Top-Down Cardigans for the Girls

Posted on July 12, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

This post has been sitting here in draft for over a year. My original plan was to share the pattern for this little cardigan, but I never pulled it together. It’s time to show off some of the results, though. The yarn links in this post go to Ravelry, just FYI.

First, here are my little Monster High Girls in their wee sweaters.

tights for MOnster High Dolls sewn by Deborah Cooke using DGRequiem's Leg-cessories pattern

These cardigans were knit from the top down, in a variation of a pattern I made up for Barbie.

Because the sleeves are skinny, you have to take off their hands to put on a sweater. It’s cropped, so their belly-buttons show. (I could knit it longer but it’s kind of cute this way.)

Here are the sweaters:

Top-Down Cardigan for Monster High and Ever After High dolls, designed and knit by Deborah Cooke

The grey one has a ribbed collar and hem, ribbed button bands and ribbed cuffs. The raglan increases are done with make-one increases, which disappears more into the fabric.

The purple one has collar, hem, button bands and cuffs worked in reverse stockinette. The raglan increases are done with yarn-overs, which creates a little lacey pattern.

The front fastens with three snaps and the buttons are just for show.

As you can see, slight variations in yarn weight end up resulting in bigger differences. I knit both of these with the same needles and instructions. The purple one, though, is a teensy bit bigger because the yarn is a teensy bit thicker. The grey was knit with The Loving Path Fibre Arts High Twist Sock (that’s a Ravelry link) which has 424m in 100g and is classed on Ravelry as a light fingering. The purple was knit with Dragon Strings Sleipnir (another Rav link) which has 343m in 100g and is classed as fingering on Ravelry.

Here’s my Barbie version of this little cardigan in several variations:

Top-down cardigans knit for Barbie by Deborah Cooke

These ones all have working buttons – there are buttonholes in the right fronts. And I made the increases in all of them with YOs. Again, they’re all knit on the same needles with the same stitch counts and you can see the variation in size. Starting from the top left, the green one is knit in Malabrigo Sock (the colourway is Rayon Vert) and is the smallest. Malabrigo Sock is put up in 100g hanks which have 402m. This sweater has 3/4 sleeves, which works out well for Barbie since her hands don’t come off. (I wrap her hands to get the sweaters on.)

The russet one to the right is knit of MadTosh Merino Light (384m in 100g) in Cardinal also with 3/4 sleeves. It’s bigger – 20m less in 100g makes a difference even when you’re only using 7g or so!

The deep blue one, with long sleeves, is knit from leftover Unique Sheep Luxe from my Celestarium Shawl. It has 366m in 100g, which makes it a bit thicker. This one is pretty bulky on the girls.

The blue and grey one is knit of Rowan Kidsilk Haze Stripe (colourway Cool) which has 421m to 50g – it knits up as if it’s much thicker, though, because of the halo. I used the stitch counts for the Barbie size and it’s kind of fun how the striping came out.

Here are the girls modelling two of them. The redhead is Dusk to Dawn Silkstone, who is skinnier than repro Barbie. The navy one is particularly big on her.

Top-down cardigans knit for Barbie by Deborah Cooke - modelled by Dusk to Dawn Silkstone and Repro Barbie

Here are two more cardigans which were adapted to fit Tyler Wentworth.

Top-down cardigans knit for Tyler Wentworth by Deborah Cooke

The purple one is knit of Shibui Knits Sock, which has 175m in 50g. I used the stitch counts for Barbie and realized it would be enormous after knitting the body. I stopped working on this one before knitting the sleeves, because it was so big. Recently, I realized it would fit Tyler – even with the Barbie stitch counts. It’s pretty snug for Tyler, so it’s a sweater to wear without a blouse underneath. I knit the sleeves longer on this one. (Like B, Tyler has to have her hands wrapped to get her sweater on.)

Finally, I recalculated the stitch counts for Tyler for the last one in mixed brown shades. It’s knit of Koigu KPPPM in colourway 513P – KPPPM is 175m for 50g. I knit this one a little longer and also did some back neck shaping to make the front of the collar sit better.

Here’s the last one on RTW Rouge Sydney Chase, with a matching dress.

