the excess with a towel, shape and leave to dry.

Remember the blue jumper I knitted that Chloe refused to wear?  Well, I sent it to a blog friend for one of her dolls.  Here is Kyle wearing it.  It really suits him doesn't it, it's much more of a masculine design so I was glad he liked it.



Cropped Trousers

After quite a bit of fiddling about I managed to come up with some cropped trousers that fit.  The first pair I made were too wide, the second pair slip down, the third pair are just right.  The problem was caused by the dolls having strange shapes.  One is quite chubby, so she got the first pair.  When I came to make some for Ginny, even though I altered the size, they still slip down, she has very narrow hips....

They are ok but a bit too long

The third pair had to be taken in quite a lot on the waist and this time I used elastic at the waist instead of a snap.....

I like how these fit Francine and I like the length.

The crochet tops are from here.

You may have noticed Ginny's shoes.  I crocheted these for her even though I'm not keen of crocheted shoes.  She looks quite happy in them.  I like them big as it balances her shape, her feet seem very small for the size of her head.  Francine is much more in proportion.



Thursday Friends

Ginny, Lucy and Melissa

On alternate Thursday afternoons three friends spend the afternoon with me at my house.  Two of the ladies bring their dolls, Lucy and Melissa.  Melissa is a Gotz Just Like Me doll, as is my doll Ginny.  Lucy is an older doll that one friend had given to her daughter about forty years ago.  When I showed these two ladies the doll clothes I'd been making they expressed a wish to make doll clothes too.  So, one bought Melissa from the same place I'd bought Ginny and the other friend searched amongst her granddaughters toys and found Lucy.  We get a lot of pleasure from 'playing' with our dolls.  Now Lucy wasn't played with much when she lived at my friend's daughter's house and her granddaughters have lots of dolls of their own, but since Lucy has acquired lots of lovely clothes my friend has had to ration the amount of time each of her granddaughters plays with Lucy as quarrels were breaking out!!!  They are each allowed half and hour at a time to play dressing the doll.  I thought that was a lovely story my friend told us.  Even the granddaughter who 'isn't into that sort of thing' loves to play with Lucy now.

Crochet

When Chloe saw the little crocheted top I'd made for Ginny and Molly.....

...she refused to wear the jumper I'd knitted her.  She said that being a chic French girl she deserved something much more stylish than the horrible thing I'd made her wear.

Here she is in her little summer top...

...she's still complaining about her shoes though, a more feminine style is what she wants.

Well, once Francine had seen the other girls in these tops she wanted one...

Luckily the tops were very easy to make and very easy to adjust for the different sizes of doll.  Here's where I got the pattern for it, it is very easy to add a different frill to the bottom and to adjust for your doll size.  And it is very quick to make.

You probably notice that the girls had to share skirts, they are all complaining that they don't have enough skirts.



More Knitting

I'm still practising my knitting and this is the latest effort...

The pattern I used here was for a Barbie doll and I was hoping it would fit.  I did the sleeves wider than was called for in the pattern and they fit ok up to the armhole, where they are a bit tight.  Next time I'll do them wider in that area.  Also, I think the back could do with being a bit wider too.  It's almost ok and Chloe will be able to wear it, she had to borrow a skirt off Francine for this picture but I will make her some capri pants to wear with this jumper.