Manga Sweater and Pants

To round out your wardrobe of Manga Spirit outfits, here is a collection of pants and tops in both knit and crochet.  Knit pullovers in worsted weight yarn; a crochet Aran sweater with mock cables in sportweight, two pair of pants that can also be made up as shorts, and a crochet top with sleeves, or not, of your choice.

Crochet Aran Sweater

Crochet Tops

Crochet and Knit Pants

Knit Pullover Sweater

I have surely enjoyed making these big-eyes sweethearts and their various outfits.  I hope you enjoy them as well :-)

A Fun Tutorial from Joyce

Joyce makes the most delightful crochet dolls!  This is Sammy, a heavily modified Lily doll, from the Lily Sugar and Cream website.  The pattern is free on the Lily website, but you do need to become a member (also free).  Joyce has made many dolls from this pattern, each one very uniquely a creation of Joyce's.  See her set of Lily dolls here.

Joyce is happy to share her quick and easy tutorial for making Sammy's bobble hair style:

Bobble Hair Tutorial by Joyce

The bobbles are made individually, then sewn to the dolls head.  Add little bows of yarn or ribbon to sweeten the look :-)

Here are some of Joyce's thoughts on modifying a pattern, in this case the Lily doll pattern.  Joyce also jointed the limbs; she has a tutorial for this technique as well.  Look on the left side of the blog page for 'Tutorials by Joyce.'

"Here is a little lesson on how you can take a pattern and make it your own.

This doll was made using “components” of the Lily Sugar n Cream doll pattern.

As you can see, I changed her head substantially and some other body parts. She came out to be exactly 13” tall using Vanna’s Choice acrylic Size 4 medium worsted yarn. Hooks E and G.

Here’s what I changed:

It called for joining the rounds and I opted to not join and used continuous rounds and a marker. I don’t like the seam that joining rounds produces when creating dolls.
      * Her facial features; made a wig; added ears.
      * Lengthened her arms to 24 rows; used a bobble for her thumbs.
      * After I made the legs, I used Beth Webber’s method of crocheting the legs and continuing with the body rather than closing the body cavity and sewing the legs on.
      * For the head attachment, I used a Darice 30mm doll joint (AC Moore), which is an awesome joint for attaching larger doll heads. I highly recommend this joint as it has a larger, thinner washer and the doll head and body sit on top of a nice flat dishlike surface (about the size of a quarter) rather than a small button. Those of you who use joints for attaching body parts will love this. Or, you can sew everything together as the patterns calls for.
      *
I really tried to follow the pattern trail and for the most part I did; like the body, feet, legs. The main changes were to the head and in the way the body parts were sewn or attached to complete the doll.

This is a fun easy doll, with a wonderful result."

Thank you so much, Joyce, for sharing your tutorial and your inspiration with all of us who love making dolls.

Reconstructive Surgery

Kellan was the first knit Manga Spirit that I made.  I love her impish smile and green hair, but wasn't happy with the neck spacer, so the pattern was tweaked, and the knit Manga Spirits now have a smaller neck spacer.

But here was Kellan, wanting to be a real doll too!  So, I took off her head, removed the spacer, and ladder stitched the head back on.  It doesn't move, but she doesn't mind, and we are both happier with the way she looks.

Very cute in parti-colored rompers, don't you think :-)

Manga Spirit Sweaters to crochet and knit

To keep the chill off on these early spring days, here is a sweater to crochet or knit for your Manga Spirit.  Click Manga Spirit Sweaters to access the download for this sweater.

The sweaters are made from sportweight yarn, using a D hook for the crochet sweater, or size 4 (3.5mm) single point needles for the knit sweater.

Enjoy!

Knit Manga Spirit Dress and Rompers

A simple knit dress and rompers for your Manga Spirit :-)  This will fit either the knit or the crochet doll.

Both are knit with sportweight yarn and  size 4 (3.5mm) single point needles.  The dress has a pretty little picot hemline that is accomplished with eyelet stitches in the sixth round, then the hem is pressed up and sewn.

Knit Manga Spirit Dress and Rompers

Enjoy!

Crochet Manga Spirit Outfits

Some simple styles to crochet for your Manga Spirit, based off one basic bodice pattern.  I love this side-to-side bodice, is is infinitely adaptable to dresses, tops and even rompers.

The outfits are crocheted with sportweight yarn and a D hook, and make up very quickly.  Have fun with these!

Crochet Manga Spirit Outfits

One last note:  a good Flickr friend of mine, Lorraine, introduced me to an incredible site filled with links to free amigurumi patterns.  I've place the link into 'Blogs I Enjoy' on the left sidebar; you can access it here  as well. 

Up next, some knit clothing for your doll :-)

Manga Spirit Undies

When I make a new doll, I like to start with underwear as the first pieces of clothing.  They create a good foundation for beginning, giving me an idea of how many stitches are needed to  fit around the waist, how many rows are long enough for a top, how large does the armhole opening need to be...you get the picture.  From the basic camisole and undies, all the other clothing pieces can be worked out.

So here you can start with crochet or knit undies for your crochet or knit Manga Spirit :-) 

Manga Spirit Undies

The Spirits can wear either one; they are interchangeable.  These are knit and crochet with sportweight yarn; I used Bernat Baby Jacquards for all the pieces, and let it do the striping :-)

Manga Spirits have arrived!

After a little bit of trial and error I can now share the pattern for a Crochet and a Knit Manga Spirit doll :-)  The Spirits are a shade over eight inches tall, and very simple to either knit or crochet.  There is a tutorial available on my Flickr site for making their eyes.

You can find the pattern by clicking Crochet or Knit Manga Spirits

The heads are button jointed to the body, which is a simple and inexpensive way to get a move-able head.   Move-able heads are amazing fun to play with and pose.  The legs are swing jointed to the body, and feet and hands are very, very simple (or nonexistent, in the case of the feet!  Shoes will provide foot definition).

Coming soon will be some clothes, so they don't have to hang around in their birthday suits.  Hope you enjoy the knit and crochet!

Manga Eyes

Fiona McDonald introduced me to the real potential of painted eyes for knit and crochet.   Manga eyes are a variation of this idea.  I have a picture tutorial available on my Flickr site to show you how these were made; you can find it here;

Manga Eyes

Meantime, two Manga Spirits have arrived, without clothes, but they are happy to be here.  Meet Kellan and Aimee!

The pattern for the Knit Manga Spirit needs a bit more work; when that is done, the patterns for these two will be available here.