I love crochet lace, and have many, many pattern books devoted to the subject. Crochet lace can make the loveliest little fairy dress, and so I decided to put together a tutorial to show you how to go from a simple length of crochet lace to a fairy dress :-)
Choose a pattern that would make a sweet dress, like the one above. Seven inches is about one-and-a-half times the waist measurement of the little Pocket Spirits.
Figure out how many stitches it takes to go around the waist, or where you want the dress to fit. These little dresses are short waisted, but you could make a dress with the skirt at the natural waist, or a dropped waist dress. Anyway, crochet a chain that will fit around the waist, not too tight or loose. For these dresses, made of size 8 perle cotton and a size 8 steel hook, 40 stitches was about right. Note: The chain is only used to give you an idea of how many sc stitches you need to work across the top of the lace to fit it to the doll. Work 40 sc evenly along the top of the lace. If you end up with a few more stitches, or it seems too loose, work another row of sc and decrease a few stitches to get a nice fit.
The next row will be the armhole dividing row, and once you've got the armholes made, try the fit on your doll and see how you both like it :-)
At this point, you can embellish the dress as you like, long or short sleeves, picot edgings around the neckline, whatever!A picture tutorial with more pictures and directions is available here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29184580@N04/sets/72157624472023381/
Enjoy the crochet!
These dolls are soo cute! I would love to give my younger daughter one and give her a hobby to make small dresses for her doll.
ReplyDeleteSo lovely! And smart, too!
ReplyDeleteYou're the best, Beth!
These are so dainty, Beth. You are so creative. The pink one is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteThank-you so much for your kind comments, anonymous, melafragola, and Lisa; they are a lot of fun to make, and take so little yarn :-)
ReplyDeleteBeth
bonjour
ReplyDeletej'adore tous ce que vous faite
je trouve cela magnifique
est il possible de traduire vos réalisation et de les proposer sur un forum que je modère
pour un faire un knitalong
j'espère que vous accepterez et je je puisse faire profité les française de vos merveilles
The dresses are so adorable Beth, I just love the look of dainty crochet edges and I love how you've adapted the pattern for the dolls! I so wish I knew how to crochet so I could try all your lovely patterns!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a wonderful weekend!
hugs,
Shelly
Shelly, thank-you so much for your sweet words :-)
ReplyDeleteCarole, bonjour! If you wish to adapt or use these patterns for your forum, that is fine with me. All I ask is that you give designer credit to me.
Beth
How very pretty!
ReplyDeletebonjour si vous accepter
ReplyDeleteje donnerais votre nom ainsi que le lien vers votre site sans problème
a la base c'est votre création moi je ne fait que le traduire en français et de le faire découvrir au français
Oh, Beth, I just love all your FS dolls. This wee one is precious. About 10 yearss ago I made Scrunches by crocheting around the hair elastics and then crocheting the lace to the covering round - that might work for these as well If the elstic is too long for the waist, it might work for over the shoulder with sleeves (or sleeveless). JudiRose
ReplyDeleteJudiRose, thank-you for your kind comments :-) Your idea sounds like a great way to make a poncho for a Pocket Spirit :-)
ReplyDeleteBeth