Hello again, fellow crafters! What have you been up to today, or over the past week? 🙂
Today I’m writing in a splendidly good mood. The air conditioner is now working regularly and a cool breeze is blowing through the house. ahhhhhhh
As warm weather continues to spread over the valley, here is a look at Wren’s first crochet outfit!
Right now her outfit is comprised of a dress and summer hat; though I’m planning to make shoes and a bag to complete the set. I’m torn between a drawstring bag and one with a button and shoulder strap… what do you guys think?
Also, I realize the camera didn’t quite get Wren from head to toe, so I’ll have to post more on her and her outfit some other time as well. 🙂
This outfit was designed on Tuesday night. It didn’t take too long to come up with a base, or guideline, for the initial pattern. The upper part of the dress can actually be shortened to a standalone vest or t-shirt, so there’s numerous options with style.
I remember making outfits for mini dolls back in 2013, but since then haven’t really been crocheting much on their behalf. It’s great to be back designing and making things for them. Mini dolls are, in my opinion, the easiest to bring on outings and adventures. They can be put in a bag small, or even a pocket, and don’t take up a whole lot of space. (Though don’t be fooled… it takes just as much time to make something small-scale as it does for bigger dolls.)
While traveling in 2013, I also discovered some very cool sparkly silver, gold and platinum-colored yarn perfect for mini crocheting. More on that another time~
Okay, enough rambling on my part. Back to the outfit!
The yarn I used for this project is Red Heart Super Saver yarn “Minty,” or E300_520. It’s 100% acrylic. This yarn is quite bulky and not the most suitable kind for making summer clothing–hence, this version is more of a ‘nightgown.’ It was an experiment to see how far I could go with relatively thicker yarn for a mini doll. (Plus I’ve run out of thinner yarn. Isn’t that a surprise.)
Next time I stop by a nearby yarn store I’m going to look for thinner yarn, that will match both Wren’s size and the tininess of the crochet hook. Time to finally get the hang of using hooks smaller than 3.00 mm. Yay.
Wren’s dress is lined with picot edging, slightly visible below:
Here’s a back view of the outfit. Fortunately I had a collection of buttons lying around–which, if not discovered by my Mom, would have been completely overlooked. (Thank you, Mom!) There were some equally minty and tiny buttons in the collection, perfect for the dress. So I added them in. Luckily they were correctly proportioned with the buttonholes, as I’d already crocheted those into the dress before looking at the buttons. 😛
Closeup of dress:
Closeup of hat:
Here are the outfit’s components by themselves, starting with the hat:
(Pardon that ominous reflection of a speck outside….)
Dress:
The buttons here look a bit crooked. They’re kind of flexible when sewn in, so I have to watch they don’t twist too much.
Bottom of dress, and edging:
Both items together:
Wren looks very happy with her new attire, so I guess it was a success! Because of the bulkiness of yarn, this original outfit won’t be for sale. I’ll keep it and use it as a template for all future dresses and hats–many with thinner yarn, of course. This outfit will likely be available in the store soon, so you can have a set just like this for your doll(s). 🙂
Looking ahead: Tomorrow is the day of the first Adventures with the Buddies post! I have the photos lined up and ready to share, so be ready for that tomorrow! Until then!~
Orchid