Top-down cardigan and dress knit for Tyler Wentworth in Koigu KPPPM and Sugar Bush Drizzle by Deborah Cooke

I used the free pattern T-Shirt Dress for Tonner Dolls by Samira Jessica (that’s a Ravelry link) but divided the color. It’s a top-down knit with cap sleeves that are created when you cast off for the arms. I started with Sugar Bush Drizzle, held double, in Pink Puddle. At the waist, I changed to the Koigu KPPPM. I didn’t rib the skirt but just knit it in stockinette, then purled one row and cast off purlwise. I thought that might keep it from curling at the hem, but the hem still wants to roll up, even after blocking. I also added a little kickpleat at the center back. 🙂 If I knit it again, I’ll do some moss stitch at the hem.

So, there are the girls with their new cardigans!

Summer Dresses for the Girls

Posted on June 14, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

I’ve been sewing for my Tyler Wentworth dolls again. This is the halter dress from Fashion Doll Clothing by Rosemarie Ionker. It’s fully lined and I’ve made three. Here are the first two:

Halter dresses for 16" dolls from Fashion Doll Clothing by Rosemarie Ionker, sewn by Deborah Cooke

The first is a quilting cotton floral in pink with a pink cotton voile lining. The second is a green quilting cotton with a green cotton voile lining.

Here are the backs:

They have a pair of snaps at the center back, then buttons just for show. You can see the difference in body types – Tyler on the left is the original SA body type (2002 Opera Gala Raven), while Tyler on the right is the BW body type, with more joints and pose-ability (2006 Look of the Season with a different wig). It’s interesting to me that one seems to suit more classic clothes and colours, while the other seems a little bolder. (Her raincoat isn’t quite done, but it’s faux-leather, which will give her a kind of Matrix look.)

These dolls looked like this in their original outfits:

The third halter dress is made of a black floral rayon print and has a cotton voile lining in pink. It’s modelled here by another Tyler – 2001 Masquerade.

As you can see, a sundress requires a hat, so I bought this pattern from DBD for Brimmed Hat. (The link here and on the image will take you to their Etsy store.) I was really happy with their raincoat pattern, so went back for more.

The pattern calls for linen and I made this first one in black. I mucked up the directions a bit so the edging is a bit wider than it should be but it came out pretty well despite that. I also didn’t cut back the brim as instructed because a wanted a big glamorous hat.

Here’s the floral decoration on that first one.

Brimmed hat from DBD designs, sewn by Deborah Cooke in black linen and black silk.

And here’s Masquerade in her original dress. I thought it was red, but when she arrived, the dress proved to be coral.

I have another black hat and a white one cut out, as the girls seem to like them. I’m also going to try one in a light canvas, just to see. And I suspect we’ll need some tote bags, or everyone will be fighting over that red purse. 🙂

Barbie Dresses from Hankie Couture

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

Hankie Couture is a book featuring dresses (and other outfits) made for Barbie (and other 11.5″ dolls) from vintage handkerchiefs. I’ve had this book for a few years now and finally found some hankies at the thrift store so I could experiment.

The image and the link above both go to the Amazon product page for the book. I have the paperback and (wow) it’s from 2011. I don’t think I’ve had it quite that long. Evidently there’s a new edition from 2019, too.

This book is very pretty, with LOTS of inspiration in the many many images of dolls styled with dresses etc. made from hankies. The disappointing thing is that it doesn’t have a ton of patterns, certainly not for all the outfits shown in the images. There are three bodices – a strapless bodice, a round-neck sleeveless bodice and a square-neck bodice with straps. All of these are attached to rectangular skirts. There’s a circle hat and a purse. All of these are pretty standard Barbie patterns – I have similar templates already in my stash. The one difference is that the strapless bodice pattern is way too big for Barbie. I used my repro vintage B as a model and usually modern patterns are too snug for her – she has the biggest bust of all Barbies – but I took half an inch out of the circumference of this pattern.

What did I make? Well, first I made the round neck dress from a hankie with a navy polka dot border.

Ha. This is fun. I photographed the outfits flat, the way Mattel used to sell outfits for B, then on the doll, too. Of course, I didn’t make the shoes but chose matchy ones from B’s shoe stash.

Hankie Couture inspired dress etc for Barbie, made by Deborah Cooke

This hankie was a bit worn, so I used it first in case the dress didn’t come out well. I lined it with navy broadcloth, which makes it look a bit dull. It has a belt made of a narrow strip of the polka dots which is sewn on and has an in-scale buckle at the center front. I made a circle hat and a purse to go with it – the purse is lined and has ribbon handles – and think it came out pretty well.

Then I made a strapless dress from a turquoise hankie with big purple tulips on it. The hankie had a circular design, so I cut it following the curve and made a half-circle skirt. The pattern almost matched at the center back seam! Unfortunately, the hem on the hankie was too close for me to keep the entire white scalloped border – later I realized I could have unpicked the original hem to get more seam allowance. Oh well. – but I sewed the hem with a scalloped hemming stitch which I like.

This was the bodice that was too big – I was sewing on the snaps after doing all the finishing when I realized as much (grrr) so picked it all back and fixed it, adding a petticoat to the skirt at the same time since I had the waist taken apart. The petticoat is the striped part of hankie that I used to line the bodice with a bit of lace sewn on the hem. I still think the bodice is too long for her in the front, but will use another pattern in future.

I wanted to add a little bolero jacket but couldn’t find a pattern. There were two corners with a floral motif from the hankie after cutting the circular skirt, so I trimmed them into a curve and sewed them together for a shawl collar. I made up the rest of the jacket pattern and it came out reasonably well, considering that I’ve never done that before. I’ll tweak it before I make another. It needs a little more ease through the shoulders. There was nothing left for a purse, since the hankie had some stains, but she looks happy enough.

She also reminded me that she could wear this dress with her Kidsilk Haze shrug, which is all true.

Next, I tried the third and final bodice pattern. It’s identical to one I have from another pattern for B, so I knew it would fit. This time, B got a hat, a clutch purse and a bigger tote bag.

I put lace on the hem of the skirt and the edge of the tote bag, and used that yellow polka dot cotton as contrast. This one came out particularly well, IMO, but the hankie was really pretty. Bonus that I had red flowers in my stash that perfectly matched the ones on the hankie!

I folded up a tissue to put in the tote bag, to give it a bit of ballast against the top-heavy flowers. Mr. Math peeked inside then said “ah! she’s been to the fabric store!” which made me laugh.

Here are the two hats, which I made slightly differently. The hat with an open top is kind of an established style for B, not just because some have a ponytail like mine. It’s hard to make a closed hat fit B’s head and not look ginormous, because usually B has a lot of hair.

Hankie Couture inspired pair of hats for Barbie, made by Deborah Cooke

The one on the left is more like the instructions in the book – except that the author recommends a zigzag edge around the inner circle which would leave a raw edge. I turned in the edges instead (fiddle fiddle) then top-stitched around it. For the navy hat, I made a hat band of contrasting fabric, then sewed the two brims together along the seam line. I hand-sewed one edge of hat band to the flat brims of the hat, using that stitching line as a guide, then clipped the curves and put all the seam allowances insde the hat band before sewing the other edge over it all. I’m much MUCH happier with this version, although it was finicky. I also bound the outer edge of the navy one with a contrasting self-cut piece of bias – sewn to the outside, pressed very narrow, and hand sewn on the inside – and I like that too. (Even though, yes, there are a couple of red stitches showing on the outside where I made the binding wider on the inside.) In either case, there was a bunch of hand sewing to assemble the hat.

All in all, this was an interesting adventure. They’re fiddly makes, because they have to be completely lined, but I had fun. Of course, I have another one cut out on my sewing table, but then I’ll head back to sewing for the bigger dolls (or maybe even myself!)

I haven’t been watching tv at night during the past month, which means I haven’t been knitting in the evenings. This has slowed my progress a lot, but I’m casting off a sweater this week that I’ll be able to show you next week. Another one coming off the needles!

April Showers Modern TrenchCoat for 16″ Dolls – and a Wardrobe

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

I have some new girls and have started to sew for them. They’re 16″ fashion dolls – I have three Tyler Wentworth dolls and two Alexandra Fairchild Ford dolls. (No doubt there will be more.) Here’s the first one who arrived – she’s Tyler Wentworth Opera Gala and she’s standing in front of the first of two wardrobes I’m building for the clothes of these girls:

Tyler Wentworth Opera Gala and a new wardrobe box being made by Deborah Cooke

The wardrobe is a chest from Michaels, which is standing on one side. (It’s the Large Gold Polka Dot Trunk from Ashland. That’s a Michaels Canada link, which will probably go 404 once they’ve sold out of this box, so I’ve included a screen shot of it here.) It has rope handles that knot inside – easy-peasy, I untied one and threaded it through the top eyelets to double the handle there. The eyelets on the bottom are covered by the paper lining. I put felt feet on the bottom, too.

This one was much easier to change to a wardrobe than the one I used for Barbie – and even better, the exterior print is just dots, so it doesn’t look like I turned it sideways. (If you remember the wardrobe for Barbie, the Eiffel Tower on the lid ended up on its side, so I had to paper the front, too.) Inside is one of those cosmetic storage drawer units from the dollar store, which is perfect for purses and belts. In this pic, I haven’t hung the bars for the hangers yet.

April Showers Modern Trenchcoat for 16" dolls by DBDoll Patterns

Here’s the pattern I’ve been sewing. It’s a DBDoll pattern called April Showers: Modern Trenchcoat, which has ruffled sleeves. That link is to Etsy, where I bought the pattern. (The hat, purse, and dress patterns are also available but are sold separately, which diminishes the chance of my buying them. I wish they offered a bundle of all four, but they don’t.)

It’s a very good pattern with lots of helpful suggestions for the construction. I learned some new tricks from it!

Below are my first two raincoats. The navy one on the left was made with the pattern as is. The interesting thing about 16″ dolls is that their proportions aren’t all the same (of course not!) and you can see that this coat is a bit short in the sleeves and the length for Tyler. It still needs the hem sewn in this picture, btw. (Yup, those are pins.) The fabric is a mystery-content that seems like outerwear in scale. It must have a lot of polyester because it was miserable to iron. The lining, which you can’t see, is a floral Liberty Tana Lawn.

April Showers Modern Trenchcoat by DBDoll Patterns, sewn for Tyler Wentworth by Deborah Cooke

I made some modifications for the coat on the right, cut of another mystery fabric which has a perfect pattern in scale. It’s black and white, literally one thread in each color alternating, and looks like a tiny check. It wonks out my eyes a bit to topstitch on this fabric, but it looks great in scale. (I made a suit for Barbie of it, too.) I made some modifications for this coat: I lengthened the coat by 1/2″ and moved the pocket flaps down 1/2″. I also made the lapels and collar pointed instead of rounded and changed out the ruffled sleeve for a plain one.

For that, I used the basic sleeve from Fashion Doll Clothing by Rosemarie Ionker. (That’s an Amazon link.) I traced the sleeve cap from the raincoat pattern, then used the basic sleeve from the book to draw the sleeve down to the cuff. This is a book I bought a few years ago, thinking it would have patterns for Barbie and other 11.5″ fashion dolls. Most of the patterns are actually for 16″ dolls, and the book was my first discovery of them. The patterns for smaller dolls are for Tonner dolls, like Tiny Kitty Collier, so the proportions are different than for Barbie etc. This sleeve turned out to be a teeny tiny bit too long on the raincoat, so I’ll trim it back for the next version.

This book also includes two different blocks for 16″ dolls. One fits the body sculpt of Alexandra Fairchild Ford and the other fits Tyler Wentworth. Comparing these shows that Tyler is almost 1/2″ longer in the torso, arms and legs than Alexandra Fairchild Ford. Their feet are also different sizes (AFF’s are smaller) so they can’t share shoes. Once again, people refer to 16″ dolls as if they’re all the same (like 11.5″ dolls) while in reality, there is a lot of variation.

As anticipated, the navy raincoat fits Alex perfectly. Here are the two finished raincoats, with Alexandra Fairchild Ford on the left and Tyler on the right. (AFF has a tendency to be tippy on her stand, which makes me wonder whether its proportions might be better for a doll with longer legs, like Tyler. It is her stand, though, with the AFF logo, so that’s odd.) I added thread loops for the belts at the side seams so they don’t go missing.

April Showers Modern Trenchcoat by DBDoll Patterns, sewn for Tyler Wentworth and Alexandra Fairchild Ford by Deborah Cooke

The raincoat has a pleat in the back and a lot of topstitching on the seams, which results in a very elegant coat. I’m not fussed about the hemming, but used fusible interfacing to stabilize the edge of the grey one and that came out better. I’ll play with some other finishes.

Because, of course, there will be more raincoats. I have a longer pink one with the rounded lapels and ruffled sleeves – so my blonde Tyler can have her own raincoat – and plan to make an even longer fake-leather one for my third Tyler doll, who is going to dress with a bit more verve. I’ll show you those when they’re done, and we’ll see what happens after that. It’s easy to look at my fabric stash and imagine even more combinations!

Here’s another picture of the wardrobe in progress. It’s good that I bought them BOGO as clearly Tyler and Alex need their own stashes of clothes and shoes. It’ll be good to keep them separated, though the girls will probably borrow each other’s purses.

Wardrobe made by Deborah Cooke for Tyler Wentworth and friends

I have to replace the hanger bar in this one – I used a bamboo skewer (painted with marker) just the way I did with the Barbie wardrobe, but it’s too flimsy. I’ll replace it with a wooden dowel. Tied inside the lid (or door) is an organizer from the dollar store which is perfect for shoes etc. The dividers can be removed when I need a larger space. I thought of gluing it in, but Mr. Math was skeptical that any glue would hold that hard plastic, especially with a lot of opening and closing. I glued in the ribbon instead, then covered a little block at the bottom in the interior wallpaper. That raises the organizer so the lid/door of the case closes more easily. This solution works very well.

And now, back to my raincoats!

Knitting Berroco Minutia

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

Berroco has a tradition of publishing patterns for miniature knitted sweater ornaments. Every year, I think I’m going to knit a bunch of them and make a garland of mini-sweaters as a Christmas decoration. This was the first year I actually cast on one of them. Here’s what happened.

Fievel is one of the 2022 Minutia designs from Berroco. (Here’s the Ravelry link and here’s the Berroco link. This is a free download in both places.) It’s supposed to be knit in a DK weight yarn on 4.5mm needles, but I decided to make mine smaller. Here it is in MadTosh Merino Light in Cardinal, knit on 2.5mm needles:

Fievel pattern from Berroco knit in MadTosh Merino Light by Deborah Cooke

There’s a small difference – I don’t have a single knit stitch following the raglan line on mine. Maybe that stitch is missing from the instructions. (?) The result is quite cute, though.

I was thinking about the size of this little sweater and then this happened:

Monster High doll with Fievel miniature sweater knit by Deborah Cooke.

Fievel, a free pattern from Berocco, modified for Monster High doll by Deborah Cooke, knit in Malabrigo Sock

She’s right. It would fit her – if she could get it on. And so, I revised the instructions: as instructed, you start knitting at the back left shoulder and work in the round. There’s not an opening, just an end to sew in. So, I moved the starting point to the center back and added a stitch so there’s a wee bit of overlap. I worked flat until the work was divided for the sleeves, then continued in the round. I had to make the sleeves longer (fortunately, you can take off the hands of MH dolls to get a sweater on).

Here’s Frankie at right with her holiday sweater, a giftie from me. This one is Malabrigo Sock in Rayon Vert, knit on those 2.5mm needles.

Oddly, she doesn’t look much happier.

You can guess what happened next: Babs wanted one, too.

Fievel, a free pattern from Berocco, modified for Barbie by Deborah Cooke, knit in Rowan Kidsilk Aura

I used those same directions with the split at the center back but used a thicker yarn – this is Kidsilk Aura knit on 4.0mm needles. I’d been envisioning a chartreuse fluffy sweater for B with this yarn, as a good match with this fakey leather skirt. I had to frog this one back a couple of times, given B’s curves – I kept ending up with too much sweater in the back.

The final result has decreases on the back after the work is split for the body and arms, making the back narrower. It’s also shorter, more of a cropped sweater that ends at the waist. It opens all the way down the back – I’d thought of joining it, but there was all that bulk and I went with simple. There are snaps on the back and little non-functioning buttons.

If I knit it again (ha!) I’d change the stitch distribution so there were more stitches on the front than the back. It is a bit stretched over her bust, and that’s where the extra bulk is in the back. At least two stitches should move, maybe four. The decreases in the back might not be necessary then.

Here are the three versions.

Fievel pattern from Berroco plus two variations sized for dolls knit by Deborah Cooke

Phew. Do I dare to cast on another mini-sweater Christmas ornament?

Salley Mavor

Posted on January 9, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

It’s Miniature Monday and time to share some inspiration. Today, we’ll have a peek at the work of artist Salley Mavor.

I first learned about Salley when a friend shared the video of her work creating the illustrations for the children’s book My Bed. They’re not really illustrations – they’re fibre art sculptures which were photographed for the book.

Here’s that video, which also talks about her process.

On Salley’s website, you can check out a lot of her work, along with links to videos. My favorite tab is Polly Doll, who has been photographed in many places. Here she is in Ireland, in this pic from Salley’s website. (If you click on it, you’ll be taken to the Polly Doll tab.) Look at that fabulous little sweater!

Salley also has a book, Felt Wee Folk, about creating your own miniature figures. You can probably guess that I’ve ordered a copy. 🙂 Here’s the info about it on her website.

Here’s Salley’s website, Wee Folk Studio, where you’ll find lots of other inspiration.

Knitting for Blythe

Posted on January 4, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

Here’s another project I was working on in December but couldn’t show you because it was a gift. My friend collects dolls (like me) and her favorite is her Blythe doll with purple hair. I don’t have a Blythe doll – I’m not even sure I’ve seen one in real life – so it always feels risky to make for her, but I do it anyway. 🙂 Here’s last year’s gift to my friend and her Blythe.

Clothes knit for Blythe doll by Deborah Cooke, Christmas 2022

Many of these knitting patterns are from the same designer, whose work is just so clever and cute. Her name is Jane Pierrepont and she publishes her patterns as Polly. Here’s her Ravelry profile. It looks like her website is gone. 😦

The gold and brown dress is her Blythe Lacey Mini Dress which is a free pattern on Ravelry. I knit this one in MadTosh Merino Light in the colourway Vanilla Bean. The dress is knit flat and then seamed, and knit from the top down. I joined mine in the round when the lace skirt started. I also mucked up the lace pattern (It was written for knitting flat and I was knitting in the round) so substituted a traditional one, Vertical Lace Trellis instead. In hindsight, it wouldn’t be that big of a change.

R1 as instructed.
R2: P1, *P2tog, YO and repeat from * to end.
R3: Knit
R4: Purl

Here’s the back of the dress. I put snaps to close the back, then added four teeny buttons to the right side which aren’t functional.

Blythe Lacey Dress designed by Polly knit by Deborah Cooke in MadTosh Merino Light

Maybe I’ll make another with the right lace stitch!

The bolero is another Polly pattern, Blythe Shrug, also a free Ravelry download. (and a pattern I previously modified to fit Barbie.) This one is knit in a bit of leftover Koigu KPPPM. I made a little corsage by crocheting a daisy of KSH and adding some beads to the centre of it. The bag is one of my own market bags, which work for all 1/6 dolls.

The purple sleeveless dress and striped fuzzy top are from the same Polly pattern, which is not free (but is totally worth buying.) It’s called Cozy Comforts and includes the Pleated Pinafore and the Mohair Sweater. I made the dress in Rowan Felted Tweed since it called for a DK weight. I think a slightly lighter DK would have worked a little better – this one is a bit stiff. The top is knit in two colours of Sugar Bush Drizzle – that’s a Ravelry link, since Drizzle has been discontinued. I made mine striped, using two colours. Sugar Bush Drizzle is similar to Rowan Kidsilk Haze, specified in the pattern. These pieces took 13g of Felted Tweed and 3g (total) of Drizzle.

Here are the backs so you can see the button closures. I used KSH for the loops on both, since it’s a strong thread – Felted Tweed isn’t very strong and I was afraid it would snap with use.

Cozy Comforts dress and top for Blythe knit by Deborah Cooke in Rowan Felted Tweed and Sugar Bush Drizzle

Next up, Blythe needed several coordinating accessories. The messenger bag is one I’ve knit before. The pattern was a free download at stickatillbarbie.se , a website of free knitting patterns for dolls which is no longer hosted. I think you can find the patterns archived on the Wayback Machine, but here’s the Ravelry link for this one. I used up some sock yarn for this bag and modified the flap a bit to add a buckle. Here’s my original knit of this pattern, which is knit following the directions. The pattern calls for a crocheted strap, but I knit mine instead: c/o 50 stitches. K2 rows, P 1row, K2 rows, cast off purlwise.

fingerless gloves for Blythe knit by Deborah Cooke in Rowan Kidsilk Haze and Malabrigo Lace.

The necklace is one of the ones I threaded for my dolls on stretch elastic. There’s a post about them here.

And finally, fingerless gloves with teeny tiny button bands. The pattern is a free Ravelry download, and requires small needles. I knit mine on 1.6mm DPNs in Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Blackcurrant, which meant I had to knit them using the magnifying glass on my desk.

I also thought the flap looked backwards on the original, so I moved the thumb hole. The instructions for the change are on my Ravelry project page. There actually are little button holes on the flaps so the buttons really work.

And then I saw this 1/6 scale Barbie Dreamhouse that made me laugh – so Blythe has this playset too.

That’s it for Blythe this year! What do you think? Do you knit for Blythe or any other 1/6 scale dolls?

The Nutshell Studies

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Deborah Cooke

I’ve been discovering a lot of interesting miniatures. so will start sharing them on Miniature Mondays. These displays are creative and inspiring – and sometimes surprising.

The Nutshell Studies were created by Frances Glessner Lee in the 1940’s. They’re dioramas of crime scenes, intended to help train detectives to solve homicides. Lee (1878-1962) was America’s first female police captain and a pioneer in developing forensic sciences. She worked with the Department of Legal Sciences at Harvard and created these miniatures to teach police investigators what to look for at a crime scene.

The Red Room Nutshell Study by Frances Glessner Lee

Here’s an article about an exhibit of the 19 dioramas at the Smithsonian a few years ago. The image above is from that article and clicking on it will take you there, too.

This article at the Smithsonian magazine has a slide show of images and more information about Lee (who sounds like a very interesting woman.)

Here’s the Wiki.

Tights for the Monster High Dolls – and a New DIY Wardrobe

Posted on May 4, 2022 by Deborah Cooke

My Monster High and Ever After dolls are mostly thrift-store finds, which means they usualy come to me naked or close to it. I buy shoes for them online, but make clothes for them otherwise. I had written a post about a dress I made for my dolls from a free downloadable pattern – I also made a cloak to go with it that I figured out on my own. – but realized this week that I hadn’t published it. (I sent the dress and cloak to Astro Jen as a gift for her girls and didn’t want her to see them before they arrived – then I forgot to queue up the post. Gah. That’s why it published yesterday.) It’s right here. I need to finish the variations of that dress and cloak that I’d cut out for my own girls, but will show you both when they’re done.

Today, we’ll have a look at some tights I made for the girls last weekend.

Leg-cessories pattern from DG Requiem for MH and EA doll stockings and tights

The pattern is Leg-cessories from DGRequiem – here’s the pattern on Etsy. It’s a PDF download that you print out.

Here’s the designer’s Etsy store, and here’s her website and store. She offers a lot (a lot, a LOT!) of cute patterns for different dolls.

So, yes, this is a paid pattern, but it offers many options. There are socks and stockings/pantihose, plus tights in four lengths. (I want to make knee socks with lace tops still. They’ll look great with those little knitted dresses.) Even better, the instructions are really good and filled with tips for getting good results. It includes instructions for both machine and hand-sewing, and also there’s a sizing chart for the dolls. I only made tights so far, but I think this pattern is a good deal.

These two pair are my favorites.

The girls seem to like them, too.

Mirri dress from Wardrobe by Me knit by Deborah Cooke

They’re both cut from scraps of a cotton knit with a really large-scale pattern and repeat, but lots of teensy detail. The repeat is about 45″ in length. Here’s the Mirri dress I made from this print (it’s also at left) and here’s the link to the product page of the online shop where I bought it. The product page is still live, even though the fabric is sold out. You can see better detail of the fabric there.

I did some strategic cutting from my scraps, to end up with two legs from the same area of the print. They don’t even look like they’re from the same fabric, and I could make a dozen more unique pair. (And, yes, I just might.) This was also the easiest fabric to sew. It’s a cotton with lycra and a bit thicker than the others.

Did you notice that the girls have cardigans, too? I’m writing out that pattern to share it with you as a free download. Frankie also has one of the purses from a 5-Surprise Mini Fashion by Zuru (That’s a Chapters link.) because yes, after Astro Jen sent me the two pink purses, I surrendered to temptation and bought a pair of surprises myself. This green bag was in one of them, and the homage Louis Vuitton tote that I was coveting was in the other, so that worked out well.

But back to those tights. Here are a few more pair that I made last weekend:

These are like potato chips: I can always go for one more pair. I could have fitted them tighter (there are instructions for that) but the girls like to share and the EverAfter High girls aren’t quite as thin as the Monster High ones. The pair on the left were fussy-cut from a knit with wide bands of patterned stripes. The repeat on it is about 18″ so it was possible to cut several (many!) pair, all of which came out differently. (My naked Skeleta is coveting these.) The purple pair were also fussy-cut from a large scale paisley print. (Clawdeen wants those.) The next two were the obvious choices, cut from small-scale prints that are closer to being in scale for the girls. (Although, again, the brown print has areas that are predominantly teal, which would give a different look.) The last pair were also fussy-cut – that starry pattern has a lot of variation over the repeat and some “suns” that could fill half a piece. I chose places with smaller stars and similarly coloured background. Lots of tights for the girls!

And they have a space to keep them, too. Look at those empty clothes racks.

DIY wardrobe for Monster High and Ever After High dolls made by Deborah Cooke

This is another of my DIY wardrobes for dolls. (That link is to my first one, for Barbie.) I used a paper box with magnets on the lid flap, and stood it on end. The back wall of the wardrobe should be the bottom, and the box top lifts. Now it drops down to be the dressing room floor. This box has a floral print on the outside and gold foil on the inside, which I like a lot. For this one, I made a U-shaped insert of bookbinders’ board and “wallpapered” it with a pretty print paper. It’s held in the U shape by the two clothing rods, which are bamboo skewers glued in place. They have bamboo beads at each end as escutcheons and all the bamboo was coloured black with a Sharpie marker. There are some hooks on the right wall, too, made of bent headpins. The mirror is a bevelled one from Michaels, framed with beads and backed with gold paper. The dresser is a make-up organizer from the dollar store. The rugs are screenshots of carpets printed on cardstock and cut out. (The front one is glued down.) I didn’t make a handle for this one and might not bother. (I’ll be busy sewing more clothes.)

Back to the leggings pattern review – this is a good pattern with lots of customizable options, clearly written with great instructions. I’ve bought several more patterns from this designer and will show you the results soon. (The girls are excited.)

Dressing an Ever After High Doll

Posted on May 3, 2022 by Deborah Cooke

My friend, Astro-Jen, collects EverAfter High and Monster High dolls (as well as others), so last winter, I made a dress for her doll. I started with this free pattern from ChellyWood.com called Small Doll A-Line Dress pattern. She offers a TON of free pattern downloads on her site, right here, sorted by doll height. The directory for 10″ dolls (like EAH and MH) is right here. I started with the green dress pattern at the bottom.

I cut the fuller skirt of View C and added a crinoline with a lace edge, much like McCalls 5770 for Barbie. The biggest challenge for making this dress is how tiny it is. The bodice is lined, just like the McCalls pattern, so all the ends are tucked inside. I used fusible interfacing (cut in a 1/4″ strip) to finish both the hem and the center back edges. I turned the hem just once and stitched it with twin needles, instead of trying to fold it twice.

Here’s the finished dress I sent to Jen, made in a rayon woven print. Of course, there’s a ribbon for a belt and a satin rose sewn to the front. 🙂

dress and cloak for Ever After High doll, sewn by Deborah Cooke

I also made a cape for her doll. I kind of winged the pattern, drafting an oval with the neck opening at one side. The fronts are curved so there’s a short flutter at the front and I made the hood big enough to go around the doll’s head. I cut it of black velvet, lined it with sand-washed silk (which is a special kind of hell to work with) and added two ribbon tabs at the neck. They have a snap on them, and a “jewel” on the front, which is a gemstone charm without the jump ring.

I’ll try this again for my own dolls.

Alive & Knitting

Knitting and other tangled webs we weave

Category Archives: Miniatures & Dolls