Sundress and Rompers for Kate and Nell

From the basic camisole bodice, I made a pair of rompers for Kate (aka Riley) and a sundress for Nell (aka Tulah).   Simple trim for these outfits is a (slip stitch, chain 1) in unworked loops at the waist and across the top of the bodice.  Nell's dress has three rows of these worked at the bottom of the skirt.






You can embroider on single crochet fairly easily.  I made a single spider web rose on Kate's rompers, and surrounded it with lazy daisy leaves and some  French knots.







The socks are crocheted from size 12 perle, which is pretty fine (for me, anyway) to crochet with; but the pattern is a simple one, and I used light colored thread, which helps a bunch!

The sundress/rompers pattern is here:  Sundress/Rompers and the socks are here:  Socks for Riley

One last picture I would like to share with you is from Ann, who made a set of underwear for her dear doll from the Riley camisole and pantaloons pattern.

 delightful crochet from Ann

Ann modified the bodice a bit to get a better fit.  She did a lovely job :-)

I hope you all enjoy the crochet!

My latest obsession: crochet for Kish!

These little dolls, Helen Kish's Riley (known to me as Kate), and Tulah (I call her Nell) are delightful to crochet for.   Small, but not so small that you'll go blind trying to see your crochet stitches; nicely shaped, and made of vinyl, so you don't have to worry about breaking off a finger.  Kate and Nell now have some dainty crochet underthings, always a great place to start.

Camisole Pattern

Pantaloon pattern

These sweet little dainties are crocheted with size 8 perle cotton and a size 7 steel hook.  There are three variations of pantaloons, and three variations of camisole.  Each of the camisole bodices could be the basis of a dress, sundress, rompers, t-shirt, you get the idea :-)

I have a feeling these girls are going to get a new sister, and a much bigger wardrobe!

Enjoy the crochet.

Wigmaking for Tulah

 Tulah modeling her many wigs

I love dolls; all kinds of dolls.  My favorites are those of cloth and crochet, but there are some 'store bought' dolls that I cannot resist.  Small BJD's, and the lovely dolls of Helen Kish, fall into this irresistible category.

So when a dear friend of mine (hi Tomi!)  became seriously smitten by Helen Kish's small Riley, it reignited my interest in my own little Riley and Tulah, her friend.  But how to add a personal touch to a doll made by other hands in a far country?

How about a hand made crochet wig?  So, here is a wig making pattern for making your own wig for a very small doll.  Riley and Tulah have a head circumference of 4 1/4 inches.  The wigs are made of laceweight Mohair yarn, which works up to a gauge similar to size 10 crochet cotton.  This wig pattern can be adapted to other small dolls, particularly small Lati's  (White and Yellow)  and Fairyland dolls (Puki Puki and Puki Fee).

And, I think  Riley and Tulah are in for some crochet finery.  You know the drill, camisoles, pantaloons, dresses, sunsuits.  Should be fun!

Tulah says, 'enjoy the crochet!'

Angel Cake, a Strawberry Shortcake friend

Sometimes it is fun to make someone else's pattern :-)   I have to thank Susan (aka BlueEyedGirl) for inspiring me to make this pattern, which I've had for several years.  I loved the way the dolls looked, but there were a lot of things I didn't like about the construction of the doll.  Susan reminded me that, if you don't like it, change it!

So, on her advice, I used an 'E' hook instead of 'G'  for the doll body, and used acrylic eyes instead of making them from felt (except for the whites).  This made my doll 10 inches tall, instead of 14.

Other changes I made to this pattern were to give the doll a wig cap, instead of attaching the hair to the hat, and also jointing the neck and arms.  To joint the neck, you need to work the pattern 'backward.'  That is, start the head at the neck edge (instead of the top of the head), and work the body starting at the neck (instead of the feet).   Her head is a bit too floppy, so instead of working three rounds of 10sc for the neck, next time I will only work two.

I also hinged the legs the way the Pocket Spirits are done, so this means the entire body from neck to feet is worked backward.

Her clothing is removable, but believe it or not, by using two hook sizes smaller for each part of the doll, the clothing patterns fit beautifully.  Instead of working the t-shirt in rounds, work them in rows and add buttons and button loops to the back.

I like her so well, I will probably make her a friend, if not all of them!  Thank you, Susan, for the great suggestions and your wonderful doll (See her here).

Enjoy the crochet!

Teacup Cottage

I love dollhouses; bet you'd never guess :-)

This little dollhouse for the Teacup Spirits is made from a Michael's CD cubbie.  I had this collecting dust in my sewing room for a couple of years, just waiting for the right inspiration to do something with it.  After making a few Teacup Spirits, I realized it was the perfect abode for them, and their friends :-)

I painted the house with a coat of Gesso, to give a nice surface to paint on.  Then used primary colors for the outside, and white for the inside.  For wallpaper, I used scrapbook papers.  The only problem here was deciding what papers to use, and not end up buying everything in sight!

I papered the back wall only (make it easy on yourself), by cutting a pattern for the wall, then cutting out the paper to the pattern.  I glued the paper to the back wall by watering down glue to the consistency of cream, then painting it on the entire wall.

The windows (both inside and out) are trimmed with narrow ric-rac around the curved edge, and some woven braid along the bottom.

Soft rugs are felt.  I planned to embroider a design on each rug, but got impatient.  The design is penciled on the bottom side of the rug, if I change my mind :-)

Full of dolls and furniture!  The furniture is made from one of my all time favorite things to play with...wood findings from the craft and hobby store.  The bed is made from four tiny clothespin pegs (courtesy of Joyce!) and craft sticks.  The clothespin pegs make the four posters, and the craft sticks the side rails, head and footboard, and stringers.

The parlour furniture is SO simple!  Two 1 1/4 inch wood blocks are the base of the chair; the back is made of craft sticks cut to size.  The chairs are painted and embellished with lace and felt cushions.

The table is a wood disk glued to a wood flowerpot; painted and trimmed with ric-rac.

You can see how simple the chairs are, and the bed was not at all hard to make either.  The mattress is a length of Warm&Natural batting folded three or four times to make it nice and soft.  A crochet comforter is in order, I think.


It isn't too early to be thinking about Christmas, and this little dollhouse would make a delightful Christmas gift for a lucky girl.  You could make a Christmas cottage, a Gingerbread cottage, a seaside cottage, a Tudor cottage.  The possibilities are limitless; let your imagination fly :-)