Lion Brand Contest - Crocheted Dolly Dress & Bonnet Set

Shows the dress and bonnet set I made and some of the thought process that went into making it.

Materials: 1-2 skeins of Lion Brand Color Waves Yarn (Pebble Beach color); Crochet hook (don't remember what size - J maybe?); scissors

Time to make: about 3-4 hours give or take

Stitches used: chain, slipstitch, single crochet, double crochet and decrease stitch (not sure if that's the right name for it or not)

Size: fits my daughter's American Girl Bitty Baby Doll

"Pattern" (he he):

I'm not much on patterns, I just sort of look at it, visualize it,
and then DO it, but in case you want to try to make this,
here's BASICALLY what I did:
1st round: chain to about 7-8 inches long, Turn.
2nd round: skip one stitch and SC in each of the rest of
the chains to the end. Turn.
3rd through 9-10 rounds (however many rounds you need to
get to the bottom of your sleeves): SC around to make shape
shown above. (1 SC per stitch except where the red dots
are in diagram, you do 3-4 SC in the SAME stitch.
in ONE STITCH. Also, increase evenly across the sleeves to give a little ruffle.

Check to make sure the sleeves will fit comfortable over the doll's arm,
Then on the next round connect the bottoms of the sleeves with a slipstitch and continue around.
At this point you can also close the opening in the back so that you now have one continuous
round. SC around once or twice (or more if you want your waist to be lower). Next do the ruffle. *CH 4, then SLST (slipstitch) in the next stitch. Repeat from * all the way around. If you don't want as wide of a ruffle, only CH 2 or 3 per stitch. Or you can vary
the ruffle by doing this: *CH4, then SLST in 2nd stitch from your chain (skip a stitch in between). Lots of ways to do a ruffle.
Experiment with what you like.

The Skirt: don't tie off your yarn; just continue on from your ruffle. flip your ruffle UP, and continue underneath of it with the following:
treat the base of your ruffle as your starting point and:

Round 1: SC around (1 SC per ruffle "loop" or thereabouts);
Rounds 2-4: At this point, you'll have to increase or decrease depending on the size of you doll and how full you want the skirt to be. For example:
Gradual increase: *1 SC in each of the next 3 stitches, 2 SC in 4th stitch; repeat from * around
More dramatic - fuller skirt: *1 SC in each of the next 2 stitches, 3 SC in 3rd stitch; repeat from * around

5-? rounds: 1 DC (double crochet) per stitch around in continuous rounds till skirt is as long as you want it to be.

Last round: do the same ruffle as you did at the waist on the hemline.

Finishing:

String a length of yarn through a blunt point needle and run it around the waist (weave it through in and out behind the ruffle). Tighten it to gather the waist to your taste and to better fit the doll.

SLST around the neck opening to smooth out any uneven row edges.

CH 6 and SLST to top of neck for a buttonloop. Attach a large button, or one you've made (I made mine out of yarn).

Make a bonnet, put em on the doll, and you have a happy little girl :-)

Click Here to see the LION BRAND YARN I have for sale on Ebay!