PICCOLINA AND HER NEW CROCHETED OUTFIT

A long while ago Momma Cat purchase a cute, little 12-inch toddler doll, by Corolle.  She is exactly like one Baby Cat got when she was little.  Here's a photo to remind you.  

Baby Cat's doll, Puku

Momma Cat's Doll, Piccolina

Momma Cat cleaned her up, fixed her hair, and crocheted her a new outfit.  She used Bio Bimbo cotton yarn from Northwest Wools, in Multnomah Village.  She created the clothes as she went, so there are no written instructions. Sorry!

Front of panties

Back of panties

Dress front

Dress back

Faux leather shoe soles

This last picture is of the bottom of Piccolina's  shoes.  Momma Cat likes to put faux suede, or faux leathers soles on the bottoms, to give the shoes a more finished look.  The faux leather in this case was repurposed from an old purse that Momma Cat had.  

That's all for now.  Momma Cat has some more projects to finish before she can devote any more time to doll clothes! But, don't worry, she'll blog about those too!

- Momma 

DOLL CLOTHES FOR MADAME ALEXANDER DOLLS

Momma Cat was a lucky girl and received these two crochet books from Daddy Cat for Christmas!  

You can see they both have a lot of different kinds of clothing you can crochet for your dolls. Momma Cat picked a pattern from the first book (the Teddy Suit pattern) and went to work!

She decided right away that She didn't want to make a Teddy Suit, She wanted to make a Cat Suit instead!  Go figure! So she bought some black yarn and went to work.  

She doesn't remember how long it took her to complete the outfit, but she was shocked when she went to put it on her doll!  It was way tooooooooo small!  It was probably her own fault for not checking the gauge when she first started (a very important step!), but she was not very happy with the outcome!  So Momma Cat tore it apart and started completely over again!  

She made the second Cat Suit and tried it on her doll.  This time it fit, but it was so very difficult to get on, that she decided it needed to be redesigned.  This caused no end of problems with the pattern, but she was able to re-make it with a back opening, including buttonholes and buttons.  This is pretty essential when making doll clothes, as doll arms and torsos do not bend and twist the same way a human's can!  

  
So, here's a picture of the finished Cat Suit from the back, you can see the tail, and the buttons!

Cat Suit with button and buttonhole closure

Cat Suit from the front

 What Momma Cat learned from making this outfit was, (and this is so important!), all 18 inch dolls are not created equally, so clothing will fit the dolls differently.  Pay close attention to gauge and try the garment on the doll periodically as you make it!  That way you can adjust it to fit your doll perfectly!  Also, zipper, velcro, or button openings are essential, or your doll's clothes will be very hard to put on and remove.  So, if your pattern doesn't call for them, you might have to do a little re-designing of your own!

Please learn from Momma Cat's mistakes, so you don't have to make the same outfit three times, and have fun creating some one-of-a-kind doll clothes for your doll, or for a friend's.  

- Momma Cat